A Festival Grows in Houston: Andrea Cody on Dance Houston

Dance Force Productions in Dance Houston
Photo by Amitava Sarkar

Andrea Cody grew up dancing at the Houston Ballet Academy, the Houston Swing Dance Society, and all-ages nightclubs. She studied dance, business, and literature at The University of Chicago where she earned her BA. As much as she loved Chicago, the weather caught up to her, so she moved back to Houston with a mission to make her hometown a more vibrant place. She started Dance Houston shortly after landing back in Houston.

Why did you start Dance Houston?
AC: When I lived in Chicago, I got turned onto the coolest dance show I’d ever seen: Dance Chicago. It’s a 5-week festival of dance concerts, and the most popular concert in the festival was the one that had over a dozen companies of different styles in one presentation. Upon returning to Houston, I enjoyed the modern and world dance festivals here, yet I quickly noticed that there was one awesome show that this city lacked--one with all the different styles at once—my favorite one—and so Dance Houston began.

University of Chicago is pretty heady place. How did your business studies help in the management of Dance Houston?
I utilize the knowledge i picked up in college to make business decisions and plans. I can't imagine running Dance Houston without a good understanding of entrepreneurship, economic laws, and marketing.

How do you see yourself as a maverick in this community?
AC: I guess the norm in dance is to devote yourself to one style or company. For me, as long as it's dance and it's in Houston, I’m there.

How do groups get on the bill?
AC: the groups apply by sending in basic info on their company, ideas for a piece in the show, and a video of their work. The applications are reviewed by Dance Houston’s artistic advisory board which selects the best representatives from the various genres of dance.

What’s exciting for you to have so much dance at one event?
AC: Dance festivals are a great way of celebrating dance as a highly expressive, versatile, and progressive form of art. Every dance company is proud of their signature style, and a showcase format emphasizes their uniqueness and pushes them to represent it to the best of their ability. The range of diverse cultures that come together to produce and watch this event is what i derive the deepest sense of accomplishment from.

Is it wild backstage?
AC: In the wings, you could hear a pin drop. In the dressing room, it's the craziest party I’ve ever seen - a 72-hour dance marathon starring the best dancers in the city.

Do the performers get to know each other?
AC: They sure do, because everyone shares the love of dance and watches each other perform, striking up a conversation and making new friends couldn't be easier. There’s also a lot of cross-pollination among the groups because the dancers buzz back and forth between groups throughout the year, so backstage at Dance Houston is a place to make new friends and reconnect with old ones.

Do you hope that some of these groups will become each other's future audiences? It sure would be cool if that happened.
AC: Yes, it is cool because they already do that to a fair extent. In reviewing the ticket sales reports from many of our participating companies, I’ve found that a significant amount of both the dancers and audience members at Dance Houston follow their favorite companies throughout the season. I’d like to see more of it in the future, but it's been a good start.

How do you know the dance scene so well?
AC: I’m just a big fan.

Do you think the success of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE will affect your attendance?
AC: It'll be hard to tell since Dance Houston’s annual festival has always sold out. However, those who do come who have been watching the show should have a better eye for the unique qualities of each dance style and what to watch for to determine whether or not those styles are being performed well.

Will people that voted for Benji be happy with the show?
AC: people who love fun, energetic dancers will not be able to sit still in their seats.

What do you do for a day job?
AC: I devote most of my waking hours to running Dance Houston and volunteering in the dance community, but I pay the bills by teaching dance a few hours a week.

Tell us about the peer review process you have going for the performance. Will the groups get to pick who reviews or is it anonymous?
AC: Each company receives feedback from two reviewers who are professionals in the dance industry. The reviewers get to pick who they want to review and then sign their reviews so it's not anonymous.

Are you dancing in the show? If so, however do you do that and manage it all?
AC: I have my production staff run tech and dress rehearsals, so I don't have much left on my to-do list once we get in the theater. I’m not sure yet if I’ll be dancing this weekend. Easy Credit might need some bodies to ebb and flow in a tide, so I’ll roll onto the stage for that if I need to.

