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Courtesy of Dance St. Louis
Big Muddy Dance Co's Geoff Alexander
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Courtesy of Dance St. Louis
Choreographer Robert Moses
In 1960, when Alvin Ailey debuted Revelations, it was indeed a revelation for audiences accustomed to European ballet and the abstract works of white modern choreographers. Earthy, moving, and unabashedly celebratory of the African-American experience—its sorrows as well as its joys—it wowed audiences then and is still doing so now. (It’s the most-seen modern dance work in the world).
St. Louis has greatly benefited from Ailey’s legacy. We now count three dazzling Ailey alums at COCA, all of whom will be part of Dance St. Louis’ fourth annual New Dance Horizons program, which brings in nationally renowned choreographers and pairs them with local companies to create premieres. This year’s program is focused on black history and culture. Former Ailey dancers Alicia Graf Mack, Antonio Douthit-Boyd, and Kirven Douthit-Boyd have been working with Dianne McIntyre (who’s been called “one of modern dance’s reigning divas”) on a piece inspired by St. Louis–born poet Maya Angelou. Paired with MADCO, New York choreographer Bebe Miller has created a piece on Miles Davis. And San Francisco–based choreographer Robert Moses is working with Big Muddy Dance Company on a work scored to music featuring samples from St. Louis musicians, including gospel legend Cleophus Robinson. (In a neat twist, just last year the Douthit-Boyds danced in Moses’ new commission for Ailey, The Pleasure of the Lesson.)
Some choreographers might find the back-and-forth process of working in two cities a challenge, but Moses says it’s been creatively helpful. “I’m working; then I get a bit of time to think,” he says. “Then I go back and work and then get a bit of time before I go back and put it up on the stage. It’s given me some time to let things percolate.”
But trying to find one St. Louis artist to focus on, he says, was a challenge. There are so many great musicians, not to mention inspirational figures such as Dick Gregory. So Moses quilted a number of artists into his soundtrack, though he has a very focused theme: gun violence. “Which seems so weird to talk about today,” he says, referring to the Planned Parenthood and San Bernardino shootings, which had occurred shortly before we spoke to him.
Because Moses was still fine-tuning the piece at press time, he still wasn’t sure whether the narrative would be about self-protection, losing someone, taking someone’s life, or all of those things. He just knew that the piece would focus on the moment in which a bullet leaves a gun and changes someone’s life forever. “Most intriguing to me is to try to render and to try to give some honor to the people who are going through these things in whatever way, whatever side of the issue they’re on,” he says.
One thing he can describe: how the dancers’ bodies will move onstage. “It’s going to be very physical and dramatic,” he says. “There will be a few surprises. And hopefully, it’ll be the kind of piece that makes you feel something.”
See New Dance Horizons IV: A Celebration Inspired by St. Louis’ Legendary Black Artists on February 26 and 27 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University, 314-516-4949, touhill.org.
