INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Exercise options: attend dance

“History is always happening before your eyes because each dancer brings something different to a long-standing role and companies are premiering new works. This year especially is sizzling with change layering upon tradition with DK and GHDT emerging as ‘new’ companies with new prima dancers.” Gregory Hancock is pointing out why attending dance programs is as exciting as going to sporting events. Dance programs began as court spectacles by courtiers who were proficient swordsmen. Athleticism has influenced dancers since these 15th century diversions of proficiency. Beginning as plotless entertainments, the first ballet with a dramatic plot was supervised at the end of the 16th century by Queen Catherine of France. A century later, Louis XIV opened the first academy of dancing and ballet’s positions were codified. Ever since, dancers and choreographers have been expanding and stretching the form. Central Indiana’s 2003-04 arts season reflects this interweaving of innovation with tradition, virtuosity with story, rehearsal with near-perfection. The dynamics are also changing at Butler University with Michelle Jarvis as the newly-named chair of the Jordan College of Fine Arts Department of Dance, and expect to experience a blurring of the lines between Classical ballet and modern dance with Ballet Internationale’s opening double bill for its 30th anniversary season. The excitement is surrounding the world premiere of Interzone, a one-act ballet set to the music of the British group Art of Noise. Vladimir Angelov, a leading choreographer in the Avant Garde style, is paired with designers Simon Pastukh and Galina Solovieva, whose work covers all styles and epochs. The double bill includes Alberto Alonso’s new take on the old love story, Carmen, which BI performed during its 9-city China tour earlier during 2003. Double your pleasure, too, with a seat at Indianapolis Opera’s presentation of Bizet’s opera. BI’s Carmen is set to composer Rodion Shchedrin’s “re-take” on Bizet’s score. And, with BI’s upcoming The Creation of the World, DK followers will find comparisons and digressions with David Hochoy’s setting. Like all the companies, Dance Kaleidoscope is again offering a mix of new and old works, yet DK is moving out front with a Pike Performing Arts Center partnership. At Pike’s opening event, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s The Flight Project: a Tribute to the Wright Brothers, enjoys a special appearance by DK. Butler Ballet opens with the always-new traditional Nutcracker. Grandparents never tire bringing another generation of wide-eyed children to this story of wonderment, magic, dreams and diversions in the form of dances from around the world. GHDT, BI, Central Indiana Dance Ensemble (CIDE) in Westfield and IU Dance Theater in Bloomington all revisit Clara’s journey to exotic lands. DK strays to present Home for the Holidays and Pike brings Appalachian Christmas. Gregory Hancock further notes that touring groups seem to garner audiences in far greater numbers than home-based companies do. What Indy-based arts directors wish is that the excitement and enjoyment from attending the “out-of-towners” serve as an impetus to be a regular season subscriber to BI, CIDE, DK, GHDT and Butler and IU Ballet. Toyota Broadway in Indianapolis and Clowes Memorial Performing Arts Series supplement opportunities with musical theatre along with all-dance companies. Tempting you are Rent, The Lion King, and 42nd Street along with Tommy Tune & the Manhattan Rhythm Kings, Ballet Argentino, Gershwin on Broadway, and George Gee’s Swingin’ Jazz Orchestra presenting a Count Basie/Glenn Miller Centennial Blowout. All of the producing and presenting venues have been welcoming student groups to dress rehearsals, but BI is broadening the base to invite everyone with Partners in Art passes (a tax-deductible donation) to sit in Murat’s balcony seats during Thursday evening previews. When you note on your calendar the dates for each of the companies, you’ll find several programs are overlapping. Scheduling is becoming tricky. This leaves the audience with periods of immersion and famine. Read NUVO every week for previews with fuller details.