Do you plan on more theme shows like Dance Houston Does Houston?
AC: We'll present some themed performances this year, but not another choreographer's project for awhile.

What’s next for Dance Houston?
AC: A holiday kid's show in December and a Flamenco concert in March.

Any big “ahha” moments from attending the DANCE USA conference?
AC: oh, yes! When YOU were speaking, I was encouraged to recognize that the press needs news just as much as we need press, and that we should be persistent with the press because it shows how much we love what we do. Also, Dance Houston launched movers and shakers, a monthly e-newsletter, after learning about the benefits of e-newsletters.


Dance Houston, August 25th & 16th at 7:30pm, August 27th at 6pm at Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center. Call 713-315-2525 or visit http://www.thehobbycenter.org/ or
www.dancehouston.org.

ROAD TRIP: Shaw Festival

William Vickers and Nicole Underhay in Too True to be Good

I like to think I developed my naturally irreverent attitude as a critic from EES (early exposure to George Barnard Shaw.) The famed Shaw Festival was just a mere 12 years old when I started crossing the border from my hometown of Buffalo to take in Shaw’s funny but stinging plays. But alas, the dose wears off after a while, and I have found it necessary to return and update my organically subversive thinking with some fresh Shaw. What’s truly amazing about Shaw’s work is how current it feels. The ideas are as relevant today as when they were written. Truth be told, Shaw was so far ahead of his time, we still haven’t caught up.

As king of the preachy play genre, Shaw doesn’t tiptoe around in Too True to be Good (1932). Shamelessly, he even calls the third act a “sermon.” The play starts off innocently enough with a sick microbe moaning his predicament as a resident in the spoiled rich girl’s body, housed in “one of the best bedrooms in one of the best suburban villas in one of the richest cities in England.” (Shaw has much to say about spoiled rich girls in general). Enter the doting mother, whose love and overkill attention has knocked off two of her children already. Shaw himself was completely ignored by his own mother and felt she did a superior job in doing so. At one point in the play Shaw suggests that smother mothers be strangled. A burglar who is also a preacher (Blair Williams), and a nurse imposter (Kelli Fox) enter, convince our spoiled bored-out-her-mind sick girl to steal her own necklace, and escape to a world of adventure.

According to one of Shaw’s biographers, Michael Holroyd, “Shaw created the nurse, the burglar, and the patient as the trinity of the capitalist religion, sex, intelligence, and money.” The plot thickens (they always do) in the second act when the escape turns out to be as boring as living as a rich person.

Freedom isn’t all its cracked up to be. Our newly well patient (Nicole Underhay) cries, “I’m free; I am healthy; I am happy; and I am utterly miserable.” There’s a hoot of a tribute to Lawrence of Arabia (Thomas Edward Lawrence was a good chum of Shaw’s) in the character of Private Meek as a kind do-it-all military man. Shaw doesn’t get the big cannons out until the third act when the burglar’s self righteous atheist father shows up and is full of moralist babblings. He had this lapsed Unitarian quaking in her Birkenstock’s with his skewering of religious zealots, even godless ones. Shaw also gets a good whack in on the moral vacancy of postwar society. Underhay, Williams, and Fox, turn in sharp performances throughout. Andrew Bunker is hilarious as Private Alexander Trotsky Meek as is Benedict Campbell as the Colonel who would rather be working on his watercolors.



Arms and the Man, always a Shaw favorite, begins with yet another spoiled rich girl, this time in the young lady’s bedchamber in Bulgaria during a particularly nasty war. A handsome Swiss soldier seeks refuge in her care. She feeds him chocolate creams and falls in love even though she is already betrothed to the narcissist Major Sergius Saranoff (Mike Shara). The chocolate cream soldier,” brilliantly portrayed by Patrick Galligan, is the only sane character in the play. This is Shaw’s take on the fog of war. Ultimately, he was disappointed with the reception the play received when it premièred in 1894. He felt the play failed to deliver its stinging anti-war message because it’s just so funny. The Gustav Klimt inspired sets (Sue LePage) and costumes (William Schmuck) give this glistening production a noble and suitably exotic air.

