Preview: Bruce Wood Dance Harvest Performance

Loving Life

Bruce Wood Dance captures the lighter side of life in Bryan Arias’ new work Live, Love, Laugh, part of the company’s Harvest performance this weekend. 

Bryan Arias. Photo: Pablo Ramos Nieves

Dallas — “Palm, wrist, flip, wrist, palm change.” “Step back, front, down, up, step, arm, heel, heel.” Bruce Wood Dance (BWD) company members Olivia Rehrman and Seth York say this phrase under their breath as they review the corresponding movements while Choreographer Bryan Arias stands off to the side already figuring out where the movement will take the dancers next. Dubbed the hip-hop breakdown, this sequence of movement is the only time that the pair dances in unison. The rest of the time it’s almost like they’re playing an intricate game of tug of war.

“It’s really quirky and fun, and there’s a lot of partnering involved,” says Rehrman about the duet that I was able to see in its early stages at the Bruce Wood Dance Gallery back in September. “There are no counts so we are going off an internal rhythm that we both know really well. And knowing that the hip-hop part is kind of over the music instead of to the music. And because there are no exact counts we could then find where we want to spend more time or what felt good to hold onto longer.”

Photo: Brian Guilliaux

Bruce Wood dancer Jaime Borkan in Bryan Arias’ Live, Love, Laugh

As to the relationship the two are portraying in the duet Rehrman says Arias didn’t really give them any direction in that department. “It’s not like we are a couple or anything. And honestly I don’t feel like we are man and woman when we’re in it. We do a lot of back and forth weight sharing and so, for me, it’s more like two humans moving together as opposed to being in a relationship. But I also think it’s up to the interpretation of the viewer.”

This duet is one of three that lead up to the grand finale in Arias’s new work Live, Love, Laugh, which is part of BWD’s Harvest performance Nov. 15-16 at the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Moody Performance Hall. The program also includes Bruce Wood’s nationally renowned Follow Me and the world premiere of Artistic Director Joy Bollinger’s In My Your Head.

This is Arias’s second time working with BWD. He created My Heart Remembers for the company’s 5 Years performance in 2015. When asked about the decision to bring Arias back, Bollinger says, “The first time Bryan Arias created on the company was our fall show in 2015. I was still dancing and I remember the growth I felt during the creative process. I wanted our dancers to have that experience and I wanted our audience to be reacquainted with his refreshingly authentic style. While creating incredibly intricate and detailed movement, Bryan’s work remains relatable, relevant and freeing.”

A native of Puerto Rico, Arias and his family moved to New York City at the age of 8. Growing up in NYC, Arias was exposed to many styles of dance, including ballet, modern, jazz and hip-hop. After graduating from La Guardia High school for the Arts, Arias went on to dance with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Netherlands Dance Theatre (NDT) and Crystal Pite’s Kidd Pivot. He has also performed works by notable choreographers such as Jiří Kylián, Alexander Ekman, Lightfoot/Leon, Johan Inger and Ohad Naharin.

As a choreographer Arias has set work on the Juilliard School, Hubbard Street 2, NDT’s “Switch,” Ballet Vorpommern in Germany and most recently The Scottish Ballet. The Arias Company made its debut in 2013 and since then has performed internationally in festivals such as Siguientescena (Mexico), Pietrasanta Music Festival (Italy) and CICC Gala (Copenhagen). Arias is also a 2017 Princess Grace Choreography Awardee and a 2019 Jacobs Pillow Fellowship Honoree.

For many of the dancers, including Rehrman, this is their first experience working with the incredibly mindful and uplifting artist. When asked about Arias’s creative process, Rehrman says, “Instead of having us copy him exactly he’s more like let’s see if this works or is this isn’t working then let’s just scrap it because it’s your duet and it’s got to feel good of you. He’s more experimental in that way, which I like.”

Rehrman continues, “He’s also very kind and helpful when generating choreography. So if something’s not working then I felt comfortable going to him and saying this doesn’t feel good what can I do. He just has this way about him that even when it’s time to finish I feel like I want to keep going because I want to know what he’s going to do next.”

As far as what she has taken away from this experience Rehrman says it has helped her develop a deeper awareness for how her partner is feeling on any given day. “There’s a lot of weight sharing between Seth and I, and so you really have to be sensitive to where that person is at,” explains Rehrman. “Like today, for instance, there’s a part where I put my foot on Seth’s thigh and do like a deep lunge and my foot slipped off and he actually caught my foot in his hand. So he knew exactly where I was and was right there to catch me.”

