A RETURN TO DANCE ABOUT | For the first time in 30 years, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to Dallas, with out dancer Daniel Harder, right, performing the lead in ‘Home.’

RICH LOPEZ  | Contributing Writer
getrichindallas@gmail.com

The American people have been tested as disaster plagued April: Flooding weather in the Midwest, the devastating explosion in West, the bombing at the Boston Marathon. The country may have breathed a slight sigh of relief with the capture of the terrorists, but still goes the process of healing and rebuilding.

But for Daniel Harder, a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, these hardships give a reason more than ever to embrace the arts.

“Our biggest goal is to uplift and to be a mirror to the audience,” Harder says. “Our post-Boston performances have left us feeling the energy and joy from the audience. That joy has been tangible and we become one with them, so to speak.”

It is certainly a moment for Dallas audiences to rejoice. The performance at the Winspear next week marks the company’s first time performing in town in 30 years.

Harder credits the influence and inspiration of the company founder with his encouragement to go out and experience life and be in tune with what’s going on around them and then take that to the stage.

With that, the 25-year-old dancer takes to heart the notion of reflecting the audience’s emotions while at the same time reviving broken spirits and highlighting the better nature of us all.

“I don’t want to sound cliché, but I agree with the mantra that art imitates life,” he says. “Because we get so much joy in dancing, we’re blessed to do it and perform it. And the passion and warmth from the audience just reminds me that there is something to be said for the human spirit.”

None of that is lost on TITAS executive director Charles Santos, who has programmed AAADT to this season’s offerings. But clearly, he is excited to be part of the company’s re-appearance in Dallas after three decades.

“One of the great things about Ailey is that they are highly entertaining,” Santos says. “They are crazy great dancers, and the most diverse and exciting repertoire out there. There’s something for everyone at an Ailey performance. This truly is the must-see performance of our year.”

As an openly gay black man, Harder has been comfortable with himself since childhood, but while training with the Ailey school, instruction and life lessons were affirming in encouragement to be true to self. In the arts, it’s no surprise that being gay is hardly an issue, but with Ailey, Harder found something deeper.

“Even under our new director Robert Battle, we’re pushed to be ourselves and wherever you are at that point in the journey of your life, we have to bring to the stage,” Harder says. “We celebrate the African-American experience, the gay experience, the straight experience. It all is a privilege.”

What’s taken so long for the company to bring that mission back to Big D? As Harder puts it, Dallas has just had to find its way back into the schedule. And the resurgence of the Arts District was a big help in getting them here.

“It’s all based on timing, and so every year we have our routine stops while others get filled in to different spots,” he explains. “But we’re excited about Dallas because we have several people from Texas and I have family and friends there. A lot of times, it just depends on if there’s a theater large enough — we have a big crew.”

“For me, the return of Ailey to Dallas only solidifies the international profile that Dallas now has,” Santos adds. “Today, it is all about the quality we bring onto these beautiful stages here in the Arts District [including] the stunning Winspear Opera House. They demand excellence; Ailey is that excellence. It means Dallas has truly taken its place as a cultural destination on the international playing field, and the international arts community has taken notice.”

Harder details the company will perform “great repertory pieces,” but most importantly, the one that enthusiasts are most anticipating.

“We have exciting works to perform, but yes, we will be performing Mr. Ailey’s masterpiece, Revelations,” he says. “And we’re so looking to that moment we have with Dallas that shares the joy and hurt and triumphs we’re all feeling right now.”

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition April 26, 2013.

POETRY IN MOTION | The style of dance practiced by Cedar Lake combines both classical techniques and modern ideas — which has helped make its artistic director, Benoit-Swan Pouffer, a force in dance.

Benoit-Swan Pouffer spent seven years with the Alvin Ailey troupe as a dancer prior to joining Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet as its artistic director. Since then, the French-born choreographer (he still speaks in a thick, charming accent), has helped bring the company national recognition, from tours to Dallas (Saturday at the Winspear will mark the third time here) to being featured in the 2011 film The Adjustment Bureau. We took a few minutes to ask the gay dance icon about making his art fresh for a variety of audiences.

— Arnold Wayne Jones

Dallas Voice: The last time I saw you wasn’t onstage, but on screen in The Adjustment Bureau! What was that experience like?  Pouffer: That was a first [for me] and a great experience. I was actually involved in the production and teaching [star] Emily Blunt [to dance]. It was an excellent opportunity for me to teach someone while discovering a different media where you can let an audience [see what you do].

