Texas Ballet Theater to stream Henry VIII ballet this weekend

Since there are currently no dance performance going on around town due to COVID-19 I wanted to draw attention to the local dance organizations who are using online platforms such as Facebook and YouTube channels to connect with new and established audiences by offering free content within a specific time frame. To date I have viewed Bruce Wood Dance in Joy Bollinger’s Carved in Stone, Texas Ballet Theater’s (TBT) premiere of  Ma Cong’s Firebird, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance in Joshua L. Peugh’s Aladdin and an excerpt of Jennifer Mabus’s Citizens of Loss for Avant Chamber Ballet.

So, ahead of TBT’s streaming of Carl Coomer’s Henry VIII May 8 and 9 at 8pm on the company’s YouTube channel @tbttheater, I wanted to revisit my conversation with Coomer about the making of this balletic work. Below is a copy of my Q&A with Coomer, which was originally posted on TheaterJones.com in February 2018.

Please enjoy!

Dancing Scandal

Texas Ballet Theater brings all the glitz, glam and romantic intrigue of Carl Coomer’s new work Henry VIII to Bass Performance Hall this weekend.

Photo: Steven Visneau

Texas Ballet Theater presents Carl Coomer’s Henry VIII

 

Fort Worth — From the moment Carl Coomer stepped on stage in George Balanchine’s Apollo at Texas Ballet Theater’s (TBT) Portraits Ballet Festival in Dallas back in 2012, I was immediately drawn to his sculpted body lines and effortless classical technique as well as his chiseled good looks. But he also grabbed me emotionally in Evolving, in his first choreographic work, which was also being showcased that day. Since then I have watched Coomer grow in both artistry and stage leadership with prominent roles in Ben Stevenson’s Swan Lake (2014), Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort (2015), Jonathan Watkins’ Crash (2015) and Val Caniparoli’s Without Borders (2016), just to name a few. He premiered his second work the company entitled Clann back in 2014. On a more personal note Coomer is married to former TBT Leticia Oliveira and they have two children, the second of which arrived only two months ago.

For those unfamiliar with Coomer’s background, he hails from Liverpool, England, where he starting dancing at the age of 13. Soon after he was offered a scholarship to attend the Royal Ballet School under the direction of Dame Merle Park and Gailene Stock. After moving to the States, Coomer danced with Houston Ballet for six seasons before joining TBT in 2007. In addition to the works mentioned above Coomer has also performed in lead roles in Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker, Giselle, Dracula, Four Last Songs, Three Preludes, Five Poems, Mozart Requiem, Coppelia, Cleopatra, Peer Gynt, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

The last time I interviewed Coomer in 2015 for Petite Mort I asked him if we would be seeing more of his choreography in future and his response was “if Mr. Stevenson offered me another opportunity to choreography I would be more than willing to do it.” Well, here we are, three years later and Coomer is once again testing his choreographic methods in Henry VIII, a 55-minute ballet that focuses on the second Tudor Monarch’s relationships with his six wives as well his transformation from a viral young king to a sickly old man.

Set to Gustav Holst’s famous musical work The Planets, Henry VIII includes a custom-built, Tudor-esque set, dramatic period costumes and three-dimensional mapping and projections. Texas Ballet Theater will present Henry VIII along with Alexei Ratmansky’s Seven Sonatas, March 2-4, at Bass Performance in Fort Worth.

I caught up with Coomer in between rehearsals this week to ask him how he prepped for creating a ballet around such historical figures, his musical selection and choreographing sections for six very different female characters.

Photo: Texas Ballet Theater

Carl Coomer

TheaterJones: What types of research did you do leading up to rehearsals?

Carl Coomer: I knew a lot about Henry VIII anyway just from growing up in England and learning about him in school. But once a lot of the shows like The Tudors and Wolf Hall came out I just started watching everything I could to get a deeper understanding of his character. I also watched a lot of documentaries and a lot of books as well, with some being fictional and while others were just historical accounts on that time period. So yeah, I just gathered as much information as I possible could so I could build my own perspective on how to tell the story.

What were some of the highlights of this time period that you clearly wanted showcased in the ballet?