She adds, “I think just being sensitive to the sensation of your partner is what I’ve taken away from this mostly. And because our group section doesn’t have counts either, it’s about sensing the group that you are dancing with even if you’re not touching them.”

>This preview was originally posted on TheaterJones.com.

 

Dallas Dances 2019: BWD

Dallas Dances Profile: Bruce Wood Dance

Company member Olivia Rehrman on learning Bruce Wood ‘s movement and performing a section of Garrett Smith’s Forbidden Paths at Dallas Dances this weekend. 

Photo: Sharen Bradford/The Dancing Image

Olivia Rehrman, center, in Garrett Smith’s Forbidden Paths, performed by Bruce Wood Dance

 

Dallas — Even though she never knew him Olivia Rehrman says she feels a strong connection with the late Bruce Wood through his movement aesthetic and those who knew the choreographer well, including Bruce Wood Dance (BWD) artistic staff members Kimi Nikaidoh, Joy Bollinger and Gayle Halperin.

“I really connected with the technical aspect of his movement,” says Rehrman who is celebrating her fourth season with the company. “I think I’m a pretty clean technical dancer, and his movement is very technical, strong and powerful.”

She adds, “What didn’t click right away was the partnering. All the transitions in his work are so smooth and the partnering I did before didn’t involve a lot of overhead lifts so the hardest part for me was learning how to come in and out of the floor with a partner.”

A Dallas native, Rehrman grew up training at the Academy of Dance Arts. She continued her training at The University of Arizona where she graduated in 2012 with a BFA in dance. Before joining BWD in 2016, Rehrman spent four seasons with the world-renowned jazz company, River North Dance Chicago.

During her time with BWD Rehrman has gotten to perform in works by Wood, Yin Yue, Kate Skarpetowska, Bridget L. Moore, Nikaidoh, Bollinger and Albert Drake III. When she’s not in the studio with BWD Rehrman can be found teaching ballet and modern at Tuzer Dance Center.

Rehrman says her favorite Wood work is the crowd pleasing RED. “It is so powerful and so exhausting to dance, but it is so rewarding when you push through it to the end.”

BWD actually performed RED at Dallas Dances 2017 at Moody Performance Hall, which is presented by the Dance Council of North Texas. At this year’s Dallas Dances BWD will be performing the third section of Garrett Smith’s Forbidden Paths, which the company premiered at its June performance.

In the last section of his piece, which was created in protest of an Iranian law that prohibits people from dancing in public, Smith has the dancers strip off their baggy clothes to reveal skimpy black shorts and tops. When asked about the costume choice Rehrman says, “I am not a modest person so the costume didn’t really bother me.”

She continues, “If anything, the affect the costume had on me is when I was wearing baggier clothes I felt like it was easier to make my movement look grounded or grungier almost. And being stripped down at the end you kind of want to physically come out of the floor, but you can’t do that because his movement is so grounded and you have to use your plie so much. So, I think physically the costume changed my movement and I had to kind of fight against that.”

As for what it was like working with Smith on this piece Rehrman says, “This experience has taught me to not take for granted what I do every day. So on those days that I am tired and don’t really feel like dancing I remind myself that not everyone has the luxury to dance the way I do.”

BWD will be performing Forbidden Paths as part of Dallas Dances’ Saturday program at Moody Performance Hall.

>This profile was originally posted on TheaterJones.com.

 

 

Preview: Bruce Wood Dance’s Embrace Showcase

Forbidden Dance

Garrett Smith pays homage to those living in countries where dancing is banned in Forbidden Paths, part of Bruce Wood Dance’s Embrace concert.

Garrett Smith’s Forbidden Paths is part of Bruce Wood Dance’s Embrace Concert. Photo: Brian

Note: This preview was written in April after a private viewing of the work at the Bruce Wood Dance Gallery.

Dallas — Unmoving, the nine Bruce Wood Dance (BWD) company members sit on their haunches with their heads bowed and wrists locked behind their backs. The longer the dancers remain in this pose, which continues for about a full minute, the more overwhelming the moment becomes as my mind shuffles through similar images I have seen in the news recently. It brought up the images of people praying outside the burning Notre Dame Cathedral as well as images of those in mourning after the bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.