It seems dance has gotten a lot more attention in movies in recent years, with Black Swan … And on TV. I feel there is an awareness [of dance] insofar as moviemakers and TV producers are concerned, for the chance for the masses to experience it.

Your company has both the words “contemporary” and “ballet” in its name. Do you feel that confuses people or makes what you do a harder sell?  People use these terms when they can’t define the technique. We do ballet every day [at the company] — my dancers know how to dance in point shoes, but we don’t do just ballet.  And contemporary for me means just what’s happening now, what’s present. I see lots of dance myself and make sure I am up-to-date and stay in touch with my dancers and what they yearn for.

When you travel to a city like Dallas, what goes into deciding what to put on the program? A lot of consideration as far as where we are performing. I put myself in the audience’s shoes. It is very thought out. This is the third time we are coming to Dallas — the last was with an installation I created. I wanted to create a diverse program because they have seen us before. I want to keep it fresh. It is a challenge, but we are a new company so I am not in a place to say we have done it all. We have just touched the tip of the iceberg.

I think Dallas audiences have seen a lot of dance coming through so it is really wonderful to be appreciated because they are an educated [audience]. It is a place where you can push the boundaries and they appreciate that.

One of the pieces you are bringing is called Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue, but many of the pairings are same-sex. Is that the kind of boundaries you are pushing? There are Male-male, male-female and female-female duets, but when Crystal [Pite, who choreographed the piece] created this for us I likened it to how can you convey feelings through body language. It’s about rescuing — a brother, a sister — so I don’t think sex comes into it. We are just human beings, trying to push that imagery.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition February 8, 2013.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST | Dancer Matthew Adamczyk, pictured, believes the original choreography reproduced by the Joffrey is still enough to shock and awe audiences 100 years after its debut.

GREGORY SULLIVAN ISAACS  | Contributing Writer
gregoryisaacs@theaterjones.com

When we sat down to talk about the visit of the Joffrey Ballet, TITAS director Charles Santos was unsure what TITAS actually stands for.
“I think the second T stands for ‘theatrical,’ and we do so much more that that. We gave some thought to changing the name but decided to leave it TITAS, sort of like IBM. Everyone knows it by that anyway.”

Actually, it stands for Texas International Theatrical Arts Society and Santos, who took over as its leader in 2001, is completely correct in his assessment. While it is still in Texas and international in scope, they present equal portions of both music and dance with very little theater per se. This has changed somewhat since they forged a partnership with the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

“We decided that it was counterproductive to compete with them, so we joined forces. We forged a really good relationship. They needed what [TITAS] had, as well as my experience in dance. They knew that you can’t have a major venue without a dance component,” Santos says.

He is adamant that dance needs to be seen live, so bringing the top companies to Dallas is an imperative. It is, in fact, what led him to bring the Joffrey Ballet back to Dallas (finally) to mark the 100th anniversary of Stravinsky’s revolutionary ballet The Rite of Spring, presented with Nijnsky’s reconstructed 1913 choreography, and even reproductions of the original costumes.

Dancer Matthew Adamczyk, who is in this production, said that Nijinsky’s choreography was “meant to shock and awe. Aggression, hunched positions, stomping, bent feet and hands; everything you would imagine a classical dancer to look like — this is the opposite.”

“I was the beginning of modernism,” says Santos. “Talk about left of center! I just knew that we needed to bring it here for” its centenary.

In 1913, audiences were accustomed to graceful motions, exquisite ballerinas floating across the stage en pointe, flowing lines, pointed toes, rustling tutus and men executing powerful leaps in perfect form. Instead, they got men in menacing bear suits, stomping feet, a brawl punctuated by fisticuffs. Bodies writhed inelegantly, with pigeon-toed foot positions, cramped hands and angular arms. At the climax, there was no graceful dying ballerina sinking to the stage with fluttering hands. Instead, Nijinsky presented a woman dancing herself to death leaping spasmodically into the air.

It wasn’t long into the performance before the rival jeers and the supportive cheers gave way to physical confrontations. And things went downhill from there.

Santos marvels at the difference between 1913 and 2013. “I can’t imagine anything that we could put on the stage that would cause a riot today,” he says with a laugh.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition January 18, 2013.

