Shepherdstown, WV -- The Eighth Annual Goose Route Dance Festival flies into Shepherdstown from July 10-20 for a two-week contemporary dance extravaganza. Eight performances, four master classes, four kids’ classes, three family shows, two pre-performance talks, one teacher training institute, and an opportunity to be in a dance film make up the diverse offerings of this much-anticipated annual event. The Festival is bigger and better this year, yet retains its intimate feel by providing numerous ways for people of all ages to experience dance and to interact with dancers. Eight dance companies from New York City, Philadelphia, North Carolina, Colorado, Chicago, Arizona, and West Virginia will share their artistry through performances and classes, representing a wide range of contemporary dance styles. Unless noted, all events take place at the War Memorial Building, 102 East German Street, Shepherdstown, WV, which is transformed into a black box theater for the Festival. Ticket prices range from $10-15 and adult/teen master classes run from $10-12. All events for children are free-of-charge. More informatio is available by calling 304-876-6751 or at gooseroute.org.

PERFORMANCES

The eight performances feature diverse styles and subjects and thought-provoking and exhilarating choreography. Show A takes place on Friday, July 11 at 7 pm and Saturday, July 12 at 3 pm; Show B takes place on Saturday, July 12 at 7 pm and Sunday, July 13 at 3 pm; Show C takes place on Friday, July 18 at 7 pm and Saturday, July 19 at 3 pm; Show D takes place on Saturday, July 19 at 7 pm and Sunday, July 20 at 3 pm. Tickets purchased in advance are $12 ($10 for students/seniors); tickets purchased at the door are $15 ($12 for students/seniors). Tickets can be purchased with a credit card on-line at www.gooseroute.org; with a check by mailing in an order form (available on the web site); or at the door (cash and checks only). Patrons are encouraged to purchase their tickets early, as each performance can only accommodate 56 people.

Show A : Friday, July 11, 7 pm and Saturday, July 12, 3 pm
Megan Mazarick (Philadelphia), Guta Hedewig (New York City), AhernDance (Morgantown, WV)

Megan Mazarick blends raw athleticism with character-based movement studies to address such issues as racism, classism, and stereotypes. In Show A, her company performs Roadkill, a humorously dark portrayal of men struggling to find their identity. Four men, as truck drivers, interact through guttural growling and shared gestures in a parody of primitivism. Athletic physical comedy references violence, sexuality, whirring motors, and rare vulnerability in this work that explores the complicated and oft-stereotyped world of trucker culture.

Guta Hedewig Dance, under the artistic direction of German-born, now U.S. citizen Guta Hedewig, is an experimental contemporary dance company, based in New York City. In an election year send-off of the Bush administration, the company will perform Dog Days, called "devastatingly witty... full of surprises and a lot of good dancing" by Deborah Jowitt in The Village Voice, and "a darkly funny work" by Gia Kourlas in the New York Times. Dog Days developed out of the choreographer's sense of disquiet and anger over what is happening to America, and in turn the rest of the world, under the Bush administration. The piece uses slapstick, folk dance, and burlesque to deliver a bitingly satirical look at the serious subtext in Bush's famously mangled rhetoric. Structured around an assemblage of "Bushisms," Dog Days invites the audience to recognize the hilarity in Bush's rhetorical missteps, while also inventively portraying some of the disturbing implications entailed by his use of propaganda.

AhernDance(Morgantown, WV), led by choreographer Heather Ahern, has been described as humorous, poignant, satirical, and moving. Her dances reflect explorations of gender issues, humor, and inner emotional states. In Show A, AhernDance performs There’s a Groove in My Jam, a jazzy quartet with dynamic partnering, and Bad, a tongue-in-cheek dance/monologue with text from Mother Goose and a book of manners from 1905.

Show B : Saturday, July 12, 7 pm and Sunday, July 13, 3 pm
Megan Mazarick (Philadelphia), AhernDance (Morgantown, WV), Karen Schupp (Phoenix, AZ)

Mazarick’s solo Cuttlefish is a multi-media dance piece with video projection, where a shape-shifting invertebrate becomes a metaphor for human transformation. Part undersea adventure, part cultural commentary, the audience wears 3D glasses for a unique glimpse at a woman "living in a fishbowl."

