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She'll show you. "Women's Dance Project" will offer thoughts from six choreographers presenting new dances Friday and Saturday in the Fisher Theatre of Columbus Dance Theatre. "I've always been interested in the issues of gender because I think men and women view the world differently. And I can't provide (a woman's) perspective," said Tim Veach, organizer of the concert and artistic director of Columbus Dance Theatre. Veach and audience members might end up with strong perspectives. For example, Columbus choreographer Kristina Isabelle's Honor To Serve features solo dancer Todd VanSlambrouck as a young man in the military. His body contorted as if in pain, doubt or confusion, VanSlambrouck performs to the mournful music of contemporary composer John Zorn. "We're dealing with the idea of wanting to serve, be supportive of the country," Isabelle said. And raising questions as well. "What are we doing?" she asked. "How do we reflect on the war?" Susan Hadley, of the Ohio State University dance faculty, took her Fin Amours, a piece she choreographed about a decade ago for a male and female duet, and turned it into a dance for two males. Seth Wilson and VanSlambrouck will be the dancers. Traditionally, in dance the woman is lifted and the man is the lifter. In Hadley's piece, the men support each other. The dance ranges from elegant, almost waltzlike movement to a fast-paced section reminiscent of a two-man vaudeville comedy act. It focuses not on sexuality, Hadley said, but on the varied relationships that people have. "If our goal as choreographers is to talk about the human condition, then we are in more kinds of relationships than what we show onstage," she said. "Guys have all sorts of relationships that aren't represented onstage." Labor of Love, by Susan Van Pelt Petry, features Gabrielle Barton, Jaime Kotrba, Amelia Larkin and Stephanie Powell in a tribute to work - including the work of performers. "The dance has something to do with work and why it's important," she said. "Work keeps us glued together in some way." Petry, chairwoman of the OSU Dance Department, said her piece is part of "a bigger mission I'm on: Dancers need to be acknowledged as workers, cultural workers who make the world a better place." She paired her dance with Tenebrae, an evocative piece of music written in 2002 by Osvaldo Golijov. Dances choreographed by Shelby Bakies, an instructor at Columbus Dance Theatre; Susan Mann, a member of the dance faculty at Towson University near Baltimore, Md.; and Donna Schoenherr, a choreographer working in London, will also be performed. Music accompanying each dance will be played by the Carpe Diem String Quartet (Charles Wetherbee, John Ewing, Korine Fujiwara and Diego Fainguersch). Pieces written by Jonathan Leshnoff, a composer based at Towson, will be performed for dances by Bakies and Mann. Live music at a dance concert is "the difference between joy and sorrow," Veach said. "The dynamic relationship of live, acoustic music to ... the dancer is important." "I love to collaborate. ... It helps me see the world in a way I wouldn't have expected," said Timothy Veach, the 46- year-old founder and artistic director of Columbus Dance Theatre. "That moment of one hand reaching out, the other hand taking, is the moment of communication." His newest work couldn't be more perfectly named: Hands, a joint effort between his troupe and the Carpe Diem String Quartet, will premiere Friday in the dance company's E. Main Street performance space. Veach began work on the full-length piece, which reflects the connections that people make through touch, after viewing 10 paintings of hands by Illinois artist Tony Rio, his brother-in-law. "We use our hands all the time, and the way we use them demonstrates how we feel about ourselves. ... What interests me as a choreographer is how we share our skin and create signature gestures." Korine Fujiwara, violist for Carpe Diem, composed the music for Hands, which includes six caprices - played by violinist Charles Wetherbee as he moves onstage with six solo dancers - and three later movements performed by the quartet for the entire troupe. Veach demonstrates unique insight in creating a dance-and-music piece, Wetherbee said. "Most choreographers ... aren't trained as musicians, so you have to explain a lot to them," Wetherbee said. "But Tim is a creative, hardworking choreographer who's also a singer." Fujiwara, who has composed music for four of Veach's dance programs, said the choreographer inspires musicians to play better. "And I think the dancers feel the same," she said. "It's a shared energy." Veach's familiarity with most art forms serves him well in his collaborations. He grew up in a small town in central Illinois, drawn to anything that stretched his body and tested his prowess: swimming, long-distance running, acting, tap dancing. "But when and where I grew up, boys didn't really dance," he said. "Girls danced; boys played baseball. If you danced, you were a little suspect in terms of your masculinity." He persisted, though. In high school, he was a