This poignant section occurs in the middle of Garrett Smith’s new work, Forbidden Paths, which premieres at BWD’s Embrace showcase, June 14-15, at Moody Performance Hall in Dallas. The program also includes Joy Bollinger’s critically acclaimed Carved in Stone and the Dallas premiere of Bruce Wood’s Dark Matter, previously only seen when the company was in Fort Worth.

Smith’s powerful use of imagery is one of the many reasons that BWD’s Artistic Director Bollinger wanted him to come work with the company in Dallas. “The first time I saw his work I immediately fell in love with the musicality, powerful imagery and incredible partnering,” Bollinger says before the viewing.

Originally from Utah, Smith began his dance training with the Utah Regional Ballet and performed in the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. He later studied at the Houston Ballet Academy and created five works for Houston Ballet II’s repertoire. As a dancer with Houston Ballet, Smith got to perform works by Stanton Welch, Jorma Elo, Nicolo Fonte, Christopher Bruce, Ben Stevenson and Christopher Wheeldon.

It was only after seeing the piece that Smith told us about the concept, which started when he became aware that dance is prohibited in the country of Iran. “For me, this is the image of being detained,” Smith says about the section mentioned above. “There was a group of seven individuals in Iran that had danced to Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ and they were detained for a month.”

He continues, “So I tried to imagine myself in that position and how extremely scary that would be for doing something that is not wrong. It is wrong according to their Islamic Constitution, but everyone should have that right to express themselves through dance and that is really the driving force for this piece.”

Whereas Wood’s gesturing is usually viewed as light-hearted and comical, the gesturing in Forbidden Paths comes across as more celestial. A prime example is when the dancers appear to be cupping a precious ball of energy between their hands, which they then manipulate aggressively and rhythmically around their bodies and outward.

Smith credits his use of gestural images to his time spent with the great Czech choreographer Jirí Kylián at the Norwegian National Ballet. Smith has also worked personally with Nacho Duato and Alexander Ekman and has also performed multiple pieces by William Forsythe.

Another striking moment in Forbidden Paths is Megan Storey’s opening solo. Her balletic lines melt into contorted shapes and weighted walking patterns, which she breaks up with flex-footed jumps and textured gesturing. Frustration is evident in her expression as her eyes follow an unknown source.

We found out later that the movement in Storey’s solo depict certain feelings and emotions that were stirred up by specific questions Smith had asked the group at the beginning of the process. “I asked the dancers’ questions such as what does dance mean to you? And how would you feel if you could not dance? The dancers then created solos based off their word choices, which I later sculpted into the piece,” Smith says.

At this point Smith asked Storey to step forward and show us some of the gestures she had crafted from these questions. She described an open-chested pose as her moment of discovery and expressed her anger through an unexpected jump with flexed-feet and fisted hands.

When talking with Storey about her solo later on she says, “I based the choreography off of the words I had chosen for my ‘paper phrase’ as Garrett called. He had given us several questions asking us various things about our relationship to dance, how we would feel if it was taken away from us, etc. From our answers, we chose words that stuck out to us and created gestures for each of them.”

She continues, “Some of the words represented in my solo are ‘music personified,’ ‘transcend,’ ‘conduit,’ ‘express,’ ‘angry’ and ‘can’t.’ From that starting point we, Garrett and I, adjusted certain transitions and gesture intentions to then reflect the objective of the piece and that worked with the musicality of the track.”

Reflecting on her time with Smith, Storey says, “It was truly a wonderful experience for me. Not only was his movement and musicality natural to me, but I also loved the purpose of the piece. It really opened my eyes to how other cultures view dance and performing arts, and how blessed I am to have the opportunity to pursue it as my career.”

She adds, “I try to channel all of those feelings when doing his piece and I’m honored to perform this work for those who aren’t able to.”

> This preview was originally posted on TheaterJones.com.

 

Preview: Bruce Wood Dance’s All Bruce Performance

Shades of Bruce

Bruce Wood Dance celebrates the many sides of the trailblazer in its fall performance, All Bruce, at Moody Performance Hall this weekend.