FAST AND FURIOUS | Stephen Petronio, shown here dancing in one of his own pieces, has long united his passions for music, dance and gay rights.

ARNOLD WAYNE JONES  | Life+Style Editor

A lot of choreographers are known for the their style (modern, classical, experimental) or the dancers they work with, but for Stephen Petronio, musicians fuel his muse. And we’re not talking Mahler versus Tchaikovsky — Petronio makes dances that rock ‘n’ roll.

“I made a dream list of musicians I wanted to work with,” he says, and set out to do just that. The results include pieces set to the music of Laurie Anderson,

Lou Reed, Nick Cave and perhaps most unexpectedly, Rufus Wainwright (for which he included two same-sex duets: Two men who move as one, constantly in touch, and two women, just broken up, who never touch).
So which comes first: The movement or the music?

“I am musically driven, but it depends,” Petronio concedes. “I love music and I think I understand rock on a cellular level, so I don’t have to think too much about it. [Interesting music choice is] a special thing I can bring to contemporary dance. I have done classical music, but I like to make movement to something contemporary of our time.”

Petronio’s company makes its Dallas debut at the Winspear on Nov. 16 — a shocking absence from the dance scene considering Petronio’s reputation and longevity.

“The bad news is, I haven’t been there [before], but the good news is, I have a new city to discover,” he says. “I’m very happy to be coming.”

Among the pieces Petronio will present is Underland, a piece he created nearly a decade ago but has not been able to revisit.

The piece was commissioned by the Sydney Dance Company in 2003. They asked Petronio to create a dance for them, and he agreed to meet their deadline on one condition: “I said, ‘Get me Nick Cave.’ I knew he was Australian and what an amazing person,” Petronio says. To his surprise, the company agreed.

A cult hero in the U.S., Petronio calls Cave “the Goth poet laureate of Australia. So many people had such strong ideas about Nick Cave’s music — many people get married to it — you have to fight people’s expectations. But the advantage is you have a cultural landmark.” Still, going to Cave’s home turf to create a dance for Australian audiences was “either the smartest thing I’ve ever done or the stupidest.”

It may have been the smartest. But until last year, Sydney Dance had exclusive license rights to the piece; when the license expired, Petronio jumped at the chance to tailor it for his own company.

“I love what I did — I love the music so much,” he says. “I’m a very instinctual artist and this is one of my favorite works. But my works are deeply influenced by the bodies I work with. I could never make Underland for another company. The subtlety and airiness would be lost. The Sydney dancers are ballet trained, so that can move their feet very fast. The beating of the feet is breathtaking to watch. To bring it back home to my dancers ups the ante.”
Indeed, fans of Petronio know his style already for its athleticism and speed; dancers have been known to move so fast they risk bumping into one another.

“The goal is to always pass your abilities in your personal language. My nature is very quick — I’m a New Yorker — and my mind was always faster than my body; one year you’re moving at 20 beats per second, then the next you’re at 28.”

Petronio, who has long been active in causes — he talks about the old days being arrested with ACT UP, and recently did an “It Gets Better” video — has embraced gay sensibilities frequently in his work, and has since the beginning. It just comes naturally, he says … though he’s better with men than with women.

“I find I understand partnering between two men better than I do between two women — with the men, I care much less about [the dancers’] feelings so I push them more!” he laughs.

Having produced such provocative work for so long, you might expect Petronio has been pleased to watch the liberalization of attitudes about sexuality, even in dance. You’d be wrong.

“When I was making Middlesex Gorge, it was all about sex and aggression and control and the human body as the ultimate work of freedom. It was erotically driven when the AIDS crisis was [at its peak], and I was trying to bring human sexuality to the surface — I wanted it to be part of the fabric without being about my boyfriend,” he explains. “But my husband and I just got married [in New York], and some people are pretty pissed off about it still! Have things changed? I would love to think we’ve progressed, but I’m not sure.”

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 9, 2012.

]]> http://www.dallasvoice.com/speed-sex-10131329.html/feed 0 http://www.dallasvoice.com/leap-10127229.html http://www.dallasvoice.com/leap-10127229.html#comments Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:00:16 +0000 Kevin Thomas http://www.dallasvoice.com/?p=127229 Gay modern dance master Doug Varone swoops into the Winspear

DANCE LIKE EVERYONE’S WATCHING | This concert will include pieces old and new, including at least one sure to resonate with gay audiences.

