'Happy dances' light Ballet Memphis' 'FUSE'
The dance floor at the Ballet Memphis rehearsal studio isn't strictly for dancers. It hasn't been for a long time.
There have been architects and puppeteers, folk singers and visual artists. They don't come for lessons, but they do come to make dance.
Ballet Memphis' Rafael Ferreras and Nicole Corea.
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This weekend, Ballet Memphis opens its 23rd season not with a performance, but with a party that highlights the company's collaborative process.
"FUSE" is the result of a contest held over the summer in which children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Memphis were asked to submit videos of a "happy dance." Company dancers worked with the children to create the videos, and by the end of summer, there were 24 entries.
Those have been narrowed down to six, which will be screened at the studio Saturday night. The top three will be posted on a Web site and voted on by the community. Once the winner is decided, dancers will work with the children and create a piece that will debut in February during the "Abundance: Joyful Noise" performance.
"It's interesting because we're embarking on something that we don't have a prototype for," said artistic director Dorothy Gunther Pugh. "When we're creating ballet we definitely know what we're doing. But this isn't that."
Pugh said that the concept grew from her observation that, these days, more people aren't waiting to be served by arts and culture organizations. Instead, they are inventing cultural experiences for themselves. People are developing their own new and unique ways to have a creative life.
"We ask ourselves 'How do we engage in that dialogue?' " Pugh said. "Whenever ballet reaches out into a community, walls are shattered and barriers come down. One example is the French Revolution. By then, ballet had become codified in the royal courts, but after the nobility fled to the country, ballet began to take on some of the folk traditions. There were major innovations."
Dancers Kendall Britt, Stephanie Mei Hom and Rafael Ferreras are the three dancers who have been working with the children. Pugh says they've all been affected by the process.
Ferreras learned more about the Memphis-born dance style known as "jookin," and Britt already has a concept in mind if his contestant's entry wins. Between 40 and 50 children participated in the activity.
In addition to the "happy dance" film screening Saturday night, the company will preview two works from the upcoming "Connections: Food" fundraising dinner, an original concept that pairs choreographers with local chefs to create a dance-themed meal.
Another Roadside Attraction catering is providing a cocktail buffet for the FUSE party, which is included in the ticket price.
FUSE
At 7 p.m. Saturday at the Ballet Memphis studio, 7950 Trinity Road in Cordova. Tickets are $20 adults, $15 students and seniors, and $5 students. Call 737-7322.
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