Bruce Wood Dance in Local 126. Photo: Sharen Bradford/The Dancing Image

Dallas — It has been four years since his death, but Bruce Wood’s philosophy that “It is about the work” continues to drive Bruce Wood Dance (BWD) forward, which is apparent by the title of the company’s upcoming performance, All Bruce, Nov. 17-18 at Moody Performance Hall. The program features four memorable Wood works, including Echoes of Enchantment (1999), Bolero (2001), Local 126 (2001) and The Edge of My Life So Far (2010), featuring Nycole Ray of Dallas Black Dance Theatre.

The performance also marks a first for Joy Atkins Bollinger in her new role as BWD’s artistic director and is really a reunion of sorts for those of us who were in the audience at the Montgomery Arts Center for Wood’s triumphant return to the Dallas dance scene in June 2011. Viewers were in awe of the talent of company veterans Kimi Nikaidoh, Harry Feril and Albert Drake who would later band together to help keep Wood’s memory and movement aesthetic alive after the choreographers untimely passing in 2014. Today, most of the company veterans have moved on and a new batch of talent is now working to maintain Wood’s legacy.

I got the chance to sit down with Bollinger a couple of weeks ago at the Bruce Wood Dance Gallery and talk to her about how she is adjusting to her new role and how the newer dancers are acclimating to company culture.

“I was a little concerned when I saw how many new company members we have this season,” Bollinger says. “I just knew we had so many changes ahead of us with our infrastructure and our staff and then losing some of our veteran dancers, but I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised by the intelligent, hardworking and earnest nature of these dancers.”

She adds, “We’re to the point now where almost the entire company is working toward this man’s legacy who they have never meet and it’s just their understanding of what was important to him and how that affected others that draws them in.”

The new company members include Lauren Hibbard, Lauren Perry, Chad Vaught, Seth York and apprentice Arden Leone. They will be dancing alongside Adrian Aguirre, Jillyn Bryant, Olivia Rehrman, Gabriel Speiller and Megan Storey. Emily Drake, the most senior company member, will only dance in Bolero for this performance.

So, the responsibility of articulating Wood’s movement really falls on Bollinger’s shoulders. An incredibly daunting task, as anyone who had seen Wood in the studio can tell you. “Bruce had this uncanny way of not speaking,” Bollinger says. “And the feeling in the room or the feeling coming off him was enough for the dancers to understand where he was headed with choreography. And then when you weren’t sure about that from him you could turn to the veteran dancers that had worked with him for many years and ask them for help.”

Watching Bollinger give notes to the dancers after they ran through Local 126 it’s obvious she has a gift for words when it comes to telling the dancers what she needs from then. “A more crisp arrival,” “sharpen your focus” and “brighter energy through the legs” were a few of the corrections Bollinger gave as well as the ever present “have fun.”

But what Bollinger says she spent the most time discussing with the dancers was Wood’s emphasis on the group dynamics within his works. “The one thing I was focused on for this performance was the importance he placed on the group. If you look at Local 126 there is no partnering in the entire thing. Bruce would say he could choreograph to Bach in his sleep pretty easily so he wanted to challenge himself by doing no partnering for this entire piece.”

Bollinger adds, “The dancers needed to understand that you don’t get the lift and fly relationship. They’re going to have a different feeling of their bodies working in unison and as one and in sculpture and line and the architecture of the piece is going to have to create that. That’s been something we talked about a lot for this show because we’re going to need that in every dance, especially in Bolero.”

Before starting Bolero Bollinger says she and Nikaidoh sat down and talked through their memories of the dance and what they remembered Wood expressing so clearly. And through this conversation they were able to reconnect with the feeling and the finer details of the work. “It’s hard because in this day and age, when the second generation perceives something as sensual they automatically think it’s a celebration of sexuality, but it’s not. Bolero is very dark, almost that to the detriment of every person on stage.”

She explains, “At the same time as these women are wielding the power over the men and manipulating each other it’s also building toward a chaos. Everyone is walking in these courtship manners and the women are wearing ball gowns and the men are in tuxes, yet in complete irony the dancing women are in lingerie.”

Bollinger adds, “There’s so many layers here as to what is happening and at the start of this piece Bruce told us, ‘You know, this isn’t the party. This is 3 a.m. and the party has already happened’.”

Come experience Bolero and other Wood works at Bruce Wood Dance’s All Bruce performance at Moody Performance Hall this weekend.

>This preview was originally posted on TheaterJones.com.