STEVEN LINDSEY  | Contributing Writer
stevencraiglindsey@me.com

For award-winning choreographer Doug Varone, dance has always been his calling.

“I feel as if I was always choreographing, even as a young kid,” he says. “I always had a visual sense of seeing things in space and moving them around. The most creative were with my mom’s lipstick canisters. I would lock myself in the bathroom for hours when I was young and build all of these extraordinarily moving tableaux of group disasters.

When I decided dance was the outlet that I loved most, naturally the art of making dances took over my imagination. [Now I’m] using bodies instead of objects. Creating movement is just a way to make them speak.”

At Saturday’s concert at the Winspear Opera House, Doug Varone and Dancers, he’ll bring the language of dance to the world (no lipstick canisters will be used, though). The show will bring together brand-new pieces and several from his company’s 25-year history. (“It seems to have gone very quickly, and then I look in the mirror and don’t recognize the bald person reflected back at me,” Varone laughs.) Rise, created in 1993, will be performed Saturday, and resonates especially.

“This dance more than any other was responsible for putting the company on the map,” he says. “The dance is a pure movement work set to John Adams’ incredibly cinematic score, Fearful Symmetries. It explores the huge physical dancerly side of my work: explosive, energetic.”

That dance is offset by a brand new piece entitled Able to Leap Tall Buildings. The direct reference to Superman is no coincidence: Using superhero action figures and bending them in particular shapes, a very interesting dialogue developed. “The dancers morphed those shapes to their own bodies and we set this beautifully awkward duet to a new score by American composer Julia Wolfe.”

It’s outside-the-box interpretations like this that captivate audiences, and Varone believes even those who think they don’t like modern dance will enjoy it.

“Modern dance has a reputation for being incredibly insular,” he admits. “But I think there are a lot of smart artists today who are trying to figure out ways to incorporate and include the audience in a new dialogue. When you think of it, dance is what each of us does every day: The way we each walk uniquely, the gestures that we use when we talk, the patterns that we unknowingly use when we are weaving in and out of sidewalk traffic. The dances on this program are not difficult to enter into and the fact that my dancers are real people brings a human quality to the work that I think is rare. They look and seem to not be dancers, but people on the street who move in extraordinary ways. Just like you and me.”

Ultimately, gay patrons may get even more out of the show.

“All of the work that I create is filtered through the eyes of a gay man, and as a result has a beautiful and accepting feel to how people interact. I present relationships in very clear ways,” Varone says. One dance in particular, The Mozart, features a male duet that he says is very emblematic of this.

“This is how I see the world around me — with a remarkable sense of equality.”

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 28, 2012.

HE’S GRRRR-EAT! | Tony Moran teams up with Colton Ford to entertain the bears on Sunday at TMC.

RICH LOPEZ  | Contributing Writer

Gay culture has always been ahead of mainstream society when it comes to fashion, sex and music. But the straight folks eventually catch up. Take the DJ — an exalted occupation in the gay arena. But it’s only recently that mixers like David Guetta and Skrillex have rivaled Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga for mainstream familiarity.

Tony Moran has held that kind of fame for decades, spinning for gay Pride events around the world. But despite all he’s accomplished, his goal at every gig is the same: To offer one hell of an experience.

“I think people see me wanting them to be satisfied and maybe that translates onto the floor,” he says. “I want to appease the most people I can. I think the greatest discovery I’ve had as a DJ is that positive energy is contagious.”

Even after working with megastars (Michael Jackson, Celine Dion) and scoring two Grammy nominations, Moran has held onto his passion as a club DJ. He gets that he’s famous, but at an early age, he learned he had to constantly strive beyond what he’d already accomplished. A musician gets noticed for growth in their music, be it stronger lyrics or a shift in musical style, but DJs have to balance the line between their identifying sound and sound growth if they want to ascend the ranks. For that, Moran has learned to rely on his crowds.

“I had started spinning when I was 19 and made a lot of records in a short time, but by the time I was 24, I was already being called a has-been,” he recounts. “That has always stuck with me. So I make efforts to create something new all the time.

Basically, people just wanna hear some fucking good songs. When the music stimulates their senses, it stimulates me.”