triple threat: singing, acting and dancing as George M. Cohan in George M! and as Prince Dauntless in Once Upon a Mattress. Studying theater at the University of Illinois, he was required to take dance classes and opted for ballet and modern dance. "Dance was an amazing awakening for me, combining the two things I'm very passionate about: music and athleticism, the movement of my body," he said. "I really fell in love with it." After graduation, Veach became a professional dancer in Chicago, appearing with several small companies. He married Christina Kirk, whom he had met in college, and in 1988, the couple moved to New York, where Kirk attended graduate school at Columbia University. In New York, Veach starred in solo and principal roles for Michael Mao's dance company, toured Europe and Mexico and studied with renowned teachers. By 1991, he had choreographed his first evening program, presented at a trendy Manhattan dance venue. Just as his choreography was taking off, Christina became pregnant. When Veach received a fellowship to pursue a master's degree in choreography at Ohio State University, the couple decided to raise their family in Columbus. Today, their son, Judson Veach, 18, is spending his senior year of high school on a fellowship with New York City Ballet's School of American Ballet. Their daughter, Maggie, 15, is a sophomore at Westerville South High School. Veach taught part time at BalletMet Columbus and received his master's in 1993. But working for the city's professional ballet company, and later in part-time jobs at Otterbein College and Ohio Wesleyan University, didn't seem the perfect fit; his personality and desire for creative control, Veach said, were too strong. "I had this burning desire to be an expressive, creative artist." In 1998, he founded Columbus Dance Theatre in a rickety warehouse behind a gas station at Lane Avenue and Kenny Road. "It was really a leap off the cliff," he said. Learning administrative skills on the job, Veach created a budget, wrote grants to bring in funds and began to collaborate with other artists and performing groups. "By then, I had a good seven years of connections made with dancers and others I'd worked with," he said. He then uttered the words that seem to be his mantra: "You need to collaborate to survive." Karen Bell, a former dancer and dance professor who is the associate vice president for arts outreach at Ohio State University, has watched Veach for years. "I've seen him mentor young performers, both as dancers and arts administrators," she said. "People seem to work with Tim for years on end. ... He has created a career for himself through collaborations that bring in new audiences and new ideas." Veach has worked on projects with the Columbus Symphony, Toledo Opera, Contemporary Dance Fort Worth, Lancaster Arts Festival, BalletMet Columbus, JazzMet, OSU, Otterbein, First Community Church, Illinois State University, Ohio Wesleyan, Niles North Theatre in Chicago and New York Central Ballet, among others. He has choreographed dozens of plays and musicals, including Romeo and Juliet, Sweeney Todd and Conversations With Judith Malina, a piece conceived by his wife, an Otterbein theater professor. "What I love about Tim's choreography is his knack for finding an iconographic gesture that captures the essence of the human experience," Kirk said. For four seasons, he has choreographed Opera Columbus productions, including Aida, Hansel and Gretel and The Pearl Fishers. The opera's artistic director, William Boggs, describes him as a "perfect collaborator." "Directors like him because he's quick on his feet," Boggs said. "Stylistically, Tim is appropriate and different for each show, so everything has a distinct flavor, which is what I look for in a choreographer." Of all those with whom he works, however, dancers may know him best. Recently, at the Main Street space, Veach led a rehearsal for five dancers in Hands. He used gestures to underline his words and convey the desired movements. He was relaxed, cheerful and willing to listen. "He hasn't forgotten what it's like to be in our position," said Amelia Larkin, a member of Veach's company for four years and a performer in Hands. "Tim was a performer for so many years and still dances with the company. And he's very compassionate, recognizing the toll that choreography takes on a dancer's body." But the hard work, stress and strain are worth it if the result is a collaborative piece spearheaded by Veach, she said. "Whenever we start something from scratch, there's an anticipation that it's going to be interesting and unique." mgrossberg@dispatch.com Columbus Dance Theatre artistic director Tim Veach put himself and his company on the line tonight in a program that the audience got to help choreograph -- at the performance. In a tribute to the kind of "chance" work explored by the late American composer/choreographer team of John Cage and Merce Cunningham, Veach and his seven dancers presented a concert in two parts; on the first half, they offered up 26 dance phrases labeled "A to Z" f rom which the crowd could pick its favorites; on the second