I really wanted to make it about how different each one of the wives is and how differently Henry VIII was with each one of them. Like he was together with Catherine of Aragon for so long (1509-1533) and they were in love, but it was definitely more of a political marriage. And then when Anne Boleyn (1533-1536) came along and that all happened their relationship was a lot more sensual and sexual and he was really seduced by her. And then with Jane Seymour (1536-1537) he was madly and deeply in love with her so, I just wanted to show how different each one of the wives is and how Henry VIII is with them.

In terms of the ballet’s structure is it set up like a story ballet or broken into specific vignettes?

I think it’s a bit of both because it is a story ballet so there is narrative happening throughout it. But at the same time having to tell somebody’s life story of 50 to 60 years in a about 50 minutes there is just no way you can include every little bit of information. So, I had to pick and choose what’s important and what to include so I decided to focus on the wives and each one of them has their own piece of music, which is the seven pieces of music from Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Each wife has her own piece of music and then the seventh piece is saved for the battle scene. So, the ballet does contain these little vignettes in a way because of each wife, but then the passing of time can’t really be explained to the audience without the entire cast carrying on with the larger narrative. So, it’s a little bit of both. It’s a story ballet, but spilt up into seven sections.

Having yourself performed in so many story ballets, what was it like to create your own?

For me, and I think I have probably told you this before, the music always comes first. What I had to do was to decide which piece of music would go with which wife and how does all of their personalities match with each piece of music. And once I had that figured out I literally sat down and scoured through every second of the music while thinking how I could tell the story minute by minute through this music. And then I used the music to kind of create a script if you like in order to break everything down to tell the story. I don’t know how others do it, but this was the best way for me to do it.

What led you to Gustav Holst’s The Planets for the ballet’s score?

It was one of the first pieces of classical music that I had ever heard when I was really young and it’s a pretty epic piece. I went to an all-boys school and they made us sit down in the assembly hall and made us listen to some classical music and when they put The Planets on I was just wowed by it, especially the war and Mars battle scene. It was a lot of drums, and horns and violins and I just loved it so much that even after I started dancing it has remained one of my favorite pieces of music as a whole. Each section has something different to offer and I think with this story it just blends so perfectly.

I noticed that a couple of the wives are being danced by new-to-mid-seasoned company members such as Samantha Pille (second season) and Alexandra Farber (sixth season), while others will be danced by more seasoned pros like Carolyn Judson (15th season), Katelyn Clenaghan (14th season) and Michelle Taylor (12th). How did you go about selecting the dancers to play each one of Henry VIII’s wives?

Well, the number of years the dancers have been with the company never really crossed my mind. I picked who was going to do what based on what I thought would suit all the dancers movement-wise and personality-wise. I mean I know all these dancers really well, but I have known Carrie and Katelyn and Michelle for a lot longer than the others so I know what they’re capable of and what suits them. I mean Michelle, is a really good actress and she likes to be dramatic so I picked her for Catherine of Aragon. Now with Carrie you know she has done so many romantic leads like Romeo and Juliet and so Jane Seymour suited her really well. And Katelyn just dances with a whole lot of abandon and with Anne Boleyn I wanted a lot of running and jumping on pointe and I knew she would be down for that.

 

 

Dark Circles Contemporary Dance Launches Arts-Lab Residency in Dallas

DCCDUSA Launches Arts-Lab Residency. Photo: Courtesy of DCCDUSA

Some great news from my friends at Dark Circles Contemporary Dance hit my inbox this weekend. The Dallas-based professional dance troupe has announced the launch of the DCCDUSA Arts-Lab Residency, which is in partnership with Dallas ISD and AT&T Performing Arts Center.

The e-mail states that this profound program for the 2019-20 academic year embeds DCCDUSA’s full artistic staff, including directors, composer, lyricist, actors and musicians into H. Grady Spruce High School to provide a hands-on look at the process for devising a brand-new work. Focusing on our neighborhoods as centers of art-making, DCCDUSA will be working on-site to promote the direct exchange of knowledge between artists, students and educators in order to foster a more authentic and wholistic understanding of art-making beyond the boundaries of traditional outreach and Artist-in-Residence programs.

Kudos DCCDUSA! Keep up the great work!

 

 

 

Avant Chamber Ballet Announces New Company Home

Student summer intensive at ACB’s new studio space. Photo: Courtesy of ACB.