That philosophy isn’t limited to his club work. When he headlines the BearDance Pride T-dance at TMC on Sunday, he’ll share the bill with porn-star-cum-singer Colton Ford. Ford and Moran met only recently, but instantly struck up a friendship. Moran suggested they work together, sensing a similar vibe from Ford that he had felt from far more established singers.

“When it comes to artists, I am sensitive to figuring out their motivation,” Moran says. “When someone like Whitney Houston sang, it was through her heart. When I look and hear Colton, I see that same thing.”

The two are collaborating on Ford’s next single, “Let Me Live Again” … and Moran is working under the gun to have it ready for BearDance.

“I’ll have it mixed [before I come to Dallas] if it breaks me. But Colton’s got a great head on his shoulders, and when I hear this song, I think we can reach beyond the audience who just wants to see him.”

Moran feels confident the show will be a success, in part from working with the BearDance team. He felt comfortable saying yes to the gig because of how organized they were.

“They rallied together to make something happen and get decisions made,” he says. “A lot of other events don’t have it as together as they did. They are such incredible team players; it felt like we were creating something. Getting Colton to be a part of it is even better!”

Moran hasn’t felt he needs to tweak his style just because his audience is more bear than traditional club kid — he only wants to be a part of the celebration and bring a positive attitude.

“By the time I’m done there, I will have stamped it with my identity. I love how the bears have found a way to be comfortable in their skin and have a party,” Moran says. “I have my own personal history with bears, so it’ll be great — they’re so cuddly and loveable. It’ll be fun to be around a bunch of happy faces. I don’t care what size they are!”

DJs Sean Mac and CBass will spin starting at noon prior to Moran’s T-dance as a parade watching party. DJ Blaine will close. Proceeds from the day will benefit AIDS Arms.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 14, 2012.

SHAKE AND SHIMMY | Von Trapp did not allow expectations of gender to interfere with his desire to
pursue belly dancing. (Photo courtesy Tammye Nash)

You might think there is no common ground between the transgender and Middle Eastern dance communities. But actually, they do have two things in common: Both are slowly gaining more mainstream popularity and acceptance (though most people get tongue-tied if you bring either up in casual conversation); and both are huge markers of my everyday life.

I started feeling the first inklings of gender variance when I was in third grade and cut all my hair off. I distinctly remember younger kids asking, as unapologetically and bluntly as young kids are apt to, whether I was a boy or a girl. Of course, I hadn’t given it much thought — I just didn’t like brushing my hair — but it would be a catalyst for my journey down the gender spectrum.

Throughout middle and high schools, I couldn’t shake this “not quite male, not quite female” feeling, even though I was very clearly a biological girl. At 16, I confused not only myself, but all those with whom I had confided in about my gender issues, by joining a weekly belly dancing class at the Isis Studio of Performing Arts in Bedford. My interest in belly dance, in their eyes, conflicted with my “gender variance.” Undeterred, I pursued it.

Belly dance styles trace their origins to Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, even North America. While the art is performed most commonly by women — dancers at restaurants, cabarets and the acclaimed dance company the Belly Dance Superstars are all dominated by women — male dancers can also be prominent practitioners.

I entered the intermediate class six months later, and my teacher started taking note of my ability to absorb techniques and choreography quickly. It seemed I had finally found my niche, something I was naturally good at … and I got along with all my dance sisters.

Even though I enjoyed every second of belly dancing and my newfound dance family, I never felt completely comfortable performing. I knew my technical skill and fluidity were there, but I never felt genuine onstage.

One year later, I started hormone therapy and was declared the new leader of the junior dance team at my studio. When I came out to everyone, I was met with overwhelming acceptance and a promise from Isis that I would still be able to dance with her studio … I’d just have to dress a little differently.

Six months after starting testosterone (and spending inappropriate amounts of money on male dance costuming), I won my first amateur competition at Yaa Halla, Y’all 2011, cited as a “Rising Star.” This past April, I swept yet another amateur competition at the Shimmy Showdown, winning first place and crowd favorite.

One month later, I had top surgery, masculinizing my chest and giving me the freedom to finally dance shirtless. By this time I had met many male belly dancers, proving to myself and those who questioned me that you didn’t have to identify as female to shimmy.

Yaa Halla, in its 12th year, attracts performers from all over the world to compete for prestigious titles and take workshops from true masters. I’ll compete in a duet category with Ayanna as Obsidian Mystique, a fusion of classic belly dance with a dark twist.

