Dance Dance Evolution

Philadelphia Dance Projects gives experimental choreographers a voice.

by Deni Kasrel

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"What are people doing today?" asks Philadelphia Dance Projects executive director Terry Fox in explaining her interpretation of the word "contemporary" as it applies to dance. "I think it's part of something that's evolving — so everybody is putting in a little piece of this evolution."

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Fox has assembled several such pieces for Philadelphia Dance Projects Presents '09, a new series aimed at attracting greater attention to independent and small dance companies. PDPP includes workshops and three weekends of performance, each of which pairs Philadelphia-based artists with out-of-town acts — an arrangement Fox specifically designed. "There are slight little shifts in approach that occur from city to city," Fox says, "so while there are similarities, each group is distinctive."

The first double-bill performance features Headlong Dance Theater and New York-based Keely Garfield Dance, Feb. 6-7. Headlong is a long-standing Fringe favorite known for witty, accessible yet staunchly offbeat theatrical works (you may recall a dance set to a car alarm, or the piece set in a hotel swimming pool). Garfield, who has a penchant for dramatizing relationships gone awry, shares a like-minded flair for experimental dance drenched in quirky humor. "[It's] a symbiotic relationship," Fox says of the pairing.

The following weekend, Feb. 13-14, features Zane Booker's Smoke, Lilies and Jade Arts Initiative and ARENA Dances. Booker, a Philly-based choreographer, makes works that offer social commentary, while Minneapolis-based ARENA creates compelling, provocative dance that combines diverse styles of movement. 

The final showcase, SCUBA National Touring Network for Dance, Feb. 27-28, is an East-meets-West triple-bill featuring Charles O. Anderson, whose Dance Theatre X is Philly-based; Shinichi Iova-Koga of San Francisco's inkBoat dance company; and Seattle's innovative Salt Horse piece. Likely the most emotionally packed show of the series, Fox says it offers an opportunity for local dance fans to see artists who might not otherwise come our way. "You wouldn't see [Iova-Koga] here if we had to just promote him on his own. It would be too challenging to attract an audience," she says.

Iova-Koga doesn't have name recognition here, and the same goes for the other out-of-towners on the PDPP roster. The problem, Fox feels, is simply that these independents lack the stature and budget of a large organization. That's why she's got her eyes peeled for promising artists deserving of wider recognition. "To keep dance-making lively everywhere," Fox says, "this has to happen."

Fox is also an advocate for letting audiences see how process relates to product; the series kicks off Jan. 31 with a presentation and talk led by out-of-the-box choreographer Jennifer Monson. For this "informance," Monson will discuss her eight-year undertaking, Bird Brain, an environmental adventure wherein she and her dancers literally, physically, follow the migration routes of various birds and animals. "It's different than site-specific work," says Fox. "It's about a particular way of them moving throughout the world."

It's an understatement to call Monson's work unique — but then, Fox feels that way about each PDPP participant. "There's a signature for each of these groups," she says, "and it's about what they're playing with today."

(deni.kasrel@citypaper.net)

Jan. 31-Feb. 28, various times and locations, 215-546-2552, philadanceprojects.org for more info.