Dancing for Dollars: Lineage Dance Stops in Houston to Raise Funds for MD Anderson

Lineage Dance

Hilary Thomas is the artistic director of Linage Dance, an unusual modern dance company based in Pasadena, California. They travel around the country raising money for charitable organizations. This weekend they will be performing in Northwest Houston to raise funds for MD Anderson Cancer Center. Thomas caught us up on the hows and whys of dancing to raise bucks.

How did you get the idea of doing fundraising dance company? Most dance companies need to fundraise to stay afloat themselves?

HT: Growing up in Pasadena, my parents were always very involved with local charities. I wanted to get involved in something similar, but I knew that I had no money to offer. The only thing I could offer was my dancing. In 1999 I decided to put on a benefit performance for an organization called "Young and Healthy." It was very successful and led to another benefit performance and then another. I established the company soon after and we haven't stopped since. In the fall of 2005 we celebrated our 100th performance.

How do you pick the organizations to help? Do you each have favorite causes?

HT: There is such an abundance of worthy causes out there. Sometimes we approach the organization and sometimes they contact us. Because our current tour focuses specifically on breast cancer, most of our recent organizations have been breast cancer/health related.

You mention that you want to expose people to modern dance. And, you are right in thinking that most average Americans have not heard or seen much in the way of this artform. What kind of feedback do you get from these new audiences?

HT: Because we rarely perform for typical dance audiences, many people who come to our shows have never seen modern dance before. Often we hear things like, "I only came to support the organization," or "my wife dragged me to the show." But they leave saying, "if only I had known how great it was going to be, I would have brought more people with me." Our audiences usually leave feeling quite excited about dance.

Can you explain the details of how a fundraising dance company works? You mention that after expenses are taken out of the take the rest goes to the designated charity. How do you keep your costs minimal so you have money to give?

HT: Each performance is set up differently. Everything depends on the size of the organization, the venue, and how far we've traveled to get there. Aside from covering our costs for each performance, we rely on grants and private donations. We still need to fundraise for ourselves like every other dance company out there.

Tell us how a dance company from Pasadena, California ended up in suburban Houston?

HT: The vice president of the board of the Houston Family Arts Center is the sister of one of my dancers. This is our first show in Houston, so we are very excited.

Does your concert usually relate to the charity? Tell us about the show this weekend.

HT: This tour of Healing Blue is the first time that our show has directly related to the charity. I interviewed seven women across the country who have battled breast cancer and created dances inspired by their stories. Their interviews will be projected behind the dancers throughout the show. Healing Blue premiered at the Pasadena civic in November 2005 and we were able to donate $28,000 to two local breast cancer centers. We’re so excited to raise money for MD Anderson because one of the women interviewed in Healing Blue mentions that MD Anderson is one of the greatest cancer centers in the country, so we thought it would be a perfect connection.

What's next for your company?

HT: Our 2006-2007 season consists of mostly local performances until next summer when we will tour again. We are currently working on our next show, Dancing Through the Ages, which is a study of people in different stages of their lives and their experience of aging. The performance is set to premiere in Pasadena in February.

Thanks for the chat and we wish you the best of luck on your endeavors.

Linage Dance Company presents Healing Blue on August 4th and 5th at 7:30 pm, a benefit for MD Anderson Cancer Center at the Houston Family Arts Center, Liberty Revival Church, 16200 State Hwy 249, Tickets are $10.

www.lineagedance.org

http://www.houstonfac.com

Dancing in the Dark: Melissa Pritchett on her Role in the Alley's BLACK COMEDY

Photo by Jessica Kourkounis
Melissa Pritchett as Clea and Jeffrey Bean as Harold Gorringe in Peter Shaffer’s Black Comedy.

Melissa Pritchett made the transition from dancer to actor with grace and flair. A former principal at Longview Ballet Theatre, she also holds a B. F. A. from Sam Houston State University. At the moment, she is staring as Clea, the surprise girlfriend, in the Alley Theatre’s hilarious farce Black Comedy. She took the time to talk about her role and the big switch from dance to theater.

First off, congratulations on a super fun performance as Clea in Black Comedy and thank you for taking the time to speak with the Houston dance community. Can you tell us a bit about your path from dance to theater?

MP: Unfortunately, in the ballet world you know by age fifteen if you can make a career out of it. At first, I was devastated to have to give up my dream of being a ballerina, but fortunately I had a fantastic high school theatre teacher who helped me out a lot. I owe so much to her.