In just four years, I have gone from a gender-confused teenager to an award-winning trans belly dancer … give or take a few meltdowns. Now I’m more comfortable and confident than ever on and off stage. I’ve gained a small following on Facebook and YouTube, and I now teach a monthly workshop at my studio.

Of course, I still raise a few eyebrows.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 10, 2012.

THE HUMAN FORM | Choreographer Bruce Wood, pictured, is still in fine shape from his days as a dancer for the New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. He has never shied from exploring the muscular beauty of the male form in his works, including one getting its world premiere this week.

GREGORY SULLIVAN ISAACS  | Contributing Writer
gregoryisaacs@theaterjones.com

The three male dancers are all entwined as they gracefully move under and around each other. “Keep moving. Don’t let go. Keep moving,” Bruce Wood shouts, “or you’ll get stuck.”

Wood — for a decade, the Fort Worth-based founder and artistic director of the Bruce Wood Dance Company, one of the most acclaimed modern dance troupes in the Southwest — is rehearsing his new show. It’s a welcome development; Wood had been sorely missed ever since he closed his eponymous troupe five years ago.

That company achieved international acclaim based on his highly creative choreography; he’s up to more of it now. This performance marks the second season of his new company, now called the Bruce Wood Dance Project, launched last year, largely through the efforts of his producer and patron, Gayle Halperin.

“Bruce is the ‘real thing,’ as my friend and ballet teacher Kim Abel says — and I do not say that lightly,” coos Halperin. “Bruce has that special gift to create meaningful, intelligent, moving and exquisitely structured works that pinpoint different episodes in our lives. His works are about people and their relationships. He’s able to take a feeling and transform that into a dance work that makes the hair on your arms stand up and leaves lasting after images.”

For Halperin — and anyone else in love with dance — having him back at the helm of a local troupe (this time, he’s based in Dallas) is exciting —already, it’s another jewel in the city’s diadem of arts organizations.

“I’m calling it a ‘dance project’ instead of a ‘company’ because these two seasons of performances are just the beginning,” says Wood. “We will see where it goes. We are doing two completely different programs on four alternate evenings.”

The complex program of six dances reconfigured over four performances is a big undertaking for a relatively new company, but Wood never backed away from a challenge. “Two programs means twice the work,” he says, “but the rewards are doubled as a result.”

Besides, he is not doing it all himself. As part of his efforts to create a vibrant dance environment, Wood invited Joshua Peugh to join him as associate choreographer — the first time he’s ever done that in a storied career.

“I saw a video clip of his work with the Dark Circles Contemporary Dance Company in Korea, which he co-founded. It was just wonderful. He had that special spark that can’t be taught but that you can spot instantly,” Wood says.

Peugh, a Southern Methodist University graduate, was stunned to hear from Wood. “Here was this giant of modern dance — one of my idols — sending me an email completely out of the blue, asking if I would consider coming to Dallas to choreograph some dances for his new project,” says Peugh, who is also dancing with the company. “I was amazed. The first thing [I did was], I got was a plane ticket.”

The two choreographers couldn’t appear more different. Peugh is slender and lanky, slightly exotic and even younger than he actually is. Wood, by contrast, is compact and buff, a muscular, graceful fireplug with years of experience etched into his still-handsome face. Their choreographic styles are just as divergent.

“I leave him alone to do his work,” says Wood about his new role as a mentor. “Of course, I am always here for him to bounce ideas around or offer some possible solutions on a place where he might be stuck. But I try to stay out of the way.”

But Wood still exerts his own artistic imprimatur on the company. He assemble a group of dancers unlike those found in the traditional corps de ballet — gone is the matched line of slender swans and princes. Instead, his dancers represent a range of physical types and personalities.

That dichotomy is readily apparent to company member Harry Feril. A local boy who is a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Feril  has a linebacker’s build capped with a wispy buzz of reddish-blond hair and a day’s stubble framing his broad shoulders. He looks like he could break Peugh in half. Yet their connection and affability with each other is evident.

“I had to make a choice between professional football and ballet,” Feril says. The decision meant that he had to change his body as well as his career goals. “In football, I was working toward strength, but in dance the goal is flexibility. You still need strength, but it is a very different kind.”

Both agree that there is little time for social life for a dancer. Neither is in a relationship (Feril is straight, Peugh gay) and both said that dance is their life partner at this point.