Veach invented a new work based on the winning choices. The audience also got to choose the music that went along with the choreography. On hand to provide that dimension live was the Carpe Diem String Quartet, led by Columbus Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Charles Wetherbee. After playing excerpts of suitable works by three composers, the musicians stood by as listeners voted for the winner a tango by Astor Piazzola. Then it was up to Veach to put the new work together. The selections the audience picked included phrases for both solo dancers and the corps. Fisher Theatre is not a large space, but the company made the most of every available inch. While pessimists might react with a grumpy "who needs this kind of stress?", those fascinated by the creative process probably welcomed the opportunity to bring order to chaos and have a bird's-eye view on artists making new art. Impressive as Veach's instantaneous invention was, the ability of his dancers to learn, remember and then dance the new work on the spot was equally so. Professional dancers routinely memorize and then perform large quantities of material in a very brief span of time. But making "alphabet soup" out of more than two-dozen "letters" in front of an audience is a kind of bravery most of us klutzes can't imagine. Ballet goes step beyond classic seasonal fairy tale For The Columbus Dispatch "It's the holiday tradition for our organization," said Tim Veach, founder of the contemporary ballet company, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary of performing Matchgirl. "I'm really thrilled how people come back year after year." Veach, the group's choreographer, drew his inspiration from The Little Match Girl, written in the mid-19th century by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The Little Match Girl centers on a poor girl sent out on the street by her harsh father to sell matches on New Year's Eve. "She's very cold, so she starts to strike matches," Veach explained. "Each time she strikes a match, she has a vision -- a vision of a warm fire, a vision of a banquet where the food comes to life. She has a vision of her grandmother, who is dead, who takes her away to heaven." The end of the story, Veach noted, is very sad: "People ignored her, and she dies in the cold. But her grandmother takes her away." That ending, though, serves as the first act of Veach's ballet. In the second act -- which "looks very different," he said -- the girl arrives in paradise. "Costumes and scenery are time-nebulous because there is no time in paradise," he said. "All the people on earth who treated her badly dance for her. And she forgives them." About 60 adult and youth dancers, including the company's eight professionals and two apprentices, appear in the show. The children come from the School of Columbus Dance Theatre. Todd VanSlambrouck, a troupe member who dances the role of Death, called the work challenging but satisfying. "The true trademark of a great work is to communicate something clearly and effectively," he said. "And Tim has done this." The ballet uses video projections of scenes from the traditional story and selected text from Andersen's tale. Music by American composer Aaron Copland accompanies the first act; and a magnificat written by contemporary English composer John Rutter, the second. Each year, Veach adjusts the choreography based on the skill of his dancers. "You have to know the whole story inside and out, so you can be the right character," said Gabrielle Barton, performing the title role. "As Matchgirl, even though you die," she said, "you have the second act where you come back. "It's a good journey to go on." billmayr@mac.com Women take a look at gender with choreography project
Thursday, May 13, 2010 2:53 AM
FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
By Bill Mayr
Published:
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Combine a classic fairy tale with contemporary social commentary; then blend poverty and death with forgiveness and redemption. These components form the story of Matchgirl, to be performed Friday and Saturday by Columbus Dance Theatre.
COLUMBUS – Hansel and Gretel, Opera/Columbus, 12/17/05
Hansel and Gretel is often presented just as a visual treat for children, but Opera/Columbus’s English-language performance at Mershon Auditorium had a treat for the adults as well: extraordinarily high musical standards (seen Dec. 17). The flat, painted two-dimensional scenery from The North Carolina School of the Arts was serviceable but hardly magical. The magic was left to the roustabout staging by John Hoomes and, particularly, to the glorious ballet for “The Dream Pantomime” provided by Columbus Dance Theatre. Choreographer Tim Veach involved the sleeping Hansel and Gretel by doubling them with dancing counterparts (amazingly talented teens Judson Veach and Carrie Deyo) clad similarly to the three adult soloists (Graham McMonagle, Roberta Taylor, Myvonwynn Hopton) and corps. They looked a bit more like classical Greeks than Renaissance angels, but all were involved in a complex outburst of spellbinding dance.
