MDT 30 is a milestone concert for so many reasons. First, we managed to keep dancing through a pandemic! The dances we have created seek to examine our thoughts and emotions, social structures, our government, our humanity. Through necessity we have explored how to dance together without touching or staying too close, while remaining connected.
Most of our new dances began on zoom, where we had to move from the “inside”, at home in small spaces; practiced in parks, rehearsed for hours masked in a studio, and now danced on the stage.
MDT’S six Advanced Performance dancers are dancing in eight different dances.
The concert opens with the powerful Greetings from Quarantine. Filmed in part from the dancer’s homes; the piece combines the dancer’s own words and movements sharing thoughts and feelings we’ve all experienced during this pandemic, along with evocative group choreography on stage to cello music by Julia Kent.
Other new works from Artistic Director Donna Blatt Ervin include Paradigm Shift to music from iconic rock musician David Byrne and Talking Heads. Slightly irreverent, tongue in cheek, highly physical; it also pays sincere homage to our first woman and person of color Vice President.
Time in Between is Blatt Ervin’s’ 3rd work to composer Ludovico Einaudi. A duet for graduating Seniors Camilla Robertson and Lily Minu-Sepher is followed by poignant and technical dancing of all six Advanced Performance dancers. A love letter to dance, it is a dynamic depiction of waiting, reflecting and the joy obtained through human connection. Lily Minu-Sepher will play Ludovico’s Drop Variation on the keyboards as an introduction to the dance.
Ritual Action of The Ancestress, which has been a standard in MDT repertoire since 1998 is masterfully performed by this Advanced Performance group.
Maybe choreographed by Blatt Ervin and performed and filmed right before the start of the pandemic in March 2020 is danced to music by Cheryl Wheeler and questions the inadequacy of current gun laws.
Chorographer, instructor, and MDT alumna Heather Vencill’s new work 365 was choreographed one year after the start of the pandemic. Its strong gestures and fluidity are the representation of “how I needed to move”. What We Are is Vencill’s powerfully danced quartet, challenging the dancers while examining human short comings through movement.
Senior dancer Camilla Roberson offers her solo Blackbird to the song by Paul McCartney.
Joining the Adv dancers in the concert are MDTs’ Modern I Intermediate class dancing Walking on the Moon honoring all the female scientists and engineers who designed our space program, and the first all-female space walk in 2019. The Modern V Intermediate class will dance the colorful mosaic Helix 2.0
MDT 30 is an expression of gratitude for the solace, comfort and release obtained through dancing during perilous times, our love of the craft, and celebrates the nourishment and comfort we receive through the practice of dance.
MDT 30 will be available to stream June 26th to July 3rd. Purchase tickets at https://tinyurl.com/mdtshow You will receive a link to the streaming site via email. The price is on a sliding scale; you can pick what you pay for tickets. Suggested prices range from $10 to $20 dollars. A $2.00 processing fee will be added to all tickets purchased online. You can also purchase tickets by calling the Business Office at 541-758-7827. Closed Captioning is available.