After years of borrowing space from other dance studios in the area Avant Chamber Ballet (ACB) has taken the leap and found itself a home base in the Dallas Design District where the company is currently holding its summer intensive series.

ACB is the second professional dance company to settle down in the Design District. The Bruce Wood Dance Gallery is just a couple miles south of ACB’s new home. Since opening its doors about five years ago, the Bruce Wood Dance has held many classes, fundraisers and choreographic sneak peeks at this location.

To celebrate this grand accomplishment, ACB will be hosting an open house and mini performance at the newly named Avant Chamber Ballet Center, 2408 Farrington St., on Aug. 25 at 3:30p.m.

The performance will include excerpts from the season opening mixed repertoire program Morphoses, which the company will present, Sept. 7-8, at Moody Performance Hall in the Dallas Arts District.

The full press release is included below:

 

AVANT CHAMBER BALLET ANNOUNCES NEW STUDIO HOME

DALLAS, TX (July 16, 2019)

Avant Chamber Ballet Artistic Director Katie Cooper announces the opening of the new Avant Chamber Ballet Center in the Dallas Design District. The studio space will be the rehearsal home for the professional company but will also house a new training program for young dancers this fall.

“This is an incredible step forward for the company. Having our own home studio means that we will be able to rehearse and train consistently for performances, but also have a pipeline for training young dancers who may eventually join the company,” says Katie Cooper.

To celebrate the new studio, the company will host an open house and mini performance at the Avant Chamber Ballet Center, 2408 Farrington Street, Dallas Design District, August 25th at 3:30pm. The performance will be excerpts from the season opening mixed repertoire program “Morphoses” which ACB will perform at Moody Performance Hall September 7-8th.

“I am so proud of where the company has gone in the last 7 seasons,” says Music Director David Cooper. “The new studio represents Avant Chamber Ballet establishing itself firmly in the future of arts in Dallas.”

Subscriptions for the full Avant Chamber Ballet season are now at TicketDFW.com. Single tickets go on sale August 1. Subscribers will receive a 40% discount on all four productions.

Bruce Wood Dance Announces New Artistic Director

Bollinger’s Hillside. Photo: Sharen Bradford/The Dancing Image

Beginning this fall season Joy Atkins Bollinger will take the helm as artistic director of Bruce Wood Dance as Kimi Nikaidoh transitions to her new role of artistic advisor.

Kimi has done extraordinary job of commissioning new works from guest and in-house choreographers while also ensuring Bruce’s voice and vision remain alive and relevant. Since Kimi took over the reigns of the Dallas-based troupe in 2014 the company has peformed 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 Joy Atkins Bollinger and Albert Drake. During her tenure Kimi also brought her own voice to the stage with Find Me and Bloom. I am sad to hear Kimi is moving away, but I’m sure she will still have a say in BWD’s programming moving forward. But I am excited to see the type of energy and connections Bollinger can bring to the table. Company dancer Eric Coudron will also be stepping into the role of rehearsal director.

See the full press release below:

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 27, 2018

Bruce Wood Dance Announces New Artistic Leadership

 DALLAS, Texas––Bruce Wood Dance (BWD) welcomes a new artistic team as the company moves into its autumn season. The BWD Board of Directors has appointed Joy Atkins Bollinger as artistic director, Kimi Nikaidoh as artistic advisor, and Eric Coudron as rehearsal director.

Bollinger has been affiliated with Bruce Wood^® for more than 16 years. From 2014 to 2018, she served as rehearsal director and répétiteur under artistic director Nikaidoh. Bollinger restaged works from Wood’s renowned repertoire and maintained the artistic caliber of the company. As a veteran dancer of the Fort Worth–based Bruce Wood Dance Company from 2002 to 2007—and a founding member of Bruce Wood Dance in 2010—Bollinger performed in approximately 50 of Wood’s works. She also became a distinguished choreographer, creating two critically acclaimed works for BWD. Carved In Stone premiered in June 2016 and Hillside in November 2017; both were listed on the annual Top Ten Lists for dance in North Texas. Mark Lowry of the Fort Worth Star–Telegram declared Carved In Stone the “single best dance in 2016;” Manuel Mendoza of The Dallas Morning News referred to it as a “major choreographic debut;” and Margaret Putnam of TheaterJones.com called it “one of the most beautiful dances imaginable.” Katie Dravenstott of TheaterJones.com said, “Bollinger proved not to be a one-hit wonder with her second visually moving work, Hillside . . .” In addition, Bollinger was commissioned by Texas Christian University for the 2017 TCU Spring Dance Concert and recently by Dallas Black Dance Theatre for the 2018 fall dance production, Directors Choice, at the Wyly Theater.