Ahern’s Blink is a wistful, contemplative solo exploring the passage of time. Her Utopia is a trio examining social mores, particularly as they pertain to gender, featuring costumes of steel hoop skirt sculptures.

The virtuosic Karen Schupp performs two solos in Show B. Pausing at the Threshold explores the moments where the mind shifts between alertness and slumber. Inspired by the painting "Star Fall" by Anselm Kiefer, Pausing at the Threshold creates tension and excitement through awkward elegance, knotted yet graceful shapes, and stunning physicality. Exploring the relationship between classical music and contemporary modern dance, Sonata, to the music of J.S. Bach, creates a sense of lush and rich fullness through the carefully crafted union of music and dance.

Show C : Friday, July 18, 7 pm and Saturday, July 19, 3 pm
Cara Hagan (Winston Salem, NC), Courtney Greer / Carson Efird / Katherine Kiefer Stark (Raleigh, NC), Goose Route Dance (Shepherdstown, WV)

Cara Hagan, multidimensional, multicultural and full of exuberance, directs a duet company that includes herself and twin sister Mackenzie. In Show C, she performs One Woman Show, a fun solo with video projection that is about a physical, emotional, and spiritual journey and includes dynamic bursts of energy, whimsy, and places of soft resolve.

Courtney Greer / Carson Efird / Katherine Kiefer Stark (Raleigh, NC), are a collective of three independent choreographers from the Triangle region of North Carolina whose solo and group work contain impulse- driven, interactive movement that explores the edges of modern dance. In Show A, Efird performs her Reverie, a languid dance reminiscent of her womanly southern heritage. Why Fall When You Can Stand, choreographed by Greer with Joan Nicholas-Walker, is an exploration of what results when two creators enter a project with different intentions; Katherine Kiefer Stark’s The War We Make is an aggressive quartet exploring anger and violence.

Goose Route Dance (Shepherdstown, WV), led by Kitty Clark, creates work that is laced with both gestural and full-bodied movements that explore our relationship with the environment, with each other, and with the unseen forces around us. Drawing inspiration from many diverse subjects, Goose Route's dances showcase the strengths of its individual dancers. Clark's Tango Etude is a sensual solo that combines contemporary modern dance vocabulary with characteristic elements of the tango. I Am, choreographed by Ray C. Shaw, is a group work originally inspired by people’s physical scars. Idiosyncratic gesture, quirky partnering, and full-bodied dancing combine to create a work of layered meaning.

Show D : Saturday, July 19, 7 pm and Sunday, July 20, 3 pm
Cara Hagan (Winston Salem, NC), Courtney Greer / Carson Efird / Katherine Kiefer Stark (Raleigh, NC), Sweetie Pie Productions (Colorado/Chicago)

In Show D, Cara Hagan and sister Mackenzie perform Kitchen Table, a funny piece about what happens in the kitchen when all the men have left; and Purple Duet, a fascinating duet showing different facets of these two women whose idiosyncratic movements are performed with uncanny precision.

Greer / Efird / Stark perform A Part, a work by Efird that reinforces and deconstructs images and icons of womanly might and vulnerability. Greer’s within were fightings, without were fears was inspired by Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus and Seamus Heaney’s poem, Blackberry Picking. An object or place whose older layers or aspects are apparent beneath its surface is a duet choreographed by Greer and Stark that explores movement gestures and quirky behaviors.

Sweetie Pie Productions (Boulder, CO), is the name of the dynamic duo of Erika Randall and Anna Sapozhnikov, who create dances with humor, tenderness, and a healthy dose of dysfunction, all topped with whip smart movement vocabulary. In Anticlimactic, Anna and Erika transform into off-kilter magician's assistants with something up their sleeves. Their fast talking and high flying feats reveal the sting and disappointment in women's acts of disappearance. Sweetie Pie is an autobiographical romp through mother-daughter relationships. This sometimes sweet, sometimes twisted duet uses peculiar gesture, fully-charged physicality, and text about mothers and their pies to examine the ever-so-common and always painful struggle to cut the apron strings.

