Kansas Dance Festival to showcase one continuous performance

For renowned choreographer Charlotte Boye-Christensen, dance is not just about form and movement. It’s about stretching boundaries, collaboration, and most of all, innovation.

This year, the annual Kansas Dance Festival features one continuous performance showcasing professional dancers; the Wichita State University dance troupe and percussion ensemble; and an interactive musical sculpture.

“We’re breaking the boundary lines of the form of dance patterns,” said Nick Johnson, director of dance at Wichita State University. “We are branching out and trying innovative ideas.”

Boye-Christensen, the founder of NOW-ID, an international dance troupe that works out of Salt Lake City, takes portions of her innovative “Feast” performance and blends in three professional dancers with 39 WSU dancers and drums and sculpture.

“We’re introducing the overall theme of coming together,” Boyle-Christensen said. “I like the juxtaposition between classical and contemporary and the tension that they can create.”

Boye-Christensen grew up in Copenhagen, Denmark, but lived in Australia, Qatar and Brunei for several years as a young person. Although she was young, her introduction to diverse cultures affected her. Eventually, Boye-Christensen ended up in New York City, receiving her graduate degree from New York University.

Boye-Christensen feels at home with the music and dance of ancient cultures and places some of these elements into this one hour-long feast of the fine arts. Like her eclectic style, Boyle-Christensen’s professional dancers emphasize a mix of contemporary and classical forms. Yumellia Garcia, who grew up in Venezuela, is in her fourth season with the internationally-acclaimed Joffrey Ballet.

“The primal component is strongly featured,” Boye-Christensen said. “The rhythmic structure that is repeated is ritualistic and primal.”

By introducing live percussion music, Boye-Christensen weaves in a new physicality.

“They are dancing around us and in front of us,” said Gerald Scholl, professor of percussion at WSU and director of the Impulse Percussion Group.

Scholl uses two of his compositions and 10 of his percussion students in the work. While composing, he opened the floor to his students for input.

“I might be the (music) director, but great music comes from collaboration,” Scholl said.

Scholl, who collaborated with Boye-Chistensen and Johnson, has directed his students to play cymbals on bass drums, use prayer bowls with timpani drums, and perform with almglockens (tuned cow bells) and angklungs (an Indonesian bamboo instrument).

“Our music moves from ethereal and builds up to a crescendo,” Scholl said.

As the drummers play, the 39 WSU dancers, along with the three professional dancers, will move on and off the stage. A different number of dancers will occupy the stage at any given time – including all of the dancers being on stage at the same time.

The performers from WSU will wear flowing black pants, with the women in plum-colored shirts and the men bare-chested.

The lighting will also affect the mood and tempo.

“They are (the lights) like another company member,” Johnson said.

“Towers,” the sculpture designed by Tom McGuire, like the lights, also works like another company member. As the dancers pass by, they might touch the sculpture in a specific location, and the sculpture will play music.

“This is like going to a play,” Johnson said. “This uses a feast as a multi-disciplinary object.”

The Kansas Dance Festival will run on Friday and Saturday evenings.

“Nick (Johnson) is a visionary, and he’s passionate,” Boye-Christensen said. “He’s giving the students an extraordinary opportunity to perform with professional dancers and musicians. This is a challenging experience for them, but it’s inspirational.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2014 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Kansas Dance Festival to showcase one continuous performance."