Eight dancers fly across the studio, jumping and spinning
with technical prowess in time to the speeding music. A man in full business
attire accompanies his pedestrian movements with an ever-changing, politically
charged vocal soundtrack. Changing the pace, a woman in flowing white gently
glides about the empty stage, pausing to contemplate the one movement she seems
to both love and hate.
And so it unfolds during an hour-long presentation, the
second-to-last of a Sunday afternoon dance series put on by the Rochester
Contemporary Dance Collective. The line-up includes several original dance
pieces, all created by local choreographers. After the performance, the
enthusiastic applause and congratulatory remarks confirms Rochester’s continued support of its local
dance community.
In 2004, five local choreographers — Christine Fendley, Richard Haisma, Liz
Hallmark, Colleen Hendrick, and Anne Harris Wilcox—
joined forces to form the Rochester Contemporary Dance Collective. Today, RCDC
has expanded to include 14 choreographers from all
over the upstate area, and now offers performances, classes and viewings for
the public. The collective is a mixed bag, fashioned from professional dancers,
college students, and independent artists all striving to develop their
creative voice through original choreography and performance.
According to the website www.rochestercdc.org, RCDC’s official mission “is to strengthen the western New York dance community
through performance, professional development, and education.” The group works
to fulfill that mission by providing choreographers the support to develop, and
the space to present their original choreography. Founding member Wilcox says
that RCDC aims to “be an organization that anyone who dances can go to for a
resource.” Another goal of the collective is to expand the dance audience, and
keep the creation of original contemporary dance alive in Rochester.
The collective’s performance series is very “user friendly,”
says Wilcox. During the 2006 Spring Series, RCDC offered up six unique
concerts, each diverse in their programming and presentation. According to
board member Darryl Clark, the series showcases a mix of choreography that is
“alternately kinetic, introspective, and accessible to dance viewers of all
ages.” Taking place at the Bush Mango Drum and DanceCommunity Center,
each show is a fairly informal affair. After the performance, the audience is
invited to mingle with the artists and performers at an informal reception.
Funded partially by a decentralization grant from the New
York State Council on the Arts, and the Arts and Cultural Council, RCDC is fast
approaching the end of the spring dance series. However, there are two more
productions scheduled for the fall. Artists who wish to present their work in
one of the performance series need to participate in a development process
before going before an audience. This is part of RCDC’s
Fieldwork Project, which is a nationally recognized technique for creating
dance.
In the future, RCDC would like to expand the number of Fieldwork sessions held,
as well as incorporate more regional artists and choreographers into their
series. Naturally, RCDC would also like to see the size of their audience
build, and eventually place the performance series into a theater.
But most importantly, “The Rochester Contemporary Dance
Collective wants to see dance thrive in Rochester,”
says Wilcox.
Rochester Contemporary Dance Collective Showcase Sunday June 4 | Bush Mango Drum
and DanceCommunity Center, 34 Elton Street, 4:30pm | $10 general, $8
senior/student | Tickets available at Parkleigh, 215 Park Avenue,
461-8389
This article appears in May 31 – Jun 6, 2006.