The Shaw festival isn’t just about GBS, but also includes plays written during his lifetime or that comment about this time in history. I also took in a gorgeous production of Noel Coward’s Design for Living. Recently the doors have even opened up to include new plays. The expansiveness of the festival is downright Shavian. One of the great features of the festival is that it’s set up for visitors to see many plays in a short period of time. Downtime can be spent wine tasting, biking, or strolling the glorious gardens. Or, there’s always the actual Falls just down the river.


The Shaw Club Hotel

You are going to need to sleep between shows and let me point you in the right direction. Directly across from the Festival Theatre (and steps from the two other theaters) you will find the brand new boutique hotel, The Shaw Club Hotel . The boutique concept combines the best of Bed & Breakfasthood without the forced chumminess with strangers and the grandmother’s house look. This sleek destination exudes a zen charm, spare, yet elegant.

An unobtrusive but supremely attentive black-clad staff looks after your every need, and even the needs you don’t know you have. When my sons were in danger of missing the European breakfast, it was brought to their rooms. My youngest son recalls a feeling of total euphoria waking up to delicious spread as he laid on his feather bed complete with 300-count linens, wrapped in a fluffy white bathrobe, watching Noggin on the plasma TV. (Fabulous bathrooms also have TVs.) I’m not sure Shaw would approve of all this decadence, but the young lad certainly did.

A handy laptop in the lounge and wireless make it great place for those that bring their work along for the trip. For convenient in-hotel chic dining try Zees. Acclaimed Chef Ross Midgley’s whimsical presentation will be sure to get you in the GBS mood. A full service spa is in the works. The Shaw Club has everything a serious theater person needs; comfort, elegance, and a place for contemplation.

If you plan on a more leisurely stroll through the festival and have brought a 2,000 page novel in tow can I suggest The Charles Inn . Each room has its own balcony where you can gaze at North America’s oldest golf course. Dine or enjoy afternoon tea with William James Brunyansky’s award-winning French cuisine.

If you are more of a water and wine sort and want to be a bit more off the beaten track, I suggest the Harbour House Hotel, located right on the Niagara River. Rent a bike, visit the falls on one of those jet boats, or just luxuriate in your oversized room overlooking the water. Cozy with a Cape Cod feel, the Harbour House features pre-show wine tastings from the local wineries. Move over Australia, the Niagara area is fast becoming the new wine kid on the block. Try the ice wines.

Plan on at least a two day visit, make dinner reservations, and eat before the show. Niagara-on-the Lake is not a late-night town. Should you find yourself in need of a post-theater snack head to the historic Angel Inn. You don’t need to be a vegetarian, a socialist, or an atheist (Shaw was all three) to enjoy Shaw’s work. You just need to like to think and have fun doing it. I recommend a yearly dose of GBS to keep the body, spirit, and wit in tune.

Christina Giannelli on Dance Source Houston's First Year

Dance Source Houston's Christina Giannelli

Every city needs at least one person to truly care about dance. For Houston, Christina Giannelli is that person. Ballet fans know her as the resident Lighting Designer for Houston Ballet and for her outstanding work with Texas Ballet Theatre. Modern dancers know her from a decade plus of orchestrating A Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance and all her work with the Houston Dance Coalition. Giannelli has taken her concern for dance to a new level with Dance Source Houston (DSH), an all-purpose dance support organization that serves the entire Houston Dance community, through its many projects such as festivals, the “Dance Card,” a weekly e-newsletter and an up-to- the minute website. Most astonishing is the amount of dance writing DSH has generated in a year. Previews, reviews, interviews are posted weekly on the website helping to spread the news of the sheer vitality of the Houston dance scene. DSH turned one recently and Giannelli caught us up on life in the lighting and dance impresario lane.