“I am honored to step into the role of artistic director. It is my hope to continue presenting Bruce Wood^®’s genuine, provocative, and extraordinary works while offering new, high–caliber productions for our community,” Bollinger says.

Kimi Nikaidoh, who assumed the role of artistic director following the untimely passing of founder Bruce Wood^® in 2014, becomes artistic advisor. As a veteran dancer of Wood’s Fort Worth–based company, former member of Complexions Contemporary Ballet, New York–based performer and choreographer, and founding member of BWD, Nikaidoh was instrumental in maintaining Wood’s repertoire, expanding the company’s choreographic range through new commissions, and raising BWD’s national profile. Following a move to Los Angeles, she will continue working with the company as an advisor and collaborator.

“For 19 years, Bruce Wood^®’s mentorship and legacy have been powerful sources of inspiration and fulfillment for me. It has been exciting to see Bruce Wood Dance flourish in Dallas and beyond, and I look forward to the unique ways I can continue serving the company,” says Nikaidoh.

Eric Coudron, a BWD performer from 2014 to 2017, rounds out the artistic leadership as rehearsal director. Coudron is a dance teacher at Prodigy Dance & Performing Arts Center in Frisco, and a graduate of SMU Meadows School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance Performance.

Executive director Gayle Halperin shares, “We are overwhelmingly grateful to Kimi for her unparalleled dedication, meaningful leadership, and work as a visionary, mentor, choreographer, and performer. Her successful leadership was evidenced by D Magazine’s award for Best Dance Company in 2017, two consecutive appointments to the TCA Texas Touring Roster, BWD’s performance of her work, Bloom, at the prestigious 2018 Women in Dance Leadership Conference in New York, and BWD’s recent performance at Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Series in July 2018. We are delighted to continue working with Kimi.”

Board president Rubi Deslorieux states, “During the last four years Kimi has led BWD through uncharted waters with passion, elegance, and grace. With her commitment to the company’s mission and the authenticity of Bruce Wood®’s choreography, Kimi propelled the company forward. Joy has also demonstrated resplendent luster as répétiteur, choreographer, and dancer with BWD. We are excited for her to provide the artistic direction for BWD.”

BWD’s upcoming All Bruce program on November 16+17 reflects Bollinger’s and Nikaidoh’s ongoing collaboration. Nikaidoh curated the program and will restage Local 126. Bollinger will direct the company, restage dances, and oversee the full production. For tickets to All Bruce, featuring Wood’s critically acclaimed work, Bolero, visit brucewooddance.org, or call Dallas Winds Box Office at 214–565–9463.

BWD has received the following accolades––Best Dance Company by D Magazine in 2017, 2014, 2013; Best of Dallas Voice 2014–2018; and inclusion on every annual Dallas–Fort Worth Top Ten in Dance list since 2011. BWD also was appointed to the 2016–2018 and 2018–-2020 Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Roster.

BWD is made possible by its dedicated patrons and sponsors: Heritage Auctions (HA.com); TACA; Texas Commission on the Arts; National Endowment for the Arts; James+Gayle Halperin Foundation; Donna Wilhelm Family Foundation; Roger Fullington; City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs; Ellen Kendrick Creative, Inc.; Lancaster+Associates, Inc.; Dallas Arts District; VisitDallas.com; and 2018 Commissioners Circle.

Dance News: Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden join SMU dance faculty

 

 

Desmond Richardson. Photo: Gene Schiavone

WOW! I can not believe two of the industry’s most in demand choreographers will be joining the dance faculty at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts for the 2017-2018 school year. Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden really started the contemporary dance movement with their founding of Complexions Contemporary Ballet in 1994. The idea was to reinvent dance using a mix of methods, styles and cultures, which have lead them to create some groundbreaking dance works, including  Higher Ground (2001), Moody Booty Blues (2006), Cry Me a River (2009) and Moon Over Jupiter (2010).