“It is hard for someone to understand that being a dancer takes up most of your life. You do technique classes in the day and rehearse for the performance at night. It is all so physical, pushing you body to its limits on a daily basis, that when you get home, all you want to do is rest,” says Feril. Wood concurs.

“Dancers have a very limited time to make a career,” he says. “You have to give your life over to the dance. Remember that, in most cases, is over for them by the age of 35. You have to dance while you can and live later.”

And “dance while they can” is what they are doing. Wood has set a gigantic goal for the next outing of his company,  presenting multiple evenings of major works: Three world premieres (two by Wood) and three revivals. Peugh will be debuting a piece called Slump, which he describes it as “a zany and dark comedy about human courtship and its persistent repetition.” One of Wood’s premieres, My Brother’s Keeper, is “a study of iconic male relationships” — father/son, brothers and perhaps more.

Wood has never hesitated to push sexual boundaries in his work, often exploring the beauty of the male form with grace and longing.

Program 2 will include two revivals — “Follow Me,” commissioned by RiverCenter for the Performing Arts in Columbus, Ga., is a tribute to the soldiers at Fort Benning, and another based on Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major.” This rarely heard composition was begun as a symphony that the composer abandoned, only to be published after the composer’s death as a single-movement Allegro brillante for piano and orchestra. George Balanchine took a pass at it in 1956 for the New York City Ballet; Wood’s version will be completely different.

“His range is extraordinary,” says Halperin. “Really gifted choreographers are few and far between that have such a profound impact; Bruce is one of those. He has so much to contribute to the quality of life in our region and especially to tomorrow’s dancers. I feel that we need to take advantage of that, champion and support his artistry.”

Wood knows all about embracing gratitude and moving forward. He demonstrated his gratitude and embrace of beauty as a participant in the highly successful A Gathering: Dallas Arts Community Reflects on 30 Years of AIDS, held at the Winspear Opera House last December.

“I have been open about my HIV status and active to advance public awareness,” Wood says. “I hope that others will see my life, and continued work as a choreographer, as an example of always moving forward with your dreams of beauty, with gratitude, no matter what happens. I am reminded of a line in a short poem by DH Lawrence that said, ‘I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself.’ Great advice, I think.”

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 15, 2012.

FIRST MOVEMENT | Jacques Heim, inset, pushes the boundaries of dance with Diavolo, mixing the human form and technology.

STEVEN LINDSEY  | Contributing Writer
stevencraiglindsey@me.com

When Jacques Heim founded Diavolo Dance Theater in 1992, he probably wasn’t expecting it to become an officially recognized cultural treasure by the city of Los Angeles. And now, for two performances only, Dallas gets to discover this legendary jewel in all its brilliance.

Diavolo deftly combines a company of dancers, gymnasts, athletes and actors to form a team that has a reputation for putting on elaborate shows that transcend the simple notion of what modern dance is all about. The Dallas show is entitled Fearful Symmetries, the second installment of a trilogy commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It premiered in 2010 and features music by John Adams.

“Fluid Infinities is an abstract piece that starts as a cube. This cube can represent the answers to where do we come from? and where are we going? It can represent a super-power, religion, anything the audience wants to see it as,” says Heim. “The dancers are dressed like abstract factory workers who deconstruct, reconstruct and alter the cube to create new environments and try to understand what it is all about. Eventually they realize the answer doesn’t lie with the cube, but within themselves. The audience really will interpret what it means to them individually.”

Perhaps the most important aspect of the show is that, according to Heim, you don’t even have to understand it to appreciate it. Regardless of deeper context, the show is so visually stunning that audiences can’t help but be mesmerized.

“There’s a little something for everyone, it’s not just dance,” he says.

Yet Diavolo is somehow greater than each of the individual shows that make up its repertoire. It’s a place for artistic growth, and seeing the progression of each performer is something that has inspired Heim for 20 years.

“I want to continue to experience that relationship with them and their journeys. If I am to dream for the future, I would like to see us open a training school where we could encourage and develop so many more dancers for a life in the arts.”

Heim, who once choreographed the show KA for Cirque du Soleil, says the creative process for staging Cirque shows and Diavolo shows is the same with but one major difference.

“The show KA is like Diavolo on steroids,” he says of Cirque’s “unlimited budget.”

Though that doesn’t mean to expect anything short of stunning in Fearful Symmetries.