AH: If you had to describe DSH in one sentence to a newcomer to Houston what would you say?

CG: The nation’s newest dance service organization, dedicated to supporting and developing Houston into a world class dance city.

AH: Congratulations on DSH’s one year anniversary. Although technically the non-profit is just a year old, its roots go back a decade. Can you fill us in on what brought this organization into its present form?

CG: I started producing the Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance at the Miller outdoor theater twelve years ago as a way to champion local dance and it grew from there.

AH: If you had to name DSH’s single greatest accomplishment over this year what would that be?

CG: Co-hosting Dance USA on Tour in March. It was supposed to happen in the fall but got moved because of Hurricane Rita. It brought the dance community together in a new way.

But my favorite thing that we have done is having started Dance Writings in response to the lack of reviewing and write-ups allotted to contemporary dance. We commission and pay for reviews and commentaries and post them on our website. This year we will be improving the website and adding a blog or some other way for audience members and artists to participate in the discussion.

AH: We see DSH tables all over town. How do you get so many organizations to cooperate?

CG: It’s free! We offer it as a service to all dance organizations, an opportunity to have their materials seen around town by other audiences without them having to drag it around themselves. That’s one of our big aims, reducing the amount of administrative drudgery for the artists as well as increasing the visibility of the art form.

AH: The dance card, DSH’s playbill-sized frequently update calendar, is a stroke of brilliance. Few dancers and dance lovers leave home without it. How did you get that idea?

CG: The local companies have limited resources, few can afford paid advertising of any kind, and they rely on free listings and perhaps a postcard mailing. These tend to come out the week before the show. I wanted audiences to have a way to plan in advance as well as to have a handy reference where they could easily see everything on offer for any given day. Perforce the listings are brief (and the type small) so that we can fit it all on the card, but we have longer, more informative listings on our website. I’ve been really pleased with the reception the Dance Card has received.

AH: This year DSH collaborated with Dance USA as part of their touring workshop. The opening night reception was a literal who’s who in Houston dance. What were some of the highlights of the Dance USA collaboration?

CG: I was really happy with the way it all turned out. The opening night party was a great gathering! And the discussion that we held afterwards, sort of a bull session for the company directors, choreographers and artistic directors was connecting, cathartic and enlightening. The Saturday workshops provided by Dance USA were informative and engaging.

AH: Any plans for another one?

CG: Yes, thanks in part to a grant from the Houston Endowment, Dance USA will return in November for another couple of days of workshops and speakers.

AH: The fall DSH festival just keeps getting bigger is a favorite for dance companies and audiences. What’s exciting about the plans for this year?

CG: This year’s program follows the by now very tried and true format. There are some recurring favorites, Houston Met performing Cadence, a particularly demanding piece by Priscilla Nathan-Murphy (we were to premiere it on last year’s program but as you may remember the entire program was cancelled two days out because of Rita) and Suchu performing a recent piece that exemplifies choreographer Jennifer Wood's current fascination with film and video. What is interesting to me about this year’s program is the number of pieces by independent choreographers who are teaching at colleges around the city, such as Suzanne Oliver, Victoria Loftin, and Becky Valls. It speaks to the developing strength and richness of these programs and bodes well for the future of dance in Houston these programs turn out increasingly skilled, creative dancers and choreographers who will hopefully choose to make their lives here.

AH: You have also been a huge supporter of World Dance here. What’s happening on the World Dance front?

CG: Last year we inaugurated a new project for the Miller Theatre in collaboration with Central College’s Institute of World Dance. Tapestry of World Dance concentrates on, as the name implies, cultural dance. Our city is rich with marvelous groups, but they are rarely seen outside of their own communities. I wanted to bring them all together in a festive atmosphere at the Miller, where the city could really celebrate itself. Last year was a general tour around the globe, barley scratching the surface. This year we are focusing on the African Diaspora, the program called Following the Rhythm literally follows African dance rhythms and styles to the Americas from the past into the present. I’m having a blast putting this together with Deborah Quanhaim, Cynthia Cupach and Maxine Silberstein.

