Dance Fest is Growing Exponentially
By David Steinberg Journal Staff Writer
Two. Three. Six. Those numbers represent how many presenters there are in each successive year of the Wild Dancing West festival.
That means in this the third year of the Albuquerque-based contemporary dance festival there are twice as many ensembles as last year and three times as many as in the first year.
Quite a leap.
"I think we’re growing as we get funding. We are happy that the Albuquerque Community Foundation has given us support for this festival," said Susanna Kearny, marketing director of VSA North 4th Arts Center. The center is presenting the festival with NewArt New Mexico.
"The emphasis of the festival," Kearny added, "is on presenting local and regional choreographers of contemporary dance. It’s a small focus and a small world."
Within that focus, the local, i.e. New Mexico, takes precedence. Four of the six choreographers this year are from Albuquerque and a fifth is from Santa Fe. The sixth is in San Francisco.
But even the name "choreographer" is a misnomer in some cases because the works are so collaborative.
The festival runs on three successive weekends beginning Friday, May 30, and Saturday, May 31. Two companies will perform on both evenings each weekend.
Here is a chronological list of the participants and their work:
6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
"Voodoo Cabaret" by Ecotone Physical Theatre of Albuquerque.
"It’s controlled, inspired chaos," is how Donna Jewell, a co- director of Ecotone, described the hourlong work. "In our rehearsals we work with a lot of structured improvisations. …"
Jewell said all performers contribute to the choreography. She also is one of the dancers.
"We are creating it on the spot, but if we know that we are using helium balloons, for example, we know that will influence what we do," she said.
"The company works with different props and costumes and text and multimedia live camera feed as well as recorded video."
About 15 minutes before each performance the troupe decides — as a troupe — how it will open the show and how it will close it.
"Nothing else is decided until we actually are doing it," said Jewell, who also heads the University of New Mexico Dance Program.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. "PURE," choreographed by Zsolt Palcza, artistic director of Readymade Dance Theater Company of Albuquerque.
"I also did the video for it. I put together the sound for it. And I’m working with pretty much the same cast and crew I’ve been with," Palcza said.
He perceives the piece as "a painting with movement and music, an abstract painting."
The concept began with him thinking about the vague sense one has when waking from a dream.
"You can carry it with you the whole day but you can’t remember the actual story (of the dream). But you do feel the tension and drama in it," Palcza said.
The whole dance, he said, takes place in a 16-foot by 20-foot box washed with abstract imagery. The intention is to give the viewer the impression of being suspended and submerged in what he called a watery texture, Palcza said.
After its Albuquerque performances, Palcza said "PURE" will be presented in New York City.
6:30 p.m. June 6 and 7. Xdrop of San Francisco will stage "So Human an Animal," choreographed by Liliana Cattaneo and Sarah Keeney. Debuted last February, it contains the themes of self- awareness, expectations, love, war and perseverance.
8 p.m. June 6 and 7.
"OM TARE," choreographed by Jacqueline M. Garcia of Albuquerque.
The title refers to the 10-syllable mantra of the Tara that begins with the words "Om tare," said Garcia, who does not have a standing dance company.
"I’ve been studying Eastern philosophy off and on for 10 years, with an interest in Buddhism," she said. "I came across the white Tara, which is known for symbolizing truth, purity, wisdom. In terms of iconography, she has seven eyes to see the suffering in the world and to show her compassion."
Garcia, who teaches jazz technique at the Public Academy for the Performing Arts, said she also will stage "OM TARE" in Cincinnati, where she had done graduate work.
6:30 p.m. June 13 and 14. The PutAttention Dance Company of Albuquerque will premiere an eveninglength work titled "Affect."
The work combines video and live dance in exploring four young women finding each other. The five collaborators of this work are Kelly Fergusson, Allison Hankins, Lisa Nevada, Kyrsten Sanderson and Jessica Searer.
8 p.m. June 13 and 14. "Ashes: The Alchemy of Hope" is the title of the multimedia piece that involves movement, film, shadow puppetry and live music.
Santa Fe director/ choreographer Deirdre Morris worked on the partly improvised piece in collaboration with artists as well as members of High Mayhem, Wise Fool New Mexico, Synchronicity Pictures and Puppet Meat Market.
The audience also is invited to collaborate. The theme of the piece is described as being about reconnection, recognition and reflection.
If you go
WHAT: Wild Dancing West Festival
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday, May 30, and Saturday, May 31; 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. June 6 and 7, and 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. June 13 and 14.
WHERE: Performances are at N4th Theatre, 4904 Fourth NW, except the 8 p.m. May 30 and 31 performances, which are at CAKE, 4011 Silver SE
HOW MUCH: Tickets for both evening performances are $12 general public, $8 students and seniors in advance by call 344-4542. For more information go online to www.vsartsnm.org
(c) 2008 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.