DANCE CLASSES

Festival dance classes for adults and teens are taught by Festival artists and introduce students to new ideas and techniques from experienced performers. On Saturday, July 12 at 10:30 am, Heather Ahern teaches an upbeat modern dance technique class emphasizing musicality, phrasing, and dynamics. On Sunday, July 13 at 10:30 am, Megan Mazarick teaches “Contact Improvisation for Every Body,” a playful class in which movers of all experience levels roll, slide, and float over other bodies. On Saturday, July 21 at 10:30 am, Erika Randall teaches a fast-paced modern dance technique class encouraging large, sweeping movements and off-blanace turns. On Sunday, July 22 at 10:30 am, Katherine Kiefer Stark teaches a release-based modern dance technique class that encourages dancers to explore initiation and pathways of movement. Classes cost $12 each or all four for $40. Students can register on-line at www.gooseroute.org or by mailing in the registration form, available at gooseroute.org.

CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES

Children’s activities during the Festival are free and include performances and classes. Children and their parents are invited to attend Family Shows, which are open dress rehearsals, at 10:30 am on Fridays, July 11 and 18. During these rehearsals, kids are invited to play the dance scavenger hunt to search for special moves, and parents can rest easy knowing that fidgeting is allowed. Bodyworks: Experiments in Dance, sponsored by the Shepherdstown Public Library Children’s Department, takes place on Tuesday, July 15 at 10:30 am, also at the War Memorial Building. This free show will feature performances by Heather Ahern and by Goose Route dancers Colleen Tracey, Ray Shaw, and Kitty Clark. It will also include participatory experiences for audience members.

Children's dance classes will also be offered as part of the Festival. Megan Mazarick teaches a “Green Dancing” workshop at the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Library on Thursday, July 10 at 1:30 pm, exploring ways to celebrate our natural environment through dance. On Saturday, July 12 at 9:30 am, Megan teaches a Contact Improvisation class for kids ages 8-14, during which adventurous guys and gals can experiment with new ways of moving with a group. On Saturday, July 19 at 9:30 am, Erika Randall and Anna Sapozhnikov teach “Big Moves for Little People” for ages 4-7, a fun and creative romp for young boys and girls.

TALKS

Two free, pre-performance talks will be given on Saturday, July 12 and Saturday, July 19 at 2:00 pm immediately prior to the 3 pm performances. These talks are ideal for those audience members who would like more information about modern dance and a context for the specific works they will see in the performance. Both talks will be given by Washington-DC based dance scholars Libby Smigel and Ted Bain. “Truckers, Presidents, and Debutantes: Re-Imagining Icons” is the first talk in which Smigel and Bain shed light on the choreography that will be presented in Show A, examining the role of satire in modern dance. “Embracing Memories, Music, and Places” is the second talk in which Smigel and Bain look at the work to be performed in Show C and compare it with examples from modern dance history, specifically looking at how artists have responded to themes, props, and music.

NATURAL MOVEMENT VIDEO PROJECT

This dance film project, open to anyone age 12 and up, is a new endeavor of the Goose Route Dance Festival. On Saturday, July 12 at 10 am, scholar, artist, and film-maker Ted Bain will facilitate opportunities for the performance of natural movement by people of all types -- non-dancers and dancers alike. Filming movers in various locations throughout Shepherdstown, Bain will edit the raw footage into a short film that will be screened the second wekend of the Festival. This is a tremendous opportunity to experience the creative process firsthand and to gain your 15 minutes of fame on the silver screen. There is a suggested donation of $5 to participate. Interested participants should meet at the War Memorial Building at 10 am on July 12.

DANCE TEACHER INSTITUTE

From July 16-20, Goose Route will be offering the Dance Teacher Institute in collaboration with the Appalachian Education Initiative. This teacher training course for West Virginia public school dance teachers is funded by the Appalachian Education Initiative. Teachers will take workshops with Festival artists and also attend concerts and participate in Festival events. For more information about this special program, call 304-876-6751.

With its diverse offerings, the Goose Route Dance Festival has something for everyone. It is a great way to experience contemporary dance by watching, doing, listening, and discussing. For more information and to buy tickets and register for classes, call (304) 876-6751, or visit us at gooseroute.org. Print Add a Comment Back to All Articles