Dance, visual effects and more to come to life
Local dance studio preparing for weekend shows
Am I dreaming? Whether or not that’s the question you ask yourself it is the question that will be presented on stage during a performance put on by the Yarmouth dance studio Defying Gravity Dance.
The show, being staged at La Salle Pere-Maurice-LeBlanc (the community theatre at Ecole Paren-Bas in Tusket) on Saturday, June 2, will incorporate a lot of interesting dance choreography and other visual effects.
Created, directed and choreographed by dance instructor Alex Morris, the show will also feature visual effects by Wasko AV. Morris explains her studio and dancers have been receiving support from visual effects artist Nick Iwaskow. She likens his process to another experience she had in the past that she wanted to bring to audiences here.
“What Nick does is he makes beautiful projections come to light. I went to a festival where they combined art, live painting, projections and dancing all in one and I was just really inspired by that,” Morris says. “And although we teach classical, I was like let’s give them something that’s kind of modern and new. So they are doing new choreography with crazy visuals.”
The story that will be told on stage is called ‘Am I dreaming?’
“It’s about a girl – portrayed by Allison Randal – who falls asleep and she doesn’t know if she is in a dream or not. There are projec- The dancers in the Defying Gravity Dance production ‘Am I Dreaming?’ include Ruby Thibeault, Madeline Locke, Allison Randal, Danyon Nickerson, Lauren Pictou, Rachel Thibeault, Grace Bishara and Breanne Deveau. tions and different dimensions, she’s meeting different characters along the way and meeting different realms,” says Morris. The cast of the performance has young people in it ranging from age three to 18.
“The beginning of the show is a little lighter. Towards that second half is more of the advanced and technical choreography,” she says, adding she is also excited about the live painting aspect that is being incorporated into the performances.
“The live painting is from local artists who are going to be there,” she says, saying people will paint what they feel in the moment and there will be an opportunity for those in the audience to win a painting.
Morris says she was an instructor with KidzAct for five years before renting out the Milo Boat Club for a year to teach dance and then setting up a year ago at her Defying Gravity Dance studio at 300 Main St. She says she’s pleased to have ventured off on her own and is grateful for the opportunity to expose her dance students to many different dance techniques.
But while she’s the teacher, what they teach her is even better, she says.
“It’s just so amazing what they can do.”