Desmond Richardson. Photo courtesy of individual.

I got to speak with Desmond back in 2013 for TITAS’ annual Command Performance, which also marked his last season of dancing on stage. I was blown away with his openness both in the interview and on stage. It’s no wonder he has been called one of the greatest dancers of his generations. His extensive dance career includes The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theater and Ballet Frankfurt under the direction of William Forsythe. He has also appeared with the San Francisco Ballet, Royal Swedish Opera Ballet, Washington Ballet and many others. Desmond is a Tony-nominated actor and the first black American principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre.

Dwight Rhoden started dancing at the age of 17 and has performed with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz De Montreal and as a principal dancers with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Under his and Richardson’s direction, Complexions has become a dance institution that is much in demand. Their need to create work that delivers a profound passion for diversity has really framed its vision and become the company’s hallmark. Rhoden is a beneficiary recipient of various honors and awards, including the New Yor Foundation for the Arts Award, The Choo San Goh Award for Choreography and The Ailey School’s Apex Award in recognition of his extensive contributes to the field of dance.

Dwight Rhoden. Photo courtesy of individual.

I have meet both of them and I can honestly say they are the most down to earth individuals I have ever met in the dance industry. Both have strong viewers when it comes to presenting work and are very poetic with their descriptions of what they do. But, alas, I have never had the opportunity to take class with either one of them so you SMU dance students are pretty darn luckly!

I can’t watch to see the piece they set on the students!!

 

The duo will be teaching advanced ballet classes in the fall and spring and will also be choreographing a new work for the students.

 

Preview: Danielle Georgiou Dance Group’s Donkey Beach

Postcard from Donkey Beach. Photo: Frank Robertson/DGDG

Danielle Georgiou Dance Group returns to its zany storylines and feminist roots in Donkey Beach, part of  AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project.

Dallas — Over the last six years Danielle Georgiou has made a name for herself in the Dallas arts community for her unique collaborations with local singers, actors and musicians as well as for putting out work that is real and relevant and always pack a punch. Her use of originxal music, tanztheater (expressionist dance) and dark humor to bring attention to taboo topics such as gender roles, sexual orientation and feminism is both disconcerting and engaging at the same time. You can see all these elements at work in Danielle Georgiou Dance Group’s (DGDG) newest production, Donkey Beach, which premieres June 22-25 at Hamon Hall in the Winspear Opera House as part of AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project.

Inspired by the beach party movies of the 1960s featuring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, Georgiou and her team, including Justin Locklear and Ruben Carrazana, have created a similar setting where the sun always shines, the songs are about bikinis and surf boards and the teenagers say things like “gee whiz” and “cowabunga” while busting out classic ’60s dance moves like The Swim and The Mashed Potato. The concept for the show came to Georgiou while watching Disney’s Teen Beach 2 one evening. “I really liked the idea of being transported to a different time and place,” Georgiou says. “I also love the ’60s because it was the first time that women really had a voice in society and were comfortable in their own skin.” Georgiou adds that she’s also a fan of the femme fatale characters in the movies from the ’40s and ’50s.

The structure of the show is a musical with songs and dances woven in between dialogue and modern dance techniques such as weight sharing, concaved body shapes and pedestrian movements. “This is definitely a musical, but it doesn’t have the typical happily ever after at the end. I mean boy meets girl and the two of them kind of fall in love, but then everything starts to fall apart. There is no happy ending in this musical.” Georgiou doesn’t tell me this to spoil the ending of the run through I was about to see of Donkey Beach at Eastfield College in Dallas last Saturday afternoon. Actually, Locklear alludes to this fact multiple times in his opening monologue, which explains how Donkey Beach came into existence.

To sum it up, a seahorse enchantress and an evil gin—“it’s an evil genie,” band member Trey Pendergrass shouts out multiple times throughout the show—had a falling out and in her anger the enchantress turned the genie into a donkey. Heartbroken and looking like a literal ass the donkey creates a magical place where everyone is happy all the time. Locklear and the band then lead us into the opening scene, which depicts a bunch a miserable teenagers at a summer camp where it rains all the time. With Locklear’s urging the lead characters Jimmy (Matt Clark) and Susie (Debbie Crawford) drink from a bottle of donkey water that then opens up the portal to Donkey Beach. You can definitely draw some parallels between this story and that of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which also includes magical beings and a remote island.