As Hansel, Jennifer Rivera combined strong vocalism — smoothly focused, with plenty of warmth and character — with a bold boyish swagger and more than a touch of seriousness. Sari Gruber’s Gretel, all touching simplicity, sincerity and innocence, was sung with a soft vocal gleam, handsomely blending with Rivera in an exquisite prayer.
In a nice touch of Freudian psychology, Jean Stilwell was cast as both Mother and Witch. As the Mother her singing was much too rough and tough, with wobble and wail, attributes that were perfect for her hilarious Witch. Kristopher Irmiter’s Father was solidly sung, jovial in character. Laura Portune doubled nicely as the Sandman and the Dewfairy. OC’s forty-member Youth Chorus (prepared by Carrie J. Clogg) was vocally apt and parent-pleasingly cute as good be.
A few horn bloopers aside, the Columbus Symphony played with rich, broad tone, strongly guided through the complexities by James Meena.
CHARLES H. PARSONS
REVIEW
DANCE REVIEW | COLUMBUS DANCE THEATRE
ABUNDANCE OF TALENT CARRIES PIECES
Published: Saturday, March 19, 2005
FEATURES - LIFE 04C
By Barbara Zuck
THE COLUMBUS
* The "New Dance Project'' will be repeated at 8 tonight in the Columbus Dance Theatre, 592 E. Main St. Tickets cost $20, or $10 for students. Call 614-849-0227.
Good professional dancers have never been limited to the major institutions in
If the quality of the performances sometimes outpaced that of the pieces, it gave this concert something in common with many others in the world of contemporary music and dance. In a few cases, one wished the choreographers had answered the questions, "What do I really want to accomplish, what do I really want to say, in this work?'' with more focus and purpose. Lovely movement to lovely music isn't always enough.
Alan Hineline's RE: Schumann tied movement to music but not slavishly, and it functioned one notch below the hyperemotionalism of this composer's style. The dancers worked hard but projected lightness as they moved fluidly on and off the dance floor. The choreographer's skill at using space and connecting material was evident. Graham McMonagle of Columbus Dance Theatre took his dancing furthest expressively and musically, especially in a spellbinding solo.
The most intriguing work of the night was Presence of Memory, created for the Nordic Star Dance Theatre of Estonia by Kennet Oberly. Suggesting that life, and perhaps our minds, proceed at several levels simultaneously, the work began with a defined foreground and background and then began to play between the two.
The female leads, Megan Spain and especially Larissa Sintsova (formerly of the
Myvonwynn Hopton and McMonagle made a stunning pair in Hopton's The Necklace. Hopton's short-story ballet within a waltz scene evoked the joy and pain of stolen moments of forbidden romance.
Barbara Thatcher's Duo was beautifully performed by Briona Goldsby and Hopton. Here, the obvious use of mirrored movement and sequence failed to develop into something tangible.
The finale, by Columbus Dance Theatre Artistic Director Tim Veach -- O Magnum Mysterium -- was an admirable alignment of materials. To a brief choral work by Morten Lauridsen (a recorded performance by the First Community Church Choir) Veach's work evoked spirituality and the significance of faith in our lives.
REVIEW
DANCE REVIEW | MATCHGIRL
DANCE THEATRE BALLET REMAINS UPLIFTING
Published: Saturday, October 16, 2004
FEATURES - LIFE 04C
By Julia Osborne
FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Five years ago, Tim Veach, artistic director of the Columbus Dance Theatre, was searching for a story ballet for his company. His wife, Christine Kirk, drama professor at Otterbein College, suggested he start with Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl.
The result was Matchgirl, a stirring and spiritual ballet now in its fifth year of annual performances. The work was danced at the Riffe Center's Capitol Theatre last night before an audience of about 300, with additional performances today.
