Dance in Chattanooga is evolving, cross-pollinating...and thriving
Across the city, dancers are creating new choreography and reviving old favorites; presenting work in media including video, theater performance and pop-up venues; and working across genres, companies and even disciplines to create new ways of moving together.
Revival without Nostalgia
Ballet has a long history in Chattanooga, long enough that companies can revive a favorite choreographer’s work and entice an audience that first saw it decades ago. Massari-Wood Dance Center, Chattanooga Ballet and Ballet Tennessee all stage beloved Nutcrackers, of course. And Ballet Tennessee is re-staging many of Barry VanCura’s works, such as A Christmas Carol and Dream Awake.
“One of the many gifts Barry VanCura brought to the dance world is his choreography,” says Anna Baker-VanCura, executive/artistic director of Ballet Tennessee. That work is now inspiring choreographers who danced in his productions as young people, such as Jenison Owens of BTN and WEAVE: A Conceptual Dance Company. Second-generation choreography signals a mature dance community, in which influences travel from generation to generation.
Collaboration: More Than the Sum of Our Parts
Some collaborations take place behind the scenes. Light and sound artists rarely get recognition, yet numerous performances dazzle due to David Wood’s improvised wizardry with light. Material arts make a difference, too.
“Chattanooga Dance Theatre produced an Alice in Wonderland this spring,” says Christine Mashburn-Paul of CDT. “The use of props helped Alice grow and shrink. The river of tears was also really unique, with huge sheets of fabric stretching across the stage.”
Other times, collaborations mingle genres (ballet and hip hop; jazz and bellydance) into new fused forms. Shows have combined companies, or brought together performers from across the community. Most interesting, Chattanooga artists have been stepping across boundaries to marry dance with visual arts, spoken word, culinary arts—as well as the more traditional pairings of dance with drama and music—to make innovative works.
Yet, audiences may still think of dance as siloed or precious. Some dancers and studio owners long for additional collaboration.
“The Chattanooga dance community is very segregated,” says Stacey Nolan, bellydance director and co-owner at Movement Arts Collective. “It seems each of the dance styles keep to themselves, and there’s little cross-over between the classic forms, the cultural forms and the more circus-based art forms.”
“I believe we limit the way we experience the arts, which ultimately limits the way we engage and think about them,” is how Ann Law, founder and co-artistic director of Barking Legs Theater and director of Full Circle TAP (Teaching Artists Program), the educational outreach arm of Barking Legs Theater, describes the problem. “To create art that fosters collaborations, and inspires thought and eventually change, has always been one of my goals as a dance artist.”
Instructional programs at Barking Legs have led to many fertile collaborations, and Barking Legs is still a hotbed of genre dalliance. This year, the theater has hosted collaborative shows including The Road, a dance-centered showcase exploring themes of recovery, and Asylum, a listening party in which dancers and movement artists illustrate the spoken word and the music.
Elsewhere in the city, companies like WEAVE mingle genres freely, creating fusions between such diverse forms as hip hop and ballet. And The Pop-up Project brings together jazz-era music, modern and bellydance with locations around town, marrying dance with history and architecture.
Dances That Mean Something
In Chattanooga, when we dance, we often do it to manifest an inner truth. Dancers perform their feelings about social causes or use the form to battle personal demons. For instance, the belly dance troupe Mirabai Belly Dance from Movement Arts Collective will be performing for Tennessee Valley Pridefest this fall, Stacey says.
Chattanooga Dance Lab is a new program designed to support nonprofits, writes Alexis McGann, a troupe member.
“[We are a] volunteer-based group of adult dancers who support the nonprofit community with themes performances for their fundraisers,” she says. Dance Lab also supports the arts through producing music videos to support local talent, such as singer/songwriter Kindora.
“The marriage of local music and local dance is perfect and when a great videographer or photographer captures it all: wow!” says Alexis.Where to Find Dance in Chattanooga
As Chattanooga’s dance scene grows, it faces challenges. Promotion is a big one. Big touring events that come to the Tivoli or Memorial Auditorium arrive on the wake of advertising dollars; local performances must self-promote.
So, come see Chattanooga dance. If you don’t know where to start, try hip hop.
“I’ve had the opportunity to watch Commix Dance Crew a few times this year, and I love everything they do,” says Jules Downum, co-director of The Pop-up Project. “They are great dancers and performers and bring so much energy to everything they do.”You can even have dancers come to you.
“Greek Night at Portofino’s offers belly dancing along with live music by Grecian Echoes,” says Jillanna Babb, professional belly dancer and owner of Moon Haven Studio. “My dance troupes are always looking for events.”
If you see enough dance, you may want to start moving, too. Chattanooga’s dancers will welcome you.
“Most of the studios, groups and individuals have been friendly, supportive and enthusiastic,” Jilliana says. “Audiences have been welcoming and inspiring. I think we [as a dance community] need to stay the same, but just keep growing!”
“The dance community in Chattanooga is vibrant,” Anna says. “It upholds the history of ballet, modern and jazz dance through high quality choreographers and performers. Yet it embraces new and innovative ideas in how to use dance to express.”
Express what? Anything. Everything.