The music for the show has a Beach Boys vibe with lyrics about bikinis, surf boards and beach parties, which will be performed live by Locklear (vocals and bass guitar), Pendergrass (percussion) and Cory Kosel (vocals and guitar). Like all of Georgiou’s productions, she uses these original tunes as a means to poke fun at specific societal norms and stereotypes with the ultimate goal of opening up the audiences’ eyes to certain issues in a non-threatening and usually ridiculously funny way. An example would be Crawford’s solo with a ukulele, “because of course she can play the ukulele,” Pendergrass states as he brings the instrument over to her. The song starts off light about young love, but then turns heavy when she questions why society makes excuses for men when it comes to domestic abuse and how society typically looks the other way when it happens. The song ends and the performers are quiet for a minute, allowing for the viewers to absorb the message, before Will Acker jumps up and says, “Dude you killed the mood. This is a bonfire!” With that cue the band starts playing and dance madness ensues. You also have to appreciate the irony of Carrazana portraying a woman complete with a grass skirt and coconut bra in a movie genre known for its plastic images.

Later in the show you will notice the performers make vague references about world events such as mass tragedies and natural disasters as well as smaller, more personal tragedies. When asked why she didn’t name specific tragedies like the recent bombing in Manchester, England, Georgiou responded that she didn’t want to limit the show to just the here and now. “I want it to represent all time periods, not just what is happening today. I want the show to mean something in a universal way.”

Georgiou loosely describes the show as having three acts: the first being the gloomy camp scene where we meet the teenage characters; the second on Donkey Beach where the characters are transformed into 1960s talking and dancing beach kids; and the final scene between the enchantress and the donkey, which Georgiou says contains the meat of the show. “This is where the bottom just drops out of the show. Everything before this is just pretense.” I don’t want to give the twist away, but I left the rehearsal pondering to myself if given a choice would I rather live in miserable reality or in a joyful lie.

>This preview was originally posted on TheaterJones.com.

 

Dallas DanceFest Announces 2017 Performing Companies

Indique Dance Company will be performing at DDF 2017. Photo: Sharen Bradford/The Dancing Imaging

Dallas DanceFest has announced its 2017 line up which shows a lot of hometown pride.

Wow! It is hard to believe that this year marks the 4th installment of Dallas DanceFest (DDF) which was created in 2014 under the guidance of arts patron Gayle Halperin and the Dance Council of North Texas. It looks like the festival’s mission of presenting high caliber and well-rounded dance performances will continue this year with a program that features all the major local players as well as the largest showing of pre-professional companies to date and a handful of relatively unknown dance companies from around and outside the Metroplex.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Photo: Amitava Sarkar

Let’s start with the bigwigs in Dallas dance. For the fourth straight year Bruce Wood Dance Project, Texas Ballet Theater and Dallas Black Dance Theatre will be featured at DDF as well as their smaller counterparts DBDT: Encore! and the  Texas Ballet Theater School.

We will also see pieces from some repeat dance companies, including Dark Circle Dance Company, Contemporary Ballet Dallas,  Indique Dance Company, Southern Methodist University’s Meadows Dance Ensemble and Houston-based NobleMotion Dance.

Danielle Georgiou Dance Group in War Flower. Photo: Steven Visneau

DFF 2017 will also feature a number of first timers, including Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, Center for Ballet Arts, Impulse Dance Project, Uno Mas and Grandans. Southern Methodist University Meadows dance student’s Kat Barragan and Arden Leone will also be showcasing work for the first time at this year’s festival.

I am also pleased to see so many familiar pre-professional ballet companies on this year’s roaster, including Ballet Ensemble of Texas (Coppell, TX), Ballet Frontier of Texas (Fort Worth, TX), Chamberlain Performing Arts (Plano, TX), Dallas Ballet Company (Dallas, TX) Royale Ballet Dance Academy (Dallas, TX) and LakeCities Ballet Theatre (Lewisville, TX). I have seen these companies perform a variety of dance styles from classical and neo-classical to more contemporary and jazz movements and I am eager to see how these aspiring professionals handle the pressure of sharing the stage with the more seasoned artists on this year’s program.