 

A Perfect Fit: Preview of Bruce Wood Dance’s Harmony Performance

Choreographer Yin Yue brings her unique style to Dallas in Begin Again, part of Bruce Wood Dance’s Harmony performance this weekend.

Yin Yue working with Bruce Wood Dance. Photo: Brian Guilliaux

Dallas — Acclaimed New York-based choreographer Yin Yue is the latest name on the short list of artists who have been invited to commission work for Bruce Wood Dance (BWD) since Kimi Nikaidoh took over the reins of the Dallas-based troupe in 2014. Since then BWD has performed works by international choreographers such as Bryan Arias, Andy Noble, Katarzyna Skarpetowska and Bridget L. Moore as well as pieces by in-house talents like Nikaidoh, Joy Atkins Bollinger and Albert Drake. Yue’s new work, Begin Again, will premiere this weekend at BWD’s Harmony performance at Moody Performance Hall in the Dallas Arts District. The program also includes Wood’s poignant The Day of Small Things (2012) and the crowd pleasing Rhapsody in Blue (1999).

In regards to the program Nikaidoh says, “The title represents the variety of this program, and we have been fortunate with Bruce’s work because there is such variety from a single choreographer. Certainly that range expands when you add another choreographic voice to the program, and Yue’s work is a great fit because it is coming from a different place than Bruce’s.” She adds, “I also want our dancers to continue growing in their diverse abilities.”

Nikaidoh calls Wood’s The Day of Small Things a beautiful example of how he could make a quiet work very powerful. “It’s quiet and understated and yet it’s glorious and majestic at the same time. The inspiration for the piece was that these small interactions and moments between people are really meaningful and important. And we don’t need to look at those as though they’re inconsequential.”

Bruce Wood Dance rehearsing Yin Yue’s Begin Again. Photo: Brian Guilliaux

Nikaidoh notes that Wood created the piece in honor of her grandma, whom he was very fond of. “He and my grandma had a really sweet relationship. He would let her come watch rehearsal and she was just such a sweet, compassionate and lovely person who really appreciated Bruce’s work.”

On the other hand is Rhapsody in Blue, which Nikaidoh describes as one big party. “It’s elegant, charming and just loads of fun. And that is one of his most classical pieces. There’s a lot of fun, flirtatious and an almost who cares feel to parts of it.”

The third piece on the program is Yin Yue’s Begin Again, which uses heavy electronic music and FoCo contemporary technique to support the cyclical nature of the work. FoCo is a contemporary folk style that Yue originated, which is inspired by the elements, including root, wood, water and metal. Nikaidoh got to experience this way of moving firsthand when Yue visited BWD back in May. In addition to creating a work for the company’s Harmony performance, Yue also taught several technique classes during her stay.

It was during these classes where Nikaidoh says Yue began to create movement for her new work. “She would do some warm up in place and then she would just start a choreographic phrase and what I ended up realizing is that a lot of the movements that she generates for a piece come from these phrases that she uses in her classes.”

Nikaidoh also learned that Yue’s movement style is driven by an internal rhythm instead of a musical melody. Nikaidoh explains, “So, she feels inspired that the first movement should be slow and thick and then the second two movements need to be staccato and coming quicker. And that’s interesting because even though some parts of the dancing end up going exactly with the music the movement itself and the rhythm you’re supposed to do the movement with are really coming from inside her and not from the music.”

Originally from Shanghai, Yue studied classical ballet, Chinese classical and folk dance at Shanghai Dance School. She continued her education at Shanghai Normal University where she had the opportunity to appear in many festivals and dance performances throughout China. Yue moved to New York City in 2004 to pursue a MFA in contemporary dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Yue’s distinct movement style has earned her many accolades over the last couple of years, including winner of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago International Commissioning Project in 2015, BalletX’s 2015 Choreographic Fellowship and Northwest Dance Project’s 5^th annual Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition in 2013. She was also selected as an emerging choreographic at Springboard Danse Montreal in 2015 and was a finalist of The A.W.A.R.D Show 2010 put on by New York The Joyce Theater Foundation. She currently resides in New York where she is the artistic director of the Yin Yue Dance Company. She also holds the position of artistic director and residency choreographer at Jiangxi Zhongshan Dance School.

In a video on BWD’s Facebook page Yue expresses her amazement with how quickly the dancers were able to pick up her movement in a very short timeframe. “The first couple of days are just about getting your body into what you are doing and there is a learning and questioning like why and how and then we can already see the dramatic change about Thursday Friday,” Yue says. “So, then I create a phrase in front of them and I look back and they are already doing it so we are already 80 percent there and for me it is just way fast.”

