35th State Dance Festival
So this year’s dance festival is over. I am glad that I attended but it wasn’t as great as I hoped it would be.
First class Friday was Open Stretch with Lucy Bowen-McCauley. It was a full class, dancers of all ages. We did a lot of great stretches, some I’ve never tried before. Second class Friday was Open Modern with Thom and Christine Cobb. Again, very full with dancers of all ages. It was fun but I wish I’d been able to get the combination better that Christine taught us. I felt pretty good after both classes, loose and relaxed. But then I did not sleep well all and woke up early, sleepy and achy.
First class Saturday was Senior Int/Adv Ballet with Rhodie Jorgenson. The lights were dim and the wood floor slippery but the teacher was great. I stood with Emily and Carol (L’EdD teacher) and worked really hard. This time the level was more specific but still, several dancers had their own interpretation of the instructions.
Second class Saturday was Senior Contemporary with Calen Kurka. Helping him were members of his company. It was *really* crowded, maybe seventy or more. They led us through a few exercises to gauge our abilities, then they taught segments of choreography. It was fast, hard to see and very detailed, making it pretty frustrating to learn. By the end I just gave into the throwing myself around parts. Emily and I drove out for lunch and then I returned her for afternoon classes before going home.
I went back for Emily and pizza before the Artist’s Concert. Oh, boy, that did not go well.
We sat in the auditorium for a while until a Council member came to talk, a while, then the current president, then another member to give an award, the recipient wasn’t present so a colleague accepted, and talked. The President had thanked the sound and lighting technicians in length, it sounded like they had lots of technical rehearsals and the show would go smoothly. Whether or not they had practiced, it did not go well.
First was Golden Universe Dance Studio dancing Modern Tibetan Dance: The Passion of Kang Ding. They came onstage in darkness except for the backstage light. The ladies got into place but waited quite a while before the music began. The music was a Chinese folk song but sounded a bit like techno. The choreography and costume didn’t seem very authentic to me, but the Festival program says otherwise. Halfway through the dance, the music changed and lights dimmed. The audience clapped but the dancers didn’t move. Turns out sound was wrong, it was set back to the beginning and they had to repeat the dance before doing on the next part!
Second was :pushing progress a company dancing Day Old Hate. This was Calen Kurka’s company and I looked forward to it. I had hoped it was the piece learned in class but no such luck. Calen and three of the four ladies were black shirts and short shorts. Yikes. They began by speaking, not one of my favorite things. Though they did the choreography very well, I didn’t get much from it. I later learned that the tech’s had turned the lights off early and forced the dancers, who were speaking and dancing, to stop.
Third was ClancyWorks dancing Taking Steps. I was scheduled to take a modern class with Adrienne Clancy but I wasn’t sorry to have skipped it after this performance. I heard that a dancer may have been cut from the piece before the performance. Clancy danced on, under, and around a ladder. She did lots of tricks, and the audience seemed to love it but I was reminded of Dance Composition projects when instructed to find ways to manipulate a prop. I wasn’t inspired.
Fourth was Full Circle Dance Company dancing Across the Lines. This was my favorite so far. I prefered the music, movement, and the costumes, camis and gauchos for the ladies and tees and pants for the two men. It seemed to be about crossing racial lines, which became more clear through music and movement as the duet of the black man and white woman merged into a segregated group.
Fifth was Bowen McCauley Dance dancing Bowing (part 1). This was a solo piece and I honestly don’t remember much.
Sixth was Gesel Mason Performance Project dancing On the Verge. This was probably the coolest dance. How many ways can you think of falling without getting hurt? I wasn’t counting, but they found several. I don’t know if it was planned, but before the lights came up you heard bodies falling. I don’t think there was ever music. I know you can fall really well without injuring yourself but I bet they still got plenty bruised, I know I would. They made use of the space beyond the stage. Two ladies jumped from there at the beginning and continued to use it throughout the dance.
Seventh was Ling Tang dancing The Mongolian. Emily wasn’t sure I was serious when I mentioned this was my favorite dance. The rest of the audience sure didn’t respond as enthusiastically as they did to the rest. I felt the dancer had the best stage presence of anyone so far. It felt authentic in it’s ethnic representation and her sense of joy. She was dressed all in red, and used her very large red skirt to “act like a jumping horse, a wavering flame, which symbolizes Mongolian people’s braveness, enthusiasm, vitality, and the faith to their fantastic homeland.” She kept my attention unlike the previous performances.
Eighth was Ballet Theatre of Maryland dancing Collage (Exerpts). I haven’t enjoyed performances from BTM since Dianne Cuatto became Artist Director, except for the first Nutcracker performance she oversaw, because it was still Edward Stewart’s choreography. The dancers are still good, it’s her choreography I don’t like. I thought the costumes were horrible. The first group of dancers wore black leotards, black tights, colored skirts. The leotards weren’t the same, nor the skirts. It did not seem well put together. The next group of dancers wore skirted unitards (on women) and matching tops and pants (on men). They were black with “tears” revealing bright purple, pink, or blue. Perhaps it would have worked if not combined with the other costumes. All the women were en pointe but did not perform anything particularly impressive. There was, however lots of running and lifting.
When I got home I learned Sara Ellen had been unhappy the last two hours, rendering Tim unhappy also. Had I not been transportation for Emily, and already paid for the ticket, I would happily have missed the concert to be with my little one and husband.
Oh, and though I skipped Sunday classes I went in to meet Kristen for lunch. We never found eachother and she didn’t call. I had been in too much of a hurry to change on Friday to get her number. Sara Ellen and I ate lunch with two young girls from our studio. Before leaving Sara Ellen climbed the stairs (with company from one of the girls) and walked around outside. At least it was a beautiful day, I had an EZPass, and Sara Ellen fell asleep on the way home.
Though the weekend left much to be desired, I did accomplish one of my goals, to learn about alternate opportunities for dance in the area.
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