What goes into choreographing a dance theater performance – how are the steps and motivation chosen?
For audience members, these questions may not generally be at the forefront of thought as a show is performed, but in its season-opener, 20MOONs dance theater is offering a peek backstage – not only to show its process, but to give the audience a hand in it as well.
If you go
WHAT: 20MOONS Dance Theater presents “Dances in Real Time,” one-night only fundraiser.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Oct. 27. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
WHERE: Stillwater Music, 1316 Main Ave., Suite C.
TICKETS: $25-$50 sliding scale donation. Tickets only available at the door.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit https://tinyurl.com/vtkv9n7f.
“Dances in real Time,” will be staged for one night only, on Oct. 27, at the Light Box at Stillwater Music. A fundraiser for 20MOONS, “Dances” will be an improvisational program led by ideas offered by audience members.
“We’re letting people into our process, kind of opening the curtain a little bit and being pretty explicit about ... some of the ways that we create our work,” said Co-Artistic Director Jessica Perino. “We’re going to be creating some choreography live in front of the audience. And we’re going to create what’s called a base phrase; we’ll create a basic choreography as people are coming in. Then we’re going to ask for different types of input from the audience, simple suggestions that will help them manipulate and shape that choreography as the night goes on.”
The result, Perino said, is that by the end, an entire dance piece will have been co-created by the dancers and audience in real time.
“We have no idea what’s going to happen,” she said. “It’s just going to unfold in that evening together.”
Perino said the evening will consist of a couple of different variations of participation: At some points, audience members will be encouraged to whisper suggestions to a dancer; in another, the troupe will ask if there is anyone willing to go up and share a short personal anecdote.
Tickets for “Dances in Real Time” are priced on a sliding scale, she said, because tickets are donation-based with proceeds going directly to 20MOONS’ spring show, which will be a collaboration with San Juan Symphony.
“We will be opening the Bach Festival in 2024, so that’s a huge cast for us,” she said. “We’ll have 10 musicians and eight dancers, which is just a much larger budget than we’re used to working with because we’re have so many performers.”
And for those who may find watching a dance performance a little daunting, Perino said being challenged and moved by a performance is part of the fun.
“I think as an audience member, what I’ve heard from people and what I personally experienced is just this sort of kinesthetic resonance. So witnessing something that’s being expressed by the body can touch something in someone that goes beyond words,” she said. “I think there’s a potential for a lot of depth in terms of personal reflection. And so that piece, which is really important to 20MOONS, is exploring the human condition and speaking to that and connecting through our humanity.”
katie@durangoherald.com
