Memorable dance

Change is the operative description for Indianapolis’ 2003 dance scene. Dance Kaleidoscope and Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre bid farewell to their longtime prima dancers. Roberta Wong and Dawn Hennig had built loyal followings. Their retirement opens both companies to develop new dynamics, which will be even more apparent during the coming programs.

Ballet Internationale’s ‘Carmen’

DK continues to garner praise and visibility for Indianapolis during its summer residency with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. GHDT builds its reputation with a strong teaching program, as does Ballet Internationale-Indianapolis.

The Clara R. Noyes Academy of BII is the teaching home of Irina Kolpakova, former prima ballerina assoluta of the U.S.S.R., and the favorite dance partner of both Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev. BII’s tour of China brought acclaim, followed by major competition awards for BII dancers. Pat Hanford came in 2002 as BII’s executive director, accomplished much of her agenda for financial stability and resigned in October. William J. Wilson, BII’s chief financial officer, is now interim executive director.

Both Clowes Memorial Hall and Pike Performing Arts regularly bring outstanding traveling companies. Jose Limon at Pike, Diavalo and Ailey II at Clowes are fine examples.

This reviewer missed Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and Ballet Magnificat at Pike, but was in attendance for several dance academy programs. Central Indiana Dance Ensemble, a member of Regional Dance America, is the most ambitious of the programs, introducing students (ages 5-52) to a variety of choreographers who make their home in greater Indianapolis.

An overlooked point about dance in Indianapolis is the number of professionals who move and retire to greater Indianapolis as free-lance choreographers. A case in point is Ron Morgan, owner of Performer’s Edge Dance Theatre, who is choreographer for Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre and Junior Pacemates, and formerly for Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders.

Theater of Inclusion continues its work with young audiences. Susurrus, in temporary retirement, brought its multimedia Dunes Project back, in concert with Butler Theatre.

Butler’s dance program is on the move with more performance space and liaisons. Change in faculty is bringing a different dynamic. DK, which has worked closely with Butler choreographers, may well represent a newness, too.

Funding and performance space scarcity are the unifying factors across the board. The arts as a matter of civic pride are relatively new in Indianapolis, compared with older, more established communities, including Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis and even Cleveland and Dayton. There isn’t a history of support and audiences for dance here so everyone struggles. Space shortage usually means every dance company is performing the very same weekend, which further impacts attendance.

2004 could be a major time of transition.

• With its 2003-’04 season opener, Interzone and Carmen, Ballet Internationale-Indianapolis dared themselves and us to get out of our comfort zone.

• Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, during its summer program, brought us different perspectives about who we are, where we are going.

• Butler University Dance also “pushed the envelope” on several fronts, with The Willow Maiden, a full-length ballet composed on folkloric themes and expanded dance vocabulary; with the summer program merging dance and theater through classical Indian movement, which led to the amazing production of Women of Troy; and with the newly created Butler Chamber Dance.