Veach choreographed the work as well as dancing one of the principal roles in the second act.
In Andersen's tale, a penniless child is reduced to selling matches to survive. She lights three matches, and has three wonderful visions.
Veach follows this story line fairly closely for the first act. The title character, danced yesterday by talented apprentice Alexandra Napoli, is clad in a ragged dress, selling matches to provide money to a shiftless, callous father. (Napoli also performs this evening, while Erin Hopkin dances the role this afternoon.)
Her first lighted match brings Veach's interpretation of chestnuts in an open fire -- the flame portrayed by apprentice Alla Kochergina in dazzling orange tulle, while Columbus Dance Theatre students in brown pants and tops roll and crept as chestnuts. A second match strike brings another grand scene, with more students portraying lively fruits and vegetables, as well as an irrepressible goose, all at a holiday feast.
The last match illuminates the arrival of the girl's grandmother, danced by company member Patricia Chambers, complete with languid moves and a beatific smile as she escorts the child to heaven.
Andersen thought that story was enough. Veach didn't, and added a second act set in heaven. The contemporary liturgical music of John Rutter accompanies seven scenes, featuring the girl's arrival in heaven and the ultimate joy that awaits her.
Roberta Taylor offered another jubilant performance as the girl's mother.
This is where symbolism overtakes plot: Just who are those three white-clad men dancing with the matchgirl? And what of the first scene's character who appears shamed until the matchgirl sets things right?
The story line provides a deep dose of reality and religion, with an emphasis on solid family values. Those who like their ballets frothy and free from controversy and conflict should look elsewhere.
DOWNTOWN STILL THE PLACE TO 'ARRIVE'
Published: Sunday, June 4, 2006
FEATURES - THE ARTS 01H
By Barbara Zuck
The Columbus Dispatch
Performing Downtown.
For decades, it has been the dream of almost every central Ohio artist or arts organization looking for respectability, recognition and permanence.
It still is.
"Downtown is the place to see the fine arts," says Kristina Isabelle, artistic director of High-Jinks Dance Company. "Ultimately, it is necessary for our growth and expansion as a new arts organization and to put work in the public consciousness, which is where our dance needs to be."
Right now, Downtown Columbus isn't what it used to be -- or probably will be 10 years from now, if the proliferation of pricey condos is any indication.
But even as commerce erodes around Capitol Square -- the Columbus City Center mall is on the ropes, and former retail giant Lazarus has closed -- performing Downtown still equates with having arrived.
"The glorious-to-good venues, professional crews and accessibility continue to make performing Downtown appealing," said Karen Bell, dean of the Ohio State University College of the Arts.
OSU music and dance students collaborate on an annual "Drums Downtown" program at the Riffe Center's Capitol Theatre; the performances routinely sell out. The OSU Dance Department presents "Dance Downtown" each year at the same venue. The college will be seeking exhibition space for its visual-arts students when the renovated Lazarus building opens sometime next year.
Two small professional music groups -- the Columbus Bach Ensemble and the Lancaster Chorale -- made their Southern Theatre debuts this season.
"Although there is an element of pressure to performing in a venue with an audience accustomed to high professional standards, our philosophy for preparations has always been to work for perfection," said Robert Trocchia, founder and director of the Lancaster Chorale. "But . . . it is a lot more expensive."
The chorale typically performs in Lancaster churches or other venues where fees range from zero to minimal. Performing at the Southern costs the group $7,500, adding about 10 percent to its annual budget of $70,000 to $80,000.
The Bach Ensemble's Southern Theatre performance added about $5,000 to its $100,000 annual budget.
But, Trocchia said, "I think a community sees this as an upward and positive move.
"One could compare -- although I'm painfully aware of the difference in scope -- with the Columbus Symphony going to New York City: same idea, lesser degree."
The Bach Ensemble's Downtown debut paid an unexpected dividend: a nomination for the Greater Columbus Arts Council's 2006 Artistic Excellence award. The group didn't win, but "Adding the Southern Theatre to our season is terrific, as it reaches new audiences and gives us an opportunity to work in a different acoustic environment," said founder and director Christine Mortine.
