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Southwest Dance will present the 2nd Arizona Contemporary Dance Festival in Phoenix and Tucson. Chuck Fischl of Southwest Dance describes it as "an evening of performance, rather than a showcase" of modern dance companies from around the state.
The festival gives all the companies a chance to work together. The companies are even meeting with one another to make sure the production works smoothly as a whole.
This year's festival is already expanding over the last. All six dance companies are returning as well as the addition of the Canyon Movement Company. Composed of young dancers and college students, Canyon are from Flagstaff. They drove down to see the festival last year and loved it. They asked to be included this year and are thrilled to be representing Northern Arizona.
Center Dance Ensemble is the resident professional modern dance company for the Herberger Theater Center. Artistic Director, Francis Cohen, choreographs many of the company's narrative pieces, such as the recent favorite Dracula, and the perennial "Snow Queen."
Cohen says they are a "pretty pure" dance company and rely heavily on metaphor. Cohen studied ballet until she was 19, and then trained with Martha Graham. "I do believe that there are only two techniques. There's Ballet and there's Graham and everything else is a style. If your dancers can do those two techniques, they can do anything - well, except tap dance."
Valley veteran, Ann Ludwig of a ludwig dance theatre, creates substantial pieces that incorporate women's social issues. Her influences? "I've been doing my own thing for so long, I can't blame anybody for what I do!" She and her company were asked to perform her trilogy "Order of Protection," "Life and the Pursuit of Happiness," and "Empowerment " at the University of California San Diego this last summer.
A multi-cultural mix of dancers and contemporary dance, Desert Dance Theatre began in 1979 and is the oldest continuing modern dance company in the state. It began as four graduates from ASU who didn't want to go to New York, and instead stayed to share their art with the Valley. They have grown into a company which tours the Southwest and Mexico and present school programs in hopes of fostering literacy through dance.
Tempe based Movement Source is a multimedia modern dance company of dance teachers that wanted to create and perform their own work. Now in their eighth season, the network of nine dancers all have the opportunity to choreograph. Last years performances included live music, computer images, American Sign Language (ASL), poets, rain sticks, and meticulous costumes.
Returning from Tucson, Orts Theatre of Dance has been around for 10 years and is known in many western states and Mexico for their contemporary dance. Director Ann Bunker is responsible for choreographing many of the pieces, though they also commissions outside work for the repertory company. I found Orts to be very creative, incorporating props and creative materials in their dances.
I really enjoyed seeing Tenth St. Dance Works last year. Charlotte Adams, along with her five other dancers from Tucson, had excellent technique and marvelous facial expressions. Adams portrays deep emotion in her choreography as well as her performances. She uses many references to God, martyrdom, and modern psychology. She can be poignant and hysterical in the same piece. She remembers that she is creating for an audience and not just excising traumas for her own sake.
Dates for the Festival are Thursday - Saturday January 18-20 at 8pm at the Herberger, Stage West in Phoenix. and in Tucson at Pima Community College February 1-3 at 8pm. Call 252-8497 to arrange tickets at the Herberger, or Dillards' at 1-800-638- 4253 for the Pima College performances.
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