For Memorial Day Weekend 2009, Dance in St. Louis will be almost as popular as barbecue with two major festivals offering audiences much more than a taste.
Dance St. Louis’ Spring to Dance and Better Family Life’s Black Dance USA both have a compelling line-up with a host of companies and styles that pay tribute to the variety that lies within the art of dance.
A dance buffet
With 30 troupes, 3 nights and $10 each, Dance St. Louis is offering a healthy sample of the many elements within the art form for an unbeatable price this weekend with the 2nd Annual Spring to Dance at UMSL.
Last year, the program kicked off with thousands of people coming to the Touhill to see the diverse dance talents the Midwest has to offer.
“I wanted to bring the knowledge that not far away from us there is great dance,” said Michael Uthoff, executive director of Dance St. Louis.
“It’s developing an audience and encouraging audiences to partake in dance. They will see a variety of styles and creativity and whet their appetite and hopefully become involved in dance all year round.”
According to Julie Crumpel, marketing director for Dance St. Louis, the inaugural Spring to Dance broke walk-up box office records for the Touhill.
“People were actually floored that it was only ten bucks,” Crumpel said. “We beat the Touhill’s record on Friday and blew that record out on Saturday. It’s a really nice inexpensive way to have a wonderful time.”
Midwest-based dance troupes ranging in specialty from jazz, modern, ballet to tap will take the stage again this year. Each company performs a single selection and then it’s on to the next group.
“The subject matters may not all be hip-hop, but most of the companies are totally integrated,” Uthoff said. “You will see all types, sizes and ages projecting the beauty of human nature. And the beauty is that no number lasts more than 15 minutes.”
The 30 companies are nationally renowned Midwestern troupes, regional stars, and guests from the East Coast, such as Hubbard Street 2 and Giordano Jazz Dance from Chicago, Nashville Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, ARENA Dances from Minneapolis, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble from Detroit, and BalletX from Philadelphia.
St. Louis’ own aTrek Dance Collective, MADCO, Saint Louis Ballet, and The Slaughter Project will also take the stage.
“The beauty of the art form is it is one that needs no explanation,” Uthoff said. “You don’t need a translator – you don’t need anything. It’s emotionally compelling and it’s physically exhilarating.”
Dance St. Louis’ 2nd Annual Spring to Dance will take place at 6 p.m. Thurs., May 21 – Sat., May 23 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of UMSL. A Dance Till You Drop After Party will take place from
9:30-11:30 p.m. featuring a mix and mingle with the dancers in the Touhill Lobby each night after the 7:30 p.m. performances. For more information, visit http://springtodance.com.
Getting wind of humanity
There’s that calm breeze that subtly blows across faces on a sunny afternoon. Then there are those powerful gusts that accompany thunderstorms in St. Louis. Both consist of air in motion, but the end results and reactions couldn’t be more different.
So goes humanity … and dance.
In its 24th year, Black Dance USA used wind as metaphor for the human spirit in the culminating dance concert entitled Harmattan: The Winds of Change.
“Harmattan is a series of winds that blow across the Sahara desert twice a year – in the spring and in the late fall,” said Black Dance USA Creator Deborah Ahmed.
“These winds can be destructive; they change the landscape. So we created a story line that would integrate what we do as human beings that impact our Mother Earth.”
For nearly 25 years, Ahmed has offered the St. Louis community and opportunity for education, awareness and appreciation for African and African-American culture through Black Dance USA.
The legacy continues as Ahmed uses three local dance troupes to illustrate the power of the wind and humanity through movement.
As producing director, Abdel Salaam of Forces of Nature meshes the skills and styles of MaTiff, Spirit of Angela/Kumasi Nankama Aswad Kambang along with Sunshine and the Community Performance Ensemble for the presentation.
“Wind always brings about change, even when it’s gentle, nd human beings posses those same qualities as we bring forth change in our environment,” Ahmed said.
“Hopefully the performance will show how we bring these forces together to bring some common good or to even ask the questions, ‘What is it that we have truly done?’ and ‘do we need to change?’”
She said the show features three local companies “in concert doing something unique.”
“They will be a tri-part of an entire story that is being told through choreography and dance theatre,” Ahmed said.
“Each of them will be interpreting from their vantage point of choreography and coming together in the end.”
The concert’s participating troupes range in style from West African to hip-hop, which are also encompassed in the five days of festivities that use movement to celebrate blackness that are currently underway and continue through May 24.
“You don’t have to be a dancer to participate, just love being physically active and be open to something new,” Ahmed said.
“It’s for everyone, from professional dancers to amateurs.”
Black Dance USA continues through Sunday, May 24. Harmattan: The Winds of Change will take place 8 p.m. Saturday, May 23 at the Edison Theatre on the campus of Washington University (6445 Forsyth). For more information, visit www.betterfamilylife.org.