LakeCities Ballet Theatre performs in Music in Motion. Photo: Nancy Loch Photography

We have also seen a surge in the number of dance festivals occurring around Texas over the last couple of years so,  it didn’t surprise me to see the Rhythm and Fusion Festival and Wanderlust Dance Project in this year’s line up. If you’re interested in reading more about the rise of dance festivals in Texas then you should read Nichelle Suzanne’s 2015 article for Arts+Culture magazine entitled Talent, Training, Festival & More: Fueling Contemporary Dance in Texas.

The 2017 Dallas DanceFest will take place Sept. 2-3 at the Moody Performance Hall, formerly Dallas City Performance Hall. More information about the festival can be found on the Dance Council of North Texas website.

I hope you see y’all there!

 

 

 

 

Q&A: Choreographer Brian Brooks

Photo: Erin Baiano

Choreographer Brian Brooks on his movement language, penchant for speed and the Dallas debut of his dance group, Brian Brooks Moving Company, presented by TITAS.

Dallas — Many successful choreographers’ careers have started with a simple question. For Brian Brooks it was how to convey the emotions and experiences of running a marathon through the use of movement. By investigating the elements of running such as pace, duration and the feelings of inspiration and achievement commonly associated with the activity, Brooks has created a movement language that is fast-paced, compelling and uniquely human.

Originally from Hingham, Mass., Brooks moved to New York City in 1994. He started his dance group, Brian Brooks Moving Company, in 2002, which has performed in venues throughout the United States, South Korea and Europe. While this is the company’s first time in Dallas (presented by TITAS), it is not their first show in Texas. The company has performed in Austin and San Antonio during previous seasons. The company has also enjoyed repeat engagements at Dance Theater Workshop, Wesleyan University, North Carolina State University, SUMMERDANCE Santa Barbara and Alfred University.

As a dancer Brooks has performed with choreographers Eun-Me Ahn, Christopher Williams and Elizabeth Streb for whom he has also worked as a rehearsal coach and technique instructor. His most recent honor was an award from the National Dance Project supporting the development and performance tour of his work, BIG CITY (2012). Brooks has been on the Dance Department faculty of both Princeton University and Rutgers University-Mason Gross School of the Arts. He has also been an Adjunct Associate Professor of Dance at Barnard College of Columbia University and a guest artist at the University of Maryland, Illinois State University and Rutgers University, among others.

TheaterJones asks Brian Brooks about his distinct movement style, the creation of his signature solo, I’m Going To Explode, and the diverse program he has put together for his company’s first appearance in Dallas. The Brian Brooks Moving Company makes it Dallas debut Nov. 21-22 at the Dallas City Performance Hall, part of TITAS’ 2014-15 season.

TheaterJones: How are you feeling about your company’s Dallas debut this weekend?

Brian Brooks: I am really excited to bring our show to Dallas. We have performed in San Antonio and Austin. Not exactly Dallas, but my artistic work in Texas has started growing and I can’t wait to present to audiences here in town. I have a group of eight dancers that I am bringing with me and two of them are actually Booker T. Washington HSPVA alums. I have these two performing in some of my newest dance works so it will be a nice homecoming for them.

What would you say distinguishes your work from other New York-based contemporary choreographers?

One of the things I am distinctly known for in contemporary dance circles is speed. We have five different pieces on the program and they are some of my favorites. Two are newer pieces, but most of them have been performed at different venues around the country.  I think the variety and the breadth of the works in this collection is exciting and one of the things that stands out is my penchant for fast-paced movement. Three of the works are larger company works and I make very complex partnering sequences in them. The dancers’ joke that they can’t rehearse any of the material without everyone in the company there because they rely so heavily on interacting, touching, grabbing, catching, pushing, pulling into all the other company members several times a second. Without all the bodies there you can’t really practice the material. So, there’s an intricacy in my group work and a speed to it that is very distinct. I am also very interested in trying to expose effort in dance. So, rather than mask it I created an aesthetic that really pronounces the effort. I think it brings the effort and the intent of all the performers to your focus.

Do these qualities reflect your own personality?

