Alter/Altar showcases 抖阴旅行射 grad student choreography
, an MFA candidate in dance at 抖阴旅行射 Boulder, didn鈥檛 get any formal training in her craft until adulthood. Before that, she learned everything she knew about dance from services on Sunday mornings.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where my training started: inside the church,鈥 Williams says. 鈥淚 saw my elders shouting and moving with the music in response to a spiritual message. That evolved to me watching MTV and BET videos and dancing along. I wasn鈥檛 actually 鈥榯rained鈥 until I hit 18.鈥
Few dancers at 抖阴旅行射 have researched how faith influences movement, but for Williams, it鈥檚 a fascinating subject. Her choreographed piece鈥攖he 鈥渁ltar鈥 part of a 鈥攇ets its inspiration from liturgical dance, a name given to movement that serves as an expression of worship to a higher power. Its premiere runs March 3-5 in 抖阴旅行射鈥檚 .
Spiritual expression takes many forms, from ballet to Hip-Hop to a gospel choir鈥檚 back-and-forth sway. Williams incorporates all of this and more鈥攕houting, West African dance, jazz, house鈥攊n a piece that she hopes exposes the creativity, intelligence and power of cultural practices with African roots.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping people take away an understanding that belongs to all humanity: We are here; We are important,鈥 she says. 鈥淢y hope is that we enact principles that speak to this truth by practicing awareness and action.鈥
, an MFA student who shares the bill with Williams, also hopes she can 鈥渁lter鈥 audiences鈥 views on traditional hierarchy in dance with her work.
鈥淚 challenged myself to make a piece that was completely improvisational,鈥 she says.
That鈥檚 quite a feat, given that spontaneity is a tricky thing to choreograph. She was moved to try it out after years of dancing in companies where, as she puts it, 鈥淚 was an empty vessel for a choreographer to fill up.鈥 She wanted to give dancers more agency with improvisation, which essentially puts her, as the choreographer, on an equal footing with the dancers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 interesting that, in our culture, we place so much value on authorship,鈥 Ritchie says. 鈥淚n dance, the choreographer is usually the one credited for creating the vision. With improvisation, the power dynamic can change with the shift of a foot. Who鈥檚 in charge? It鈥檚 difficult to figure out.鈥
Ritchie says improvisational dance gets a bad rap in the industry. There鈥檚 a misconception that it鈥檚 so spontaneous that it all comes out looking incoherent and incohesive. But she says what the critics are missing is that good improvisational work is more intentional than they might think. It鈥檚 built on the practice of listening for cues, of responding kinetically to each evening鈥檚 unique performance environment. Ritchie says the audience itself will provide some of those cues鈥攕he鈥檚 that serious about the importance of collaboration in art.
鈥淲hen I teach, I鈥檓 coming from this perspective of, 鈥楲ook, I don鈥檛 have all the information, and I鈥檓 here to learn from you, too,鈥欌 she says. 鈥淲hen we fall into prescribed roles in a power structure, there isn鈥檛 always this empathy or listening 鈥 and I want to try to change that.鈥
Performances
Friday, March 3, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 4, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 5, 2 p.m.
All events take place in the Charlotte York Irey Theatre.
Tickets for Alter/Altar start at $16. To purchase tickets, visit the 抖阴旅行射 Presents box office in person (972 Broadway), call 303-492-8008 during business hours or anytime. Note: All online and phone orders are subject to a service fee. To schedule interviews or for other media information, contact Jill Kimball at jill.kimball@colorado.edu.