For the growing number of small dance companies, theaters such as the Capitol and Southern might as well be Carnegie Hall: They're out of reach. But such groups can still find Downtown exposure without risking financial ruin.
Several years ago, Columbus Dance Theatre relocated from a school facility in Upper Arlington to a combined studio and performance space at 592 E. Main St. The small organization, founded and directed by Tim Veach, then welcomed other small companies, including High-Jinks Dance Company, the Grimaldi Circus and Columbus Movement Movement.
A week of rehearsals and performances costs only $750 -- less than leasing any of the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts facilities for a single night.
Veach's own company, Tim Veach Dance, has completed its third season at the location, which has helped the company develop its audience, raise its profile and boost the quality of performances.
"The arts are central to the economic and cultural stability of any urban center," Veach said. "The arts bind a community together and create a sense of place.
"We go to performances in the Downtown, and in so doing we create a place where people live, not just work."
Barbara Zuck is Dispatch arts columnist and senior critic.
ORGANIZATION TO STAGE 7 EVENTS IN NEW SEASON
Published: Sunday, June 25, 2006
FEATURES - ARTS 02H
By Barbara Zuck
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Columbus Dance Theatre -- an umbrella organization that includes a dance company, school and performance space -- will produce or co-produce six dance programs and collaborate on a multimedia event next season. Most of the organization's season will take place at its headquarters at 592 E. Main St. in the Market District. The season-ending collaboration will be performed at First Community Church on Dublin Road, founder and Director Tim Veach said. Highlights include a program made up exclusively of works for solo dancers; reprise stagings of Ten Cents a Dance, an unusual work with a live cabaret singer; reprise performances of Matchgirl, a theatrical ballet by Veach based on the Hans Christian Andersen story; and a major project built on the theme of "peace" and involving multiple artists and companies.
Creative disciplines to explore hopes for a peaceful world
Sunday, April 15, 2007 3:33 AM
By Barbara Zuck
THE
Performing in Peace: dancers Amelia Larkin, front, and Pete Lay (Columbus Dance Theatre); musicians, from left, Korine Fujiwara and Robert Firdman (Carpe Diem String Quartet), conductor Ronald Jenkins (First Community Church Chamber Singers) and Wendy Morton and Charles Wetherbee (Carpe Diem String Quartet); and, right, actress Christina Kirk
More than 40 artists representing four disciplines will come together in the name of peace next weekend.
Two performances of the program Peace will be offered Saturday and next Sunday at the North Campus of First Community Church.
"I've been very concerned about world events and the cycle of violence we seem unable to end," organizer Tim Veach said.
The program isn't a political gathering, nor is it a protest concert.
"It's a positive event," he said. "It's pro-peace."
Veach is choreographer and artistic director of Columbus Dance Theatre, a contemporary company with a foundation in ballet. Peace brings together Veach's dance troupe; the Chamber Singers of First Community Church, conducted by Ronald Jenkins; the Carpe Diem String Quartet with violinist Charles Wetherbee; and actress Christina Kirk, a theater professor at
The repertoire was selected to explore both the "dark and the light" sides of human existence.
The program will include Veach's dance work One Second Left, an elegy to the Holocaust performed to Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 by Carpe Diem; Kirk's reading of the James Thurber children's book The Last Flower while Thurber drawings are projected on a screen; and a finale with the quartet, the singers and the dancers performing to excerpts from Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem.
"How do we as a human family find a way out of the cycle? I am not presumptuous enough to try to answer that," Veach said. "But there is at least some promise when artists voice that there is another way."
AIDS benefit
More artists will join in "The Dance Compassion Project," a benefit for the Ohio AIDS Coalition.
The event, presented by the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts and BalletMet Columbus, will be staged at 2 p.m. May 6 in the
The program will include excerpts from Jazz Moves Columbus, performed by BalletMet dancers; a performance by the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus; a new work by BalletMet dancers Adam Hundt and Annie Mallonee featuring the Carpe Diem String Quartet; performances by the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus and Opera Columbus; dance by members of Columbus Dance Theatre and Orchesis Dance Ensemble of Capital University in Bexley; and premieres of works by choreographers Justin Gibbs, Susan Hadley and Jimmy Orrante.