AH: You are a dance lighting designer by trade. How do you juggle both careers?

CG: It keeps me out of trouble. The rest of my life is pretty pared down, low maintenance, small house, small garden, and small car. My free time is spent traveling to see my family or with a few close friends here in Houston. The challenge is to fit in enough exercise, food and sleep. With the changes and growth at Houston Ballet and the demands of DSH I have had to curtail my outside design work. With the exception working with Ben Stevenson at Texas Ballet Theater for the last two years my full design attention has been focused on Houston Ballet. I have had to turn down a number of projects this past year and I am getting a little itchy. I think of myself first as a lighting designer, and then as a producer. I don’t really think of myself as an arts administrator although I have done a lot of it over the years. My vision and goal for Dance Source Houston is to have a full time paid executive director in place in by the 2008-2009 season. I am looking forward to going back to being a full time designer, perhaps start doing some opera and theater again, and having the time to work closely with artists as they develop new works.

AH: How did you go from Yale to Houston Ballet?
CG: I was an undergraduate at Yale and I was allowed to take the lighting and scenic design courses at the Yale School of Drama. I was heavily involved in the Yale Dramat, an undergraduate organization that shared the University Theater building with the Drama School. I spent most of my waking hours there. I assisted Bill Warfel, the head of the design program, on operas that he lighted for the Graduate School of Music. That’s how I got introduced to opera lighting. One of the graduate lighting design students introduced me to Chenault Spence, then the lighting designer for the Alvin Ailey Company, and I started assisting on their City Center seasons in NY. Chenault introduced me to dance lighting and spun small shows off to me. In this business it is all who you know, one connection leads to another.

AH: So when did Houston show up on your radar?
A talented stage manager that I was working with in NY had done his training at HGO. He knew about an opening at HGO and thought it would be perfect for me. That was in 1985, and I was lighting Maurice Hines and Mercede Ellington’s Tap company at that time and wasn’t interested. The job opened up again at the end of the ’86 season, by then Maurice and Mercedes were on to other things and it seemed like time for a move. I planned to stay 18 months, long enough to get the Opera settled into their new home at the Wortham. With the impending move to the Wortham the Houston Ballet realized that they needed a lighting supervisor to oversee the larger rig and as they say, the rest was history.

AH: Your work on Christopher Bruce’s new work, Hush, was spellbinding. Can you share some of your process?

CG: Working with Chris is always a privilege and a pleasure for me. He is always exploring and refining, never settling. After years of recreating other designer’s work for Chris it was thrilling to finally collaborate with him on a new work. It was actually an unusual process for us. The piece is very intimate and Chris was reluctant to make firm decisions about the design elements early in the choreographic process. He was very much discovering the piece as he was created it, a very organic process. I was very proud of the production team, that as a group we allowed him to continue in this fashion. My lighting crew and I had to remain flexible as well. Having worked with Chris over the years, I knew some of his preferences, I had color chosen for the side light that would work with the red and yellow of the costumes, enrich the skin tones, and play off the white clown makeup.

AH: What are you looking forward to for the upcoming season on both the DSH and lighting design fronts?

CG: I am really looking forward to the DSH fall shows at the Miller, Tapestry of World Dance: Following the Rhythm, and the 12th Annual Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance. Please let there be no hurricanes this year! After they are over we will start working on our next big idea, local touring for dance, getting the downtown companies out to theaters throughout Harris and surrounding counties.

We have three premieres on the first Houston Ballet program, always exciting, and I am thrilled to be lighting Stanton’s new work on that program. In October, I will be the production designer for Musiqa’s first event of the season the Zilkha hall.

Dance Source Houston presents A Weekend of Texas Dance , 8:00pm, Miller Outdoor Theater on September 22 & 23. 713-224-DANC (3262) or visit www.houstondance.org.


Reprinted from Artshouston.