How 3 small dance groups produce original work
You know your city has a vibrant dance scene when there are too many shows and not enough nights to see them all.
That’s been the case in Pittsburgh this month. The last two weekends of March, in particular, will be packed with performances by dance companies big and small. Some will be danced by troupes that go back decades; Others will be produced by companies that are still climbing the ranks.
But what does it take to mount a new work, especially for groups that aren’t backed by large budgets or staffs? Here’s a look at three companies that will debut new shows this month and what went into the process.
Texture Contemporary Ballet
Texture Contemporary Ballet will close the curtain on its eighth season this week with “Uncharted.” The new mixed repertory program will take over the New Hazlett Theater on the North Side Friday through next Sunday.
Ever wonder how a dance gets made? That’s the premise behind artistic director Alan Obuzor’s work “The Piece,” set to a hodgepodge of music by Adele, The Black Eyed Peas, Bach and Billy Strayhorn, among others. When company dancers do questionand-answer sessions with the audience after their shows, “How did you come up with this?” and “How do you remember all the steps?” are some of the common topics they get asked.
“I wanted to give the audience a little bit of that perspective of the different choices and options and what you can do when configuring a piece,” Mr. Obuzor said.
Also on the program will be something new from Christopher Bandy, formerly of PBT and the now-defunct Dance Alloy Theater. For Texture, he’s created “‘till the wheels come off” to
Tom Waits tunes. It follows three couples and how they relate to each and the rest of the world, Mr. Obuzor explained. That work will be followed by “Up & Up” by associate artistic director Kelsey Bartman and resident dancer Alexandra Tiso. For this one, expect dancers in sneakers grooving to Coldplay.
During its eight seasons, Mr. Obuzor has strived to have Texture become to contemporary dance what PBT is to classical ballet in Pittsburgh. Building a firstrate company with fewer people and resources than a large-budget ballet company, though, means wearing lots of hats.
“There are just a lot of moving pieces that go into it ... from being in the studio to figuring out things like music rights and marketing and promotional stuff,” he said. Then there’s the perennial puzzle of making sure there’s enough money to make it all work. (Right now, most of Texture’s funds come from grants, ticket sales, fundraisers and donations from individuals, although it’s looking to do more with corporate sponsors in the future.) Mr. Obuzor juggles his Texture responsibilities with teaching at dance schools across the region.
The support he receives from Texture’s nine resident dancers and its audiences is what keeps him moving forward.
“I feel like it’s a magical thing to have someone come into the theater and maybe they know Texture, maybe they don’t, but the show finishes and people’s eyes are just alive with wonder,” he said. “They’re just excited for life and what they saw.”
Performances of “Uncharted” are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. next Sunday. A children’s-only show will be at 4 p.m. Saturday. There will be a happyhour mixer from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on opening night. Stick around after Sunday’s show for “Dance Shorts” featuring a mix of short pieces by various dance groups at 5:30 p.m. Tickets: Start at $20 for general admission ($10 for children’s show) at textureballet.org.
Exhalations Dance Theatre
The word “equinox” summons to mind thoughts about seasons, changes and the passage of time — all things that resonate these days with Exhalations Dance Theatre. The company has come a long way from its days as a campus dance group at Duquesne University.
“We took a step back and reorganized ourselves. We were growing a little bit faster than we could keep up with,” said artistic director Lea Fosbenner. It’s been about five years, give or take, since Exhalations evolved into a stand-alone company that operates as a nonprofit. More recently, it expanded its board of directors with the goal of “operating more efficiently.”
The time seemed right, then, to stage a show that paid homage to this spirit of endurance and evolution. Exhalations will premiere “Equinox” Saturday and Sunday at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty. It will feature 16 dancers in works by eight choreographers that represent “a renewed outlook on our company,” Ms. Fosbenner said.
The mission behind Exhalations is to provide people who grew up seriously studying dance with an outlet to perform, particularly for those who ended up pursuing different careers. For instance, by day Ms. Fosbenner works for PNC Bank. Company founder Katherine Mann is a pharmacist. Other dancers are nurses, architects, public relations professionals, fitness instructors and college students. Most of them range in age from 19 to 30.
While Exhalations has a core group of dancers, it holds auditions for each new show. Because most of the artists have day jobs, rehearsals begin three months in advance and are held on Sundays and weeknights at Millennium Dance Complex on the South Side.
In the early days, productions were all hands-on-deck operations.
“In the beginning, a lot of our stuff was all based off of volunteers,” Ms. Fosbenner said, but they’ve since moved away from that model. Financially, Exhalations is supported through ticket sales and dancer dues (each pays $50), although the company has been exploring grants and other means for funding.
“I think the motivation for me personally is seeing the dancers grow,” she said. “I love to create, and I love to work with dancers. I want them to become better dancers and better people and inspire them.”
Check out “Equinox” at 8 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. next Sunday. Tickets: $18 for general admission, $15 for students/artists and $12 for children/seniors at kellystrayhorn.org. Learn more at exhalations.org.
The Glue Factory Project by Corningworks
It’s a year of anniversaries for dancer/choreographer Beth Corning. This is her 10th season of boundarydefying dance in Pittsburgh and her 40th year as a professional artist, during which time she’s created more than 70 works.
Next week, she’ll unveil her latest one called “With a shadow of ...” at the New Hazlett Theater. In keeping with the Glue Factory Project’s mission to celebrate the artistry of artists 40 and older from around the world, Ms. Corning will be joined by Janis Brenner, David Dorfman and Catherine Meredith — all of whom are esteemed dancers/choreographers in their own right.
“My whole theory was I need to ski behind somebody who is better than me, and so by bringing all these different people in my artistic boundaries are pushed constantly,” Ms. Corning said. “For me, that was part of the draw to starting the Glue Factory Project.”
Ms. Corning’s dance career has taken her from Stockholm to New York City. She’s also worked in places such as Iowa City, Iowa, and Minneapolis. While her aesthetic has been shaped by the places she’s been and the people she’s met, she admits that it’s tough to pinpoint when and how exactly a concept behind a new work first takes root. (“I can probably name only two where I really knew where they came from,” she said.)
She likens “With a shadow of ...” to that “moment before you fall asleep and the moment before you wake up.” In other words, it’s those times in life when you can’t quite make sense of what’s happening. And while the show isn’t meant to be political, it’s a reflection of how Ms. Corning says she feels about the current state of the country.
“There’s a sense of being lost in the ether,” she said. “You could come look at this piece and just let it wash over you. It will not make sense.”
While she puts the final touches on this piece, she has two more in the works that will keep her busy through March 2020. Part of that multitasking is so she can secure funding (a process that requires her to tell funders what she intends to make, even before she makes it). The other part, though, is because she loves what she does.
“It’s who I am and what I do. I think I would be lost without doing it,” she said. “I try to make work that connects . ... It’s a way of holding hands with somebody you don’t necessarily know.”
“With a shadow of ...” will be staged at 7 p.m. March 27, 8 p.m. March 28-30 and 2 p.m. March 31. Opening night’s show will be followed by a talk-back session with artists. Tickets: $30 for general admission, or $25 for students/ seniors at corningworks.org. The matinee on March 31 is pay-what-you-can admission at the door.