• Columbus Dance Theatre will present at 8 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. next Sunday at the North Campus of First Community Church,
RESIDENT PERFORMERS GRAB SPOTLIGHT
Published: Sunday, December 23, 2007
FEATURES - LIFE & ARTS 03E
By Barbara Zuck
FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH - (Article Excerpt)
Especially performances by Columbus Movement Movement, the 3-year-old dance collective, and Kristina Isabelle and HighJinks keep this venue a must destination for dance lovers.
GROUPS SHARE WEALTH FOR UPCOMING EVENTS
Published: Thursday, November 29, 2007
FEATURES - LIFE & ARTS 04D
By Michael Grossberg
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The Greater Columbus Arts Council has approved 26 Project Support grants totaling $268,491 for central Ohio groups.
The largest grant -- $61,200 -- went to Contemporary American Theatre Company for the 2007-08 productions of Crowns, The Drawer Boy and Doubt. Crowns opened Sunday in the Riffe Center.
COSI was awarded $25,500 for "Art@COSI: Phase II Tech & Innovation," a commissioned environmental work incorporating art and technology.
The ProMusica Chamber Orchestra was awarded $20,130 for the Thurber's Dogs Project, two January 2009 concerts planned in partnership with the Thurber House and Ohio State University's Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design.
Among the other grants: Opera Columbus, for The Mikado ($17,750); BalletMet, for its summer series ($17,750); the Asian Festival, for the 2008 event ($15,620); the Thurber House, for expansion of education programming ($15,300); and Ohio State University's School of Music, for the Contemporary Music Festival 2008 ($12,200).
Also: Columbus Dance Theatre, for its WOSU Performance Series ($11,895); the OSU Theater Department, for the "Midnight Robbers: The Artists of Notting Hill Carnival" exhibition ($10,714); the Ohioana Library Association, for the 2008 Ohioana Book Festival ($10,675); Women in Music, for Cantilena Concerts ($6,100); choreographer Kristina Isabelle, for Environmental Tones ($5,432); and Ohio Designer Craftsmen, for Best of 2008 ($5,202)
Guidelines, deadlines and forms can be found at www.gcac.org. The next deadline for grants is in April.
ENTERTAINING OPTIONS OFFER NEEDED BREAKS FROM BUSY SEASON
Published: Thursday, November 29, 2007
FEATURES - WEEKENDER 14
By Michele Lemmon
For The Columbus Dispatch (Article Excerpt)
From a lighthearted story about a familiar bear and a comical tale about a simple Christmas pageant to a ballet about a poor girl, families have many theatrical choices for the holidays.
Columbus Children's Theatre is reviving The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Columbus Dance Theatre is again presenting Matchgirl, and the Phoenix Theatre for Children is offering something suited to the younger set: Winnie the Pooh.
Each will have its opening tonight or Friday, in time to offer a respite from the holiday hustle.
'Matchgirl'
Columbus Dance Theatre, a professional company that presents contemporary ballet, has staged Matchgirl for eight years, according to Artistic Director Tim Veach.
"Years ago I was looking for a children's ballet," he said, "and my wife actually suggested The Little Match Girl."
So he transformed the Hans Christian Andersen tale into a two-act ballet featuring the professional dancers, the apprentices and about 40 children from the training school.
The first act -- set to the music of Aaron Copland -- follows the original closely, telling the story of a homeless, penniless girl who sells matches on the streets.
She lights three matches for warmth and, as she does so, sees visions of roasting chestnuts over a fire, of dancing fruits and vegetables at a party, and of her grandmother.
Because the story includes the death of the girl, Veach added a second act -- set in heaven to the John Rutter work Magnificat.
The little girl is taken to paradise by her grandmother, meeting her mother for the first time and enjoying a reunion with her father.
"It's a poignant story," Veach said, that raises questions for families to discuss: What if you had to go hungry? What if you didn't have everything you wanted?
"I like to connect it to the Thanksgiving season" -- a time of family connections, when folks express thanks for what they have and help others less fortunate.
"It's a lovely story," he added. "There are people who come to see it every year.
"And the kids who are in our school look forward to this production."
