It’s a phenomenon alright. More and more companies are encouraging their dancers to participate in the creative act of choreography. The Kelly-Strayhorn promotes independent choreographers from Pittsburgh’s dancerly ranks. Just this fall Point Park University presented student choreography and Bodiography its annual Multiplicity program at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. At Bodiography the dancers thought long and hard about their conceptual direction (a good thing), plus artistic director Maria Caruso performed a solo and long-time member Lauren Suflita Skrabalak (it was so good to see her again!) unveiled a new interest in choreography.
But Attack Theatre has come up with a new wrinkle. The company has joined forces (via a grant) with the University of Pittsburgh’s graduate program in music composition. The organizations presented an informal concert at the Pittsburgh Opera space in the Strip District that had a surprisingly finished look about it.
For the record, there were seven composers, many of them playing in the evening’s live accompaniment, another plus. For the record, they were Matt Aelmore, Aaron Brooks, Chris Capizzi, Bomi Jang, Jonghee Kang, Charles Lwanga and Sookyung Sui. Those composers were paired (not necessarily in this order) with choreographers Jeff Davis, Michele de la Reza, Peter Kope (twice), Michael Walsh, Ashley Williams and the dynamic duo Renee Smith and Jamie Murphy.
The variety was terrific, from de la Reza’s delicious partnering in “Playback” (Brooks) to the gentle jazz of “Scenes,” where Williams captured a rainy afternoon (Capizzi). Davis had a whimsical touch in “Gifts From the Sea” (Kang) and Kope and Aelmore combined for a nonsensical solo for Toney, probably the audience favorite.
Shades of Merce Cunningham, Attack took some existing phrases and repurposed them to the new music to lighten the load on the dancers (a good thing because Toney was in four of the seven works and the Attack dancers had just completed Holiday Unwrapped and PO’S Pearl Fishers). Hope it becomes an annual event, and, signaled by the inclusion of choreographers Murphy, Smith and Walsh and dancers Kaitlin Dann, Shana Simmons and Jessica Marino, grows to include more from the dance community.