The premise of Black Comedy is so simple yet works so well. (For those of you that haven’t seen the show yet, the audience can see but the performers cannot.) How did you practice pretending to move in the dark?

MP: I actually walked around my house with the lights off for awhile. It's funny how easily you forget where things are. Ironically, in real life, I'm totally afraid of the dark.

One thing I noticed is how clumsy everyone got, which really tells us just how much our vision is linked to coordination. You were the least clumsy. Was that intentional or are you just good at moving in the dark?

MP: The idea was basically that Clea is so crafty it's almost like she can see in the dark. She's like a cat. I also think she just listens better than everyone else.

How did you think your dance training helped you in this role?

MP: It's a very physical show and I think my dancer's instincts really came out in the movement. I actually do a pretty in-depth physical warm-up every night before the show.

I noticed that the performers actually get better at moving in the dark as the play progresses. At some point they start doing these sweeping modern dance movements as a more efficient way of trying to tell what’s in front of them. It’s very funny. Who knew modern dance would be so useful in the dark. Did you notice this?

MP: Yes, a good Graham spiral is always helpful when you can't find the rocking chair.

What’s fun for you in physical comedy?
MP: I like the timing, when it's really on it has a very musical quality.

With a background in musical theater you must have to keep your triple threat skills up. How do you train for the work you do at this point in your career?

MP: I am a dance teacher, so the kids keep me on my toes. I teach creative movement to children ages 3-6, so there's a lot of acting involved in my classes. I would love to take classes for myself, but I never seem to have the time. Hopefully, I can make that happen more next season.

Is there anything you miss about being a ballet dancer? What’s the biggest difference for you between being a dancer and an actor?

MP: I miss everything about being a ballet dancer. I even miss the pointe shoes. Mostly, I think I miss the meditative quality of really good barre work. I have yet to find anything that can focus and calm me quite like that. It's very zen. I don't find much of a difference between dancing and acting. You prepare for the roles in a different way, but in the end, you just have to focus and hope that your muscle memory is good enough to get all the steps right so that all you have to think about is putting the emotion behind them.

When can Houston audiences look forward to seeing you next?
MP: I will be playing Ursula in the Alley's Much Ado About Nothing in the fall. Then, I have a few more things lined up with them throughout the season. Right now, I'm looking forward to a nice long break in August. I feel like I haven't had a day off in about a year!

Black Comedy continues at the Alley until august 6th. Call713-228-8421 or visit http://www.alleytheatre.org/

Comings, Goings, and Comebacks on the Houston Dance Scene

Fly Dance Company

Dance companies do not last forever, and Houston has seen a fare share of them come and go. Over the past few years Houston has seen Weave Dance Company and Chrysalis close their doors. Money, personnel, a lack of local support, and a shift of artistic vision all contribute to these difficult decisions. The most recent loss—Fly Dance Company—was a favorite in Houston and throughout the US. Fly was the brainchild of choreographer Kathy Wood, who cleverly combined her keen choreographic eye with a group of hip-hop dancers. “My hat goes off big time to Kathy and Mike Wood,” says Linda Phenix, the former co-director of Chrysalis. “They worked their fingers to the bone and provided incredible opportunities to many young men over the years.” Fly was the subject of a major feature last summer in The New York Times and a feature in Dance Magazine.

Fly’s Board of Directors named the physical demands of a hectic touring schedule and continued financial losses as the key reasons to cease operations. “We regret the loss of FLY’s social impact, which we think has been considerable, through both its concerts and outreach activities,” says Mike Wood, the company’s manager. “We believe that FLY has been a positive life experience for its dancers in setting goals, working hard to achieve them, traveling, and meeting all kinds of people.” Fly has much to be proud of, including performing over 60 concerts and 100 outreach shows yearly in the Houston area and throughout the U.S, 10 sold-out concerts for the Kennedy Center, two concert performances for the Lincoln Center, the Vail International Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, and concerts at over 100 performing arts venues in Texas, across the US, and Europe. Without a doubt Fly will be missed.