“There are so many elements to coordinate with scheduling, rehearsing, design, building, timing and, of course, costs are always a huge factor to consider and try to control. The bigger the event, the more cooks there are in the kitchen, so it’s a huge amount of pressure to get it all right,” Heim explains.

And from the reaction of audiences worldwide and the company’s continued growth and prosperity, he gets it right every time. Even behind the scenes, Diavolo is an ever-evolving entity, becoming more diverse as the years progress.

“When we first started the company was entirely straight, and it was chaotic! Bringing in some gay members actually evened it out and helped to create a balance within the group,” he says. “We have a mix of real and unique artists in our company and that includes gay, straight, white, black, Asian — you name it, we represent it.”

Heim offers up one final bit of advice to anyone reading this story.

“You can’t just read about Diavolo. The only way to understand it is to experience it,” he says excitedly. “You have to be there!”

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 4, 2012.

For fleet-footed Ryan Lewis and partner Natalia Fridmanovich, ballroom dancing is still an underground gay scene in Dallas

JEF TINGLEY  | Contributing Writer
lifestyle@dallasvoice.com

For those of us with two left feet, just the words “foxtrot” and “cha-cha” can induce panic attacks and sweaty palms. Dancing is like public speaking to a beat: It’s a deep fear, the kind that can’t be erased — even by images of a Dirty Dancing-era Patrick Swayze as your partner.
But according to professional gay rug cutter Ryan Lewis, ballroom dance doesn’t have to be scary. In fact, it can be a place where you can find your inner Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers … or maybe a combination of both.

“The gay community has many outlets [for people] to participate in and express themselves whether it be sports, clubs, politics or the art scene,” says Lewis. “However, as a gay man, I realize that some of these opportunities are not well known. [My dance partner] Natalia and I feel that ballroom dance is a perfect fit…While the community has plenty for someone to feel comfortable with their sexuality on a Friday night, I wished, when I was coming out, there were more avenues for me to be comfortable in my own skin, as well as [to] participate in activities alongside the heterosexual world.”

Lewis has been training and competing for more than 13 years in international Latin and standard dance, specializing in international Latin for the past eight years. Last June, after trying out with other dancers on the competitive circuit, he made a visceral connection with Natalia Fridmanovich, a Russian native who began dancing in her father’s studio at age 11. Fridmanovich holds titles that include Eastern Russia ballroom champion. After she relocated to North Texas, she and Lewis started dancing together and have been a team ever since.

Last month, Lewis and Fridmanovich traveled to Italy for the Italian Open, an international ballroom dance competition, where they were the only couple representing North Texas; they had an impressive showing, making it to the semi-finals, putting them in the top six couples out of nearly 100 entered.

It’s not just competing that keeps them busy. The duo teaches classes in Latin and standard dance, which embraces favorites such as the waltz, foxtrot and tango. Although the classes aren’t specifically created for same-sex couples, Lewis welcomes them, and says it’s not uncommon for the pairings to occasionally end up that way anyhow.

“Each class is 45 minutes of warm-up followed by 45 minutes of partner work. Since we usually have more girls than guys in the class, you end up with girls dancing with girls — but it could be the same if there were more guys in the class, too,” he says.

Lewis credits the popularity of TV shows like Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance with raising the visibility of ballroom, yet people still feel like they won’t have a chance to use it. Lewis claims that’s only true if they don’t know where to look.
“Most people don’t realize that in just one [dance] lesson, you can learn enough to go to social dances and be able to do one or two dances that evening,” he says.

For beginners, Fridmanovich recommends simple steps like the foxtrot and rumba. Once armed with a repertoire of moves, the couple suggests joining an organization like USA Dance Dallas, whose sole mission is to “promote social dancing throughout the city.” To do this, the group holds weekly dance classes and annual shows and workshops.

While Lewis ranks Dallas’ ballroom dance scene on the national scale as top 20, it’s not in the top 10, and still something seen as slightly underground. “If you don’t know it exists, you would never see it. But once you see it, you know it is everywhere.”

One example of these lesser-known dance hideouts is Gloria’s restaurant at Beltline and the Tollway. “On Saturdays at like 11, they clear all tables and chairs and until one or two in the morning it’s salsa and partner dancing like merengue,” says Lewis.

That’s certainly a different kind of salsa than you usually find at Gloria’s … but one that can be just as addictive.

For more, visit RyanNataliaDance.com.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 15, 2011.