Emily Stein of Zephyr Dance Company.

(photo: Erica DuFour)

Backstage Pass

It is 10 minutes before the curtain opens. The dancers, donning their costumes, makeup and organized hairdos, are on stage finishing up their ritualistic pre-show routines. Every dancer has one. Some are Zen-like, focusing inward, finding the passion, strength and courage to bare their souls. Others practice the choreography to come, while some continue to stretch their overworked bodies.

Places are called, marking the top of the show and no matter what a dancer tells you, the nerves set in. Your hands get a little sweaty, your stomach begins to flip and your body fills with adrenaline. You make your final adjustments, circling your head or rolling your shoulders. Then you take that last deep breath as the curtain opens.

What happens next is extraordinary. Dancers use their bodies to tell a story, or, better yet, to convey a feeling or emotion. The beauty of dance is its ability to speak hundreds of words without ever uttering a single sound. With the slightest tilt of the head or placement of a hand, the dancer can transform a character instantly. Modern dance pioneer Doris Humphrey expressed this best by saying, “The Dancer believes that his art has something to say which cannot be expressed in words or in any other way than by dancing…there are times when the simple dignity of movement can fulfill the function of a volume of words. There are movements, which impinge upon the nerves with a strength that is incomparable, for movement has power to stir the senses and emotions, unique in itself. This is the dancer’s justification for being, and his reason for searching further for deeper aspects of his art.”

Zephyr Dance Company

The Chicago-based Zephyr Dance Company will perform this weekend at the Church. This modern dance company was founded by Michelle Kranicke in 1989 and comprises solely women. Kranicke describes the company’s work as “visual music,” carrying an audience in much the same way as a symphony. The concert at the Church will include two works of choreography, one by Kranicke and the other by associate artistic director and Buffalo native Emily Stein.

Based on the massive works of art by Donald Judd and choreographed by Kranicke, Sharp Edges explores age, its effects and how it may make us transparent to others. The dancers form distinct shapes and use body weight and momentum to depict its story. Stein’s piece, An Atlas of Here, is inspired by her preoccupation with geography. In it you will find Stein, Kranicke, Andrea Cerniglia and Anne Kasdorf costumed in paper dresses with multiple rolls of masking tape, uncovering the ideas of everyday life.

Nritya Sangam:

Dance Styles of India

Indian dance styles originated in Hindu temples over 2,000 years ago, inspired by faith and the desire to worship. The movements are crisp, precise and graceful, incorporating sculpture-like stillness and energy-filled footwork.

Four devadasis, or Indian dancers, are performing together in the US for the first time together this weekend at UB Center for the Arts. Each displaying a solo, the devadasis—Lata Pada, Sudeshna Maulik, Kamala Reddy and Niharika Mohanty—will perform classical styles of Indian dance. The combination of the four dancers will show both the differences and similarities within each classical style.

A free luncheon and a seminar with the artists precede the Saturday evening performance. The seminar will cover the historical background of the four styles of Indian dance that the devadasis will demonstrate in performance. The program will also touch upon the transformation of the classical forms over the past two millennia. To reserve your space at the luncheon/seminar, please contact triveni.inc@gmail.com.

Rebecca Carmazzi and Sasha Janes of Configuration Dance.

Configuration Dance

Configuration Dance presents a four-part program at UB Center for the Arts this weekend. Just back from their premier performance at the Alvin Ailey Theater in New York City, Configuration Dance will perform a diverse program. By taking classical ballet and combining it with contemporary styles of ballet and modern, this company finds unique and exciting methods of movement. Adding to the diversity of the program is a live performance by Buffalo jazz quartet Babki.

Directed by Buffalo native Joseph Cipolla, this repertory concert ranges from the comedic to the profound. The program includes Awakenings, a one-act ballet choreographed by Michael Shannon and set to Aaron Copeland’s amazing Appalachian Spring. Following is Configuration Dance resident choreographer Harrison McEldowney, who has chosen the poetry of Pablo Neruda as the inspiration for his piece Enredando Sombras. The touching music of Luis Bacalou provides the soundtrack.

Emerging choreographer Sasha Janes, who was just in Buffalo performing in Neglia Ballet Artists’ Spartacus, brings a lovely duet to the concert. In Lascia la Spina, Cogli la Rosa, the dancers display passion and sorrow as they dance to the music of Handel. No Time Jazz, created by Yuri Zhukov, brings comedy to the stage. It also brings the exotic flare of gypsy swing jazz band Babik, performing the music of Dave Brubeck, Charlie Byrd and Django Reinhardt.

You can also catch Configuration Dance at Studio Arena this summer.