Amy Cain, Jennifer Stricklin, and Dawn Dippel of Revolve Dance Company
Photo by Billy Ocel

According to Andrea Synder, Executive Director of Dance USA, the number of dance companies in the U.S. is not on the decline. As old companies close shop, new ones emerge. Such is the case with Houston, as several new players have hit the dance streets. Revolve Dance Company, based in Spring at North Harris Performing Arts (NHPA) dance studio, is picking up steam. Just two years old, this ambitious group of dancers plans to expand in the upcoming season. Two of the lead dancers, Amy Cain and Dawn Dippel, recently danced the roles of the sexy gypsies in Dominic Walsh’s Romeo & Juliet. Under the director of Ken McCulloch, Revolve fuses ballet, hip-hop, and jazz to create fun and entertaining dances. The company has a concert planned for October at Montgomery College and was invited to participate in Choreographers X 6 as part of Dance Month. "When we started NHPA in 1994 we included a professional company in our vision," says Cain, one of the group's dancers and choreographers. "We wanted a place for our Senior Performance Company members, who have worked their way up through our program, to land professionally both as a performer and as an instructor/choreographer at NHPA."

Also making a mark on the scene is Rebekah French of Frenticore which combines film, dance, and text in multi-media works. According to FrenetiCore directors, choreographer French and Robert Thoth, the mission is two-fold, “to provide a collaborative link between multiple art forms, and to provide the community at large with engaging, middle-brow original works that appeal to a broad audience.” FrentiCore calls itself a “brave little dance group that entertains dance enthusiasts and non-dance audiences alike with a combination of plot-based movement and filmic narrative.” Now based in their very own theater and rehearsal space, the group is building momentum. "No one else in Houston is doing contemporary dance/physical theater with a multi-media approach,” says French. “That's the kind of dance I like to see--dance that engages the audience in a story, and challenges their minds while entertaining them; that's what I want to give Houston audiences." This past season FrentiCore collaborated with Bobbindoctrin in Danse Macabre, and presented Bedlam, a new dance theater work in their new theater.


Toni Valle in Cracked
Photo by David Brown

The climate for dance companies may be rough, yet several independent choreographers are making strides without the “institutional” baggage. Toni Valle and Roxanne Claire have both been awarded prestigious DiverseWorks residencies for the 06/07 season. Both are mothers that have re-emerged on the scene with renewed vitality. Valle’s new work, Cracked, is a painful but endearing tribute to nakedness and self-image, sex and surrender. Claire, who has spent the past decade running a dance school and raising two children, is back at work making dances. “Paris/GE is an exploration of my memories of living in Paris and Geneva, a time of my life that was both ‘the best of times and the worst of times,’" says Claire. “It is in the tension between love and loneliness, desire and despair that we find our center, our inner compass.” She showed a riveting section from the dance last year at the Big Range Dance Festival and some of the film work at DiverseWorks as part of Monday Night Footfall.


Farrell Dyde
Photo by Scott Angle

Not everybody is coming or going—some dance folks have nine lives. You might call Farrell Dyde the comeback dance kid. He has been on and off the scene for the past few decades. He started The Farrell Dyde Dance Theatre in 1980 which evolved into Novodada Dance Theatre in 1991. With 100 works under his belt, (two for the Houston Ballet), Dyde decided he just couldn’t quit Houston dance. This July you can find him performing Persona Non Gratis, an hour-long dance theatre work depicting three distinct aspects of the same person, at Barnvelder. “I have tried a lot of different approaches, including involving the entire dance community in my efforts. I have spent time in New York working as a fundraiser for Lar Lubovitch in order to get a better sense of how the business is done there,” says Dyde. “It is still an uphill battle, but I am here not only to get my own company together, but also to offer support to the rest of the dance community for efforts that I feel connect to my sense of mainstream dance history.”

Change is inevitable in any performing art scene. Sure it was a major loss to have Weave Dance Company end. But, then again, one of the founding members has graduated from Harvard School of Education, while two other members are leading dancers with Hope Stone. Linda Phenix of Chrysalis is flexing her directing muscles and has gotten positive reviews for her work with Theatre Lab. Her co-director, Chris Lidvall, is Houston’s leading Alexander Technique teacher.

What future lies ahead for Kathy and Mike Wood and the fabulous members of Fly is uncertain. Houston has not seen the last of their many talents. In fact, at this very minute Kathy Wood is at work on a new musical, and some of the dancers are in the process of forming a new group. As difficult as it is to see a dance company close its doors, it’s part of a healthy dance ecology to support and welcome change.

Reprinted from artshouston