Love is in the Hair: Comedy brings joy, wigs to survivors
Kristen Duwe
"Love is in the Hair" is one of 10 existing Hair Theater episodes written and performed live by Pat Wynn Brown, 56. In her live performances, Brown tells true stories of her unusual and comedic love life experiences told through the evolution of her hairdos since birth. The performances are full of storytelling, acting and singing, and encourage audience participation.
"Love is in the Hair" adds a twist to Brown's typical show by including ballet dancers.
Although unusual for a comedy act to involve professional ballet dancers, Tim Veach, who choreographed all five dance numbers in the show, thinks it worked well.
"When she approached me about the concept of including dance in her show, I thought it was a great idea," Veach said. "She discusses her life and history through the show, so the dancing kind of travels a little bit through different periods of time in terms of dance styles. I think it's a really good match."
The show has been in the works since June and involves 10 of Columbus Dance Theatre's professional ballet dancers, a pianist and Brown. The show will also feature 12 volunteers who help with the show, called "Hairnettes," and three "Chippenhair" male dancers who will act and dress like Chippendale dancers and try to persuade women to donate to the Hair Theater Fund.
The Hair Theater Fund at the Columbus Foundation assists cancer patients with buying wigs and hats after hair-loss from chemotherapy. A portion of the show's proceeds are donated to the fund, as well.
The wig fund has helped 506 women receive wigs or hats in central Ohio since 2001.
"Wigs are about $350 each, so it's a really pricey thing," Brown said. "And our needs have increased dramatically with the economy."
Brown, a cancer survivor, said she has made it a personal mission to spread laughter, raise money for the wig fund and raise spirits.
"I always guarantee this: Everybody there will look like they've had cosmetic surgery because of all the laughter and joy at the show," Brown said.
Brown, who stresses that the show is not about cancer, still likes to include a message in every show encouraging women to visit the doctor regularly.
"I like to say that during every show, we save a life," Brown said. "That, to me, is worth everything because if it wasn't for early detection with me, I'd be dead."
Veach said he enjoyed working with Brown because of her vibrant presence and creativity, he said.
"She's one of the most energetic people I've ever seen," Veach said. "It's very inspiring to work with her."
Brown created Hair Theater in 2000 when she saw her hairdresser make clients feel like the movie stars they wanted to look like.
"Love is in the Hair" will be performed 8 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday at Columbus Dance Theatre at 592 E. Main St. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for students.
Columbus Dance Theatre becomes a forum for solo artists this weekend in its intriguing program "Dancing Alone," which opened last night at the Downtown performance space.
The well-known and versatile artist David Jon Krohn looks back on a few high - and low - lights from his career in Wet. Krohn's piece offers advice on how to obtain an arts grant, such as being sure to take advantage of every opportunity offered - when it's offered.
Seated with her bare back to the audience, Jessica Tupa resembles the Indian goddess Kali in her piece, Crystalline. Every bone and muscle in her torso become part of her performance as her arms slowly stretch and reach, seemingly independent of the rest of her body.
Noelle Chun's Something and Nothing proves both well-performed and somewhat quixotic. It's a clever, if self-conscious, piece that is - perhaps at this point - mercifully short.
Betsy Miller bows to an ideal of feminine beauty in Frozen Diva. The bald head of the store mannequin might have seen better days, but at least she'll never age. Miller mixes reverence and anxiety in one small spot on the stage.
With her back to the audience and weight shifting from side to side, Nicole Cafera offers a performance that is both musical and expressive in Le Pluet (The Rain). The movement vocabulary is also well-matched to the music.
Jigology by Jenai Cutcher offers brief glimpses into the brief history of tap dancing from Irish step dancing to plantation jigs. Cutcher's slow, pounding feet seem to emphasize some of the long-lived and popular style's murky history.
Todd VanSlambrouck aptly demonstrates how the meaning of a work can change in an instant in Darling, it's obviously a problem. At once funny and explosive, Darling brought gymnastics into a piece both fast-moving and seemingly spontaneous.
A program made up entirely of premieres and recent works is a bold undertaking. There was only one thing wrong with "Dancing Alone": The program was over too soon.