Get your move on
The Alabama Dance Festival kicks it up a notch
cover story Sam George
Dancing. We all do it, whether we trot our
stuff on the dance-floors of Birmingham’s local
clubs or wiggle to a favorite mix in the privacy of
our own bedrooms. Even the most bumbling wall-
flower has surely tapped a toe to a good beat now
and then. Dancing is a part of human nature, the
physical embodiment of our urge to express emo-
tion through movement.
Yet, as an art form, dance seems to have suf-
fered a greater share of our collective indifference.
Our museums, symphony orchestras and theatres
can all boast a greater attendance rate than our
dance companies. Still, the art of dance thrives
here in Alabama, and there is no greater evidence
of this than the return of the Alabama Dance
Festival for its 14th year on January 27-30.
Rosemary Johnson, executive director of the
Alabama Dance Council, concurs. “All of the per-
forming arts are suffering because of the current
economic situation,” she says. “And of the perform-
ing arts, dance is the least well known, receives less
funding than other arts disciplines, and is a more
difficult ‘sell’ to audiences. That’s true across the
country, not just in Alabama. Having said that,
the Alabama Dance Council has worked hard to
successfully establish a support network across the
state that has brought the Alabama dance com-
munity together. The Alabama Dance Festival
presents a connected and artistically thriving
dance community that showcases this beautiful
art form, raising the visibility of concert dance for
the general public. The creative spirit has not been
suppressed—we are being even more creative!”
It’s true, the 14th annual Alabama Dance
Festival (ADF) will bring a critical mass of dance
to Birmingham. The festival is the flagship project
of the Alabama Dance Council, a statewide, non-
profit service organization with a mission to pro-
MCDC dancers Jennifer Goggans and Rashaun Mitchell in
Crises. Photo by Briana Blasko.
 j a n u a r y 2 7, 2 0 1 1 - f e b r u a r y 3 , 2 0 1 1
mote the study, creation, performance and enjoy-
ment of dance in all forms. Held in January each
year, this iteration will bring over 1000 participants
from all over the region to Birmingham to take
classes, attend workshops, perform in their own
companies and watch other companies perform.
It will be the largest festival in the history of the
Alabama Dance Council and will introduce a few
new programs as part of that growth. “This year,”
says Johnson, “we added a new performance event
through a partnership with the National Society of
Arts and Letters. ‘The Choreography Competition:
The Art of the Solo’ will present twelve semi-final-
ists in Saturday night’s performance, augmented
by three local professional dance companies who
will be performing as guest artists: Southern
Danceworks, Arova Contemporary Ballet, and
Sanspointe Dance Company. The winner of the
competition will go on to compete in the national
competition in May, which will also be held in
Birmingham.”
This year will also feature the first-ever
Opening Reception on Thursday night at the
Alabama Ballet. Birmingham-based Sanspointe
Dance Company is presenting Florida-based
Fuzion Dance Artists as a part of the opening
festivities. The evening will also include a showing
of the documentary film by Charles Atlas, Merce
Cunningham, A Lifetime of Dance, followed by
a master class to professional dancers and college
dance majors, which the audience may observe.
That class will be led by Robert Swinston,
Director of Choreography for the Merce
Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC), the
guest company for this year’s festival. Merce
Cunningham was an avant-garde dancer and
choreographer who was considered a monumental
force in the development of American modern
MCDC dancers Cédric Andrieux and Jeannie Steele (foreground)
and Company in Suite for Five. Photo by Tony Dougherty.
B I R M I N G H A M W E E K LY
dance. According to Johnson, this will be a once in
a life-time opportunity to see the MCDC live. “It
was this year or never because of the Legacy Plan
that was implemented upon Merce Cunningham’s
death in July of 2009. The plan stipulated that the
company would do a final worldwide tour— the
Legacy Tour—and take up to two years. The tour
began in February of 2010 and will end in NYC on
Dec. 31, 2011. The Alabama Dance Festival is an
annual January event, so it was 2011 or not at all.”
In the past, the Alabama Dance Council
has taken pains to make sure that artists of all
disciplines have something to look forward to,
and this year is no different. “Because of Merce
Cunningham’s cross-disciplinary collaborations
throughout his career,” says Johnson, “I think
both musicians and visual artists will be drawn to
the Festival. Specifically, there are several educa-
tional programs highlighting this aspect of Merce’s
work—the pre-concert talk and post-performance
discussion on Friday night presented and moder-
ated by Nancy Dalva, the writer and producer of
the webcast series Mondays with Merce; a Living
Archival Presentation: ‘History Matters,’ a presenta-
tion providing a refreshing view of Cunningham’s
work, ideas, and influences; and the presentation
‘Approaches to Sound’ presented by MCDC com-
posers/performers David Behrman and John King
covering a half-century of avant garde composi-
tional methodologies, performative techniques,
and evolving musical technologies.”
Other noteworthy events on the schedule
include the Alabama Dance Showcase, which will
feature 20 performances by regional dance troupes
from around the region, and the Birmingham
Dance Showcase, which will feature nine perfor-
mances by local dance companies, including:
MCDC dancers Daniel Madoff and Julie Cunningham in Xover.
Photo by Kawakahi Amina.
– Fitness with an Attitude by Dance Trance
Birmingham
– Songs of Spring: Tagore by Notinee Indian Dance
Group
– Flamenco Rhapsody by Corazon Flamenco
– Visit Prairies with Me by Wendy Huang
– Sint’e by Nathifa Dance Company & Outreach
– Tahiti.Past.Present.Future by Moe O Hakina
Hema
– West Coast Team Exhibition by Bailey Dance
– Presentation of the Stepping Dance Form by The
Cultural & Education Advanc ment Foundation,
Inc. & Omicron Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority, Inc.
– Back in Time by Mad Skillz Dance Co.
This is only a sampling of all that the ADF has
to offer this year, so if you have any interest at all in
the type of quality artistic expression that Alabama
is capable of producing, make sure you head down-
town this weekend. Even those with two left feet
will find a reason to dance.
There will be 16 free community dance classes
offered as a part of Dance Across Birmingham at the
BJCC and 75 master classes for professional and pre-
professional dancers at four different locations across
the city: the Alabama Ballet, Alabama School of Fine
Arts, Birmingham-Southern College, and Children’s
Dance Foundation. Thirty-three dance companies will
perform at the Festival with a total of 332 performers
taking the stage over the weekend. Tickets are avail-
able at www.ticketmaster.com or at the BJCC Central
Ticket Office. For more information and details on
the Alabama Dance festival visit www.alabamadance-
council.org or call (205) 602-3599.
Sam George is the managing editor of Birmingham
Weekly. Please send your comments to
editor@bhamweekly.com.