You can see Bruce Wood Dance perform Yin Yue’s Begin Again at the company’s Harmony performance at 8 pm. June 15 and 16 at Moody Performance Hall in Dallas.

>This preview was originally posted on TheaterJones.com.

 

Falling Up: Preview of Bruce Wood Dance’s RISE performance

 

Bruce Wood Dance in Joy Aktins Bollinger’s Hillside. Photo: Sharen Bradford/The Dancing Image

Bruce Wood Dance prepares for the physically taxing elements in Joy Atkins Bollinger’s Hillside, part of the company’s RISE performance this weekend.

 

Dallas — Against what will be a backlit stage, Kimi Nikaidoh slowly walks across the space in Bruce Wood Dance’s (BWD) main studio with a pensive expression on her face. Her left arm habitually reaches out to brush across the other dancers’ feet, which are swaying haphazardly as the dancers lay prone on a sloping 32-foot-long 5-foot-wide replica of a hillside made of dense Styrofoam and reinforced with half inch plywood. As Nikaidoh moves further downstage, the dancers start a series of quick lower body exercises, including flex and pointed toes, turned out feet and crisscrossing legs, which they perform in tandem as well as off time. Even without the lighting this image is striking thanks to the dancers’ simplistic movements, which stir up a wealth of emotion, and are also recurring themes in choreographer Joy Atkins Bollinger’s new work, Hillside, for the BWD’s RISE performance this weekend.

Bollinger began her dance training at the age of 7 at the Fort Worth School of Ballet with Victoria Fedine and Paul Mejia. During her time there she performed in productions of The Nutcracker and Cinderella with the Fort Worth Ballet Company. She eventually was invited to the Cedar Island Summer Intensive for two consecutive years where she lived and studied with Suzanne Farrell, who was one of George Balanchine’s muses at the New York City Ballet during the 1960s and ’70s. After graduating from Texas Christian University with a B.F.A. in ballet, Bollinger joined the Bruce Wood Dance Company (BWDC) in 2002. She worked with BWDC for four years while also dancing as a guest artist for Irving Ballet, Metropolitan Classical Ballet and Madison Ballet. Today, Bollinger is an artistic associate with Dallas-based Bruce Wood Dance where she is restaging Wood’s works and starting to make some of her own, including Carved In Stone, which was her first full-length dance for BWD and was met with critical acclaim at the company’s SIX performance last year.

Bollinger says the inspiration for Hillside came from an image she kept seeing in her head of just a slope.

“I just couldn’t shake this image of an abstract hillside that looks like someone just took some marley and squished it from the sides so it just has a ripple in it,” Bollinger says. “And I could also see the dancers starting out with their legs in the air and a figure just walking by and brushing their hand against that.”

To bring this idea to life, Bollinger had her brother who happens to be an architectural engineer help her create an architectural file, which is what the Styrofoam factory referred to when cutting the material. From there the prop had to be assembled and then reinforced so the dancers would be able to run across and perform on it. “So the meat of it is actually a dense foam that weighs between 200 and 300 pounds that we then covered with a thin carpet and marley flooring.”

In addition to the even, smooth look on top, Bollinger also needed the prop to be light enough to slide around the stage, which the dancers do a couple of times throughout the piece. Bollinger explains that the prop begins up stage and will move to mid stage during Nikaidoh’s personal struggle before being shifted to a diagonal, which will represent Nikaidoh’s new perspective on life. She adds, “The first transition will have these flashes of light and as the music changes the downstage will be lit, but the upstage will be dark so all you can see is the front edge of the prop creeping into the light.”

If you had to opportunity to see Carved In Stone, you will be able to see some similarities between that piece and Hillside, most obviously Bollinger’s penchant for large casts and captivating stage design and lighting techniques. She has also taken a page out of Wood’s book with the use of understated movement and silky smooth partnering sections. Like Wood, Bollinger also relies heavily on instinct so that her movement always has a continuous flow to it, but keeps in context with the piece’s narrative and imagery.