I think I’m a fast-moving kind of guy. I like to have many projects, like many of us do, going on at one time. I also like being very active. You know, I struggled for years in both my classical and modern dance training with the question of what dance really means. For me, part of it is just my personality and I think the show represents the many different aspects of my interests and my being. I have also dedicated my life to creating dances that I find compelling and the things that keep my attention often are moving very quickly. So, I create work that moves at rapid fire speed to keep your attention and to move through movement at a pace that is similar to the wings of a hummingbird or the speed of an Amtrak train. It’s like the poetics of movement I suppose. Part of it is who I am, but a lot of it is also trying to craft movement situations that are compelling within themselves and then it provides meaning from that. There’s a lot of metaphors in my work. There’s a lot of visual imagery. It’s not story driven, but it definitely is interpersonal. It’s about community and the kinetic and physical relationships that we experience all the time.

Your solo, I’m Going To Explode, has been a signature piece in your repertoire for many years. What makes the work so appealing to mass audiences?

I do occasionally call it my signature solo because I have had it now for seven years. This is the longest I have done a piece so far and I am the only one who has performed it. I actually made it in this tiny little space in New York. This was just a really introspective, creative period for me. I usually focus my attention on my company so, it was unusual for me to focus my time on a solo. It was a turning point for me as a choreographer and over the last seven years it has become a work that people automatically associate with me.

I had a costume designer that I have worked with before create the suit that I wear. Like most of my pieces I started with the choreography and then went back and read the piece. Once I grasped the physics and physicality of what’s going on than I constructed these movement sequences that resemble a tidal wave of motion. Then I match the movement with different music and find ways to heighten the different themes that are coming through. Regarding the solo, it is quite convulsive and violent and then I paired with a song that is hilarious. The contrast of those two things together lightened the piece and made it really self-aware and tongue in cheek. And I feel the suit really humanized the work.

You have been performing your solo for seven years. How has time affected the way you perform the piece?

I like aging. Every time I perform the solo it’s like revisiting this physical practice that is similar to going to yoga. I am still doing the same positions and the same breathing pattern, but through this process I can reflect on what has changed in my body over the years. And the more time passes the more interesting that piece becomes to me. I have had offers from people who want to buy it, but I am not ready to give it to anyone just yet. I still have a lot of mileage left.

How do you balance your role as choreographer and performer?

A lot has changed within the last three years of my career. I am working full time as a choreographer now and touring most of the year. That change has been really astounding to me. But this is the time that I have also been having more trouble being in the work and making the work. So, in this show I perform two pieces. One is my solo and the other is the duet excerpt from my work Motor. I am very dedicated to performing. Doing something very deep and personal like my solo and having that be a work that people are interested in seeing is really reaffirming to me. It made me realize where to keep my focus when making new work.

Tell me about the newer works in the program, Division and Torrent?

You will be some of the first audiences to see these new works and I am very excited about presenting them. These pieces came out of intense work with the dancers over a period of months where we felt like we discovered a movement language. The form you will see in my pieces pulls a lot of influences together. You might see hints of line, shape, form and interaction that may remind you of other choreographers, but they kind of come-and-go and get bent as they need to be. Intricacy and partnerships are at the fore-front of these pieces. The teamwork is unbelievable. I have a nice group of dances right now and it’s special to watch them getting better at working together.

Division and Torrent share some similarities such as the way I make groups dependent on one another. So, the construction of the group works follow that co-dependency and cause and effect mentality. There’s also no traditional gender spilt in my work. In a lot of these pieces I have the women partnering the women and the men partnering the men so the action shifts your understanding of the relationship.

Torrent is to Max Richter’s recomposed score of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. You can’t recognize the Four Seasons in the piece. He used it as source material and literally cut it all up and selected which parts he wanted to use. So, the phrases and melodies are cut down and used very intelligently. It’s for the eight dancers in the company and it closes the show. It’s very fluid and momentous. It really sweeps you away. Division has an original score by Jerome Begin that is very different from Torrent. It’s not melodic at all. He’s taken the sound recording of the movement in the dance and has added in keys and chords. He has really orchestrated physical action. I feel that the variety in the program allows you to keep looking at things differently as the evening goes.

This Q&A was originally published on TheaterJones.com.