Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Creatures and cryptids invade with dance

Footlight Dance Company to perform outreach tour


By SABINA DANA PLASSE
Express Staff Writer

Courtesy photo by Aubrey Stephens Footlight Dance Company dancers present an interpretation of “Creatures” inspired by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts’ multidisciplinary exhibition.

Footlight Dance Company has been hard at work to perfect its newest production, "Creatures/Cryptids." Under the artistic direction of Hilarie Neely, the senior company of Footlight Dance will perform in an outreach tour for the Blaine County School District from Jan. 21-Feb. 4. The company of 20 dancers will present a free professional educational tour of dance. In all, the company will perform eight shows. The company includes 16 dancers from Wood River High School, three from Wood River Middle School and one from the Community School.

The dancers at Footlight have performed for more than 50,000 students in its many years of dance performances. The mission of the Footlight Dance Company is to expose dance and other collaborating art forms in an exciting and educational setting to help expose children to the arts.

In addition, the company will collaborate with the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in its multidisciplinary exhibition, "Creatures: From Bigfoot to Yeti Crab." Dance programs at the Footlight Dance Company for adults and students will include inspiration from the exhibition's cryptids and creatures that are believed to exist but have never been proven to exist. The Footlight dancers will interpret ideas about these mythic creatures through ballet, modern, jazz, tap and hip-hop dance forms.

The first performance of "Creatures/Cryptids" will be a collaboration with the group On Ensemble a musical group that uses the ancient instruments of taiko, a form of Japanese drum. On Ensemble performs taiko with a modern interpretation, bringing this ancient drumming into the 21st century with addition of hip-hop and electronica music. On Ensemble will take part in a residency in the Wood River Valley schools Jan. 20-21.

On Friday, Jan. 21, at the Wood River High School in Hailey at 8:45 a.m., Footlight dancers and On Ensemble will perform three pieces choreographed by Footlight faculty members Anne Winton, Julie Fox-Jones, Shellrae Garnes and Neely. In addition, other dance performances include choreography by Michele Minailo, Dantzel Cherry and Jaime Moore.

Other performances by the Footlight dancers will take place at Hailey Elementary School on Tuesday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m. and Carey School on Thursday, Jan. 27, at 9:45 a.m. and on the same day at Woodside Elementary School at 1 p.m. The dancers will perform at the Community School in Sun Valley on Friday, Jan. 28, at 9:45 a.m. and on the same day at Bellevue Elementary School at 1:15 p.m. On Monday, Jan. 31, at 8:15 a.m., the dancers will perform at Hemingway Elementary School. A final tour performance will take place at Wood River Middle School on Friday, Feb. 5, at 2:10 p.m.

Sabina Dana Plasse: splasse@mtexpress.com




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