This is most clearly seen in the large group section near the end when all 14 dancers run into the space, including three dancers on the hillside, to perform a breathtaking series of body arcs and under-curves, which Bollinger layers with balletic legs and textured arm movements to fast-paced instrumentals. With the use of creative pathways and musical timing, Bollinger avoids the clutter and chaos that generally comes with such large dance works; instead making smart choices that add more dimension and emotional depth to the already deeply empowering work.

And as for why Bollinger decided to work such a large cast she says, “There is just something so satisfying and fulfilling about seeing a lot of bodies on stage. The piece reads stronger with more bodies and the music is so big and powerful, and there are so many layers at the end that I just wanted there to be a moment where everyone can see the big picture.”

Hillside makes it premiere at Bruce Wood Dance’s RISE performance at Moody Performance Hall Nov. 17-18. The program also includes Wood’s Lay Your Burdens Down and The Only Way Through Is Through. This program will be dedicated to two choreographer/instructor Kim Abel; and to former BWDC dancer Doug Hopkings, both of whom passed a way in recent months.

>This preview was originally posted on TheaterJones.com

 

Homeward Bound: Bruce Wood Dance Project Journey’s Performance Preview

Bruce Wood Dance Project humanizes the refugee crisis in Albert Drake’s Chasing Home, part of the company’s Journey’s performance this weekend.

Dallas — Emily Drake tenderly cups David Escoto’s face in the palm of her hand before he scoops her up and spins her around in childlike glee while the rest of the dancers quietly celebrate in the background. As the duet progresses, the two twist, duck and arc around one another while always maintaining their connection through physical touches and eye contact. This marriage ceremony is just one of many poignant moments viewers get to witness in Albert Drake’s new work Chasing Home, which depicts the day-to-day activities of those currently living in refugee camps as they seek to reclaim their identities. The work features an original score by Joseph Thalken, which will performed live by the Dallas Chamber Symphony at Bruce Wood Dance Project’s (BWDP) Journeys performance June 16-17 at Moody Performance Hall, formerly Dallas City Performance Hall. The program also includes Bruce Wood’s Schmetterling (2004) and Zero Hour (1999).

Out of the full 20-minute piece, it’s the duet with Emily Drake and Escoto where we really get to see who Albert Drake, Emily’s husband, is becoming as a choreographer. Yes, Wood’s aesthetic is visible in the dancers’ swooping arm and leg movements and nuanced gesturing, but there is a vulnerability and sensuality in the couple’s partnering that is uniquely Albert Drake. “It is not sexual at all,” Albert Drake says. “It’s sensual in that it’s more about seeing, touching, hearing and feeling. It was about finding those intimate connections between the dancers.” Wood’s influences can also be found in the couple’s silky smooth transitions and momentum-driven partnering and floor work, whereas the dynamic bodying shaping and contrary movement phrases showcased in the dancer’s individual moments cater more to Albert Drake’s artistic sensibilities.

When asked about his evolving movement tastes Albert Drake says, “There are definitely a lot of influences from Bruce in my work just because I adore and respect him. I have also found a lot of connection to his work from my concert training at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts.” Before attending SMU in the fall of 2008 Albert Drake says his knowledge of concert dance was limited. It wasn’t until he took Graham technique with Professor Myra Woodruff that he fell in love with the art form. It was also during this time period that he met Bruce Wood who came to SMU looking for dancers to perform in the first concert of BWDP.

(Woodruff’s teaching methods were recently praised on Dance Teacher magazine’s website by former student Corinna Lee Nicholson. Check it out here.)

“There were a lot of connections between my Graham classes and Bruce’s work, so I never felt as if I was starting over with a new aesthetic,” says Albert Drake about his first year with the BWDP after graduating from SMU in 2012. “And these connections definitely and heavily translated in my first work Whispers. That piece kind of came out of nowhere and so, I definitely played from what I knew.” Since the premiere of Whispers last season, Albert Drake says he has been trying to find more of his own self in the movement. “Dynamic range has always been important to me. Also, suspension, release, contraction, expansion, soft and aggressive. I like playing around with all these elements and I hope this comes across in my work.”

Circling back to the marriage ceremony mentioned earlier, Albert Drake says the idea came from one of the multiple documentaries he has watched pertaining to the refugee crisis. He was particularly touched with a story about a couple that had met, fell in love and gotten married while living in a refugee camp. “I was inspired by the fact that even with everything else that was going on people came together and found items like pieces of fabric and makeshift flowers to adorn the bride and groom in. It’s these moments of hope and of being able to move forward and progress while still living in this situation that is really what this piece comes down to for me.” A wedding isn’t the only communal activity featured in the piece. Albert Drake also brings soccer and the dabke, a Middle Eastern dance, into the fold with movement sequences dedicated to fast, syncopated foot work similar to an Irish jig and rhythmic soccer drills performed by the men.

Albert Drake (Left) and composer Joseph Thalken (Right). Photo: Brian Guilliaux

After watching Albert Drake and Joseph Thalken converse at the end of rehearsal about the music for the final section it’s clear the two have an amicable working relationship and seem to be on same page in terms of the bigger picture. When I mentioned this to Albert Drake later he chuckled and admitted it has taken a lot of time and mind mapping for them to get to this point. “In our first meeting we wrote a lot of stuff down on paper in terms of content, tune and mood and then we just starting tying all these things together.” He adds, “Joseph and I broke everything into sections with working titles, so there really is no beginning, middle or end to the piece. Instead I created different chapters or vignettes with the hope audiences will focus more on the dancers’ connections than following a narrative.”

<<This preview was originally posted on TheaterJones.com.

 

Gayle Halperin: Nurturing Dance

Gayle Halperin’s latest endeavor opens new doors for the Dallas dance community. Literally.

BWDP rehearsing in its new space in the Dallas Design District. Photo: Sharon Bradford – The Dancing Image

Dallas – Bruce Wood Dance Project. TITAS. Dallas DanceFest. Dance Planet. These are just a few of the high profile dance organizations and events that Dallas arts patron Gayle Halperin has helped cultivate. Last year alone, Halperin steered the committee for the inaugural Dallas DanceFest while also continuing on with the Bruce Wood Dance Project’s (BWDP) fourth season after the loss of its founder a few weeks prior to the company’s June performance. Halperin’s drive and intuition when it comes to the needs of the local dance community led to her being featured in TheaterJones’ first Forward Thinker Series in December 2014. Halperin’s most recent contribution to the dance community not only gives BWDP a stable home, but also provides dance groups in the area with a more affordable option when looking for rehearsal and performance space.

“My dream has always been to have a rehearsal space that transforms into a minimal black box theater that can be used for small studio performances,” Halperin says. “I like a space that can only fit about 80 to 100 people and has minimal lighting and good sound, but without all the fancy trimmings.”

Halperin is turning this dream into a reality with the Bruce Wood Dance Gallery. Located at the corner of Howell St. and Levee St. in the Design District, the Bruce Wood Dance Gallery occupies approximately 6,000 square feet of the 12,000-square-foot white brick building. Right now BWDP is only using half of the space while the other half is being finished. The second space only became available for lease this past winter. Halperin says she hopes to have the company rehearsing in the second space, which is 400 feet bigger, by the end of the summer. BWDP’s current space features sprung flooring, high ceilings, a break area and plenty of natural light. “We ended up going with this location because it had high ceilings, no poles and didn’t need a lot of finishing up. We saw a lot of spaces, and it was quite difficult to find a space that only needed minimal repair. We were fortunate to find this corner property in the Design District.”

Photo: Robert Hart

The process of finding a rehearsal space started more than a year ago, Halperin says, when Wood decided he wanted the company to start rehearsing during the day, Monday through Friday. “We always knew that if the company was going to go anywhere that it needed its own space. So, last year when Bruce announced that the company wasn’t going to rehearse in the evenings anymore I made that commitment to him to find a place for the company to rehearse.” She adds, “Bruce always said that’s how he worked when he had the Bruce Wood Dance Company. You have to work every day in order for the company to develop a cohesive style and to be challenged to become stronger.”

The company didn’t move into the Bruce Wood Dance Gallery till July 2014; one month after Wood’s passing. And even through Halperin’s name is on the lease she says the whole project has been a huge team effort. She credits BWDP’s Administrative Assistant Rebecca Butler for finding the space and board treasurer Danny Curry for masterminding the construction of the sprung flooring. “This was leap of faith, but Bruce made a huge impact on me so it’s all worth it.”

This article originally appeared in the Aug.-Oct. 2015 issue of DANCE! North Texas which is published by The Dance Council of North Texas.

Also check out the feature I did on BWDP Company Member Albert Drake who made his choreographic debut with Whispers in the company’s 5 Years performance in June.