By Emily Yewell Volin.

Muntu Dance Theatre, based in Chicago, is currently celebrating its 40^th anniversary season.  Founded in 1972, the company is the largest African dance company in the US and holds central its focus to present authentic and progressive interpretations of contemporary and ancient African and African-American dance, music, and folklore. The Muntu company is acclaimed for its gripping ability to transform a space with infectious performance energy.  It’s also revered for honoring the Bantu word for which it is named – ‘muntu’ translates to mean ‘the essence of humanity.’

Dance Informa spoke with Artistic Director Amaniyea Payne and President Joan Gray who share that “the response (to Muntu) is the same no matter where” they are performing.  Ms. Payne describes it as a “collective energy…Muntu brings an energy that interconnects with the audience. People leave (our performances) with creative, spiritual and artistic rewards.”  Gray adds “the company is not happy unless people are trying to jump up on stage.  We don’t like it if people are sitting and quietly clapping.  When you come to a Muntu concert you will see people from the cradle to the grave…we like it when the audience does the ‘amen’ of what we’re doing!  We see our cultural connections to each other as world citizens and the art making we do as being that connection. We want to share it.”

Photo by Marc Monaghan

Muntu is best known for its historical works and, according to Payne, frequently collaborates with elders, scholars and practitioners who specialize in the study of a particular dance in order to honor both the research and creative responsibility associated with this type of work. Payne says, “We project the most authentic aspects of (the work) to complement the creative.” Gray adds, “It’s very important for us to present positive and accurate interpretations of the culture.  We are very interested in how African culture has influenced dance and music of people in countries around the world where Africans are now settling.  For example, we spent several weeks in Brazil researching cultural connections between Brazilian culture and African culture. The resulting choreography reflected the convergence of these cultural styles – what we call the race memory.”

Muntu frequently shares concert billings with other dance companies; often in the crowd pleasing position of opening or closing the show.  However, during this anniversary season Muntu will perform its first ever collaboration with dancers from another company.  Muntu and DanceWorks Chicago were awarded a grant from Audience Architects to broaden audiences by going to venues where they had not previously presented themselves. So, on the weekend of May 11-13 DWC and Muntu will perform at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, IL.  Payne beams as she discusses the project. “DanceWorks Chicago opened up its studio for our dancers to engage in the genre of ballet and I will be going to teach at the Ruth Page Dance Center to engage the DWC dancers, and that community, in an African Dance experience.”  The grant provided the two companies the opportunity to bring in a dynamic choreographer, Monique Haley, a former Company member of River North Dance Chicago.  “She has been able to put a piece on both companies that we will perform during the shared performances in May and separately while the companies are on tour independently”, explains Payne.  The piece is titled See (in) Me and wrestles with issues of stress, stamina and trust; all set to a rhythmically inclined score.  Payne adds that it has been rewarding to see the dancers and artistic directors, “have the opportunity to work, share, and inform each other.”

Photo by Marc Monaghan

The community qualities that are essential to the collaboration with DWC are evident throughout all of Muntu’s work.  Muntu maintains a teaching presence in 11 Chicago-based schools and community organizations and offers open adult division classes to the community.  Gray says, “Muntu has a dual function, we are definitely a professional performing arts company that performs around the world and self produces our season every year.  But equally as important to me, is that when there is an important event of significant happening in the community, Muntu is called upon to bear witness to that and to bring the appropriate cultural celebrations.”  Muntu is ‘honored’ to regularly perform for weddings, funeral celebrations, parades, block clubs, and during visits of foreign dignitaries.

Dance Informa asked Gray and Payne what advice they would give to fledging dance companies.  Gray advised, “be sure that you have a vision for your work; and you have to have clarity about how you are going to express that vision. You’ve got to have something to say. You also have to set realistic goals and objectives for your work and how you are going to advance that work and take it one step at a time. You have to think about a model of operations for the resources that you have or you will have in the foreseeable future. When Muntu first started it was the artists who did all the management stuff, too.  We weren’t paid at that time…we had to do everything.  If you are not prepared to do all of those different types of things until you get to the level where you can contract people, you shouldn’t get started. I don’t believe that every dance company has to have a vision of (lasting) into perpetuity.  Every dance company that gets started may not want to be an institution.  They may want to survive the lifetime of its founding director.  Be clear about what you want to achieve.  If it’s for a single choreographer’s vision, that’s fine, just explore different ways you think. Holistically, it can work for you.”  Payne adds, “you cannot do this by yourself.  It’s important to get a trustworthy team that shares the vision.”

When asked to reflect upon a single wish for Muntu during this anniversary year Payne confided, “one of my single wishes is a wonderful facility in order for Muntu to continue to do the valuable artwork and share it with the community.”  Gray adds to that, “where the whole organization could be under one roof.  We know we could deepen our impact and our expression, and make it easier for everybody, if we were all under one roof.”

Connect with Muntu’s website www.muntu.com to learn more about the company and this season’s 40^th anniversary celebrations.  As Payne said in closing, “be part of the celebration!”

Top photo: Muntu Dance Theatre. Photo by Marc Monaghan.

Published by Dance Informa digital dance magazine – dance news, dance auditions & dance events for the professional dancer, dance teacher and dance students.

By Emily Yewell Volin.

DanceWorks Chicago is a contemporary dance company committed to working in a “culture centered around a generosity of spirit and building community,” says Artistic Director and Co-founder, Julie Nakagawa.  The company is currently celebrating its 5^th anniversary season of working within the model of bringing together people with a “wide range of skills, approaches, and experience”, shares Nakagawa. “I think that many dance companies select dancers based on who would be good for them, who is best able to serve the repertoire.  For us the conversation also goes the other way.  How can we at DanceWorks Chicago serve these dancers?”

DanceWorks Chicago’s commitment to service pervades every aspect of their work.  From audiences being invited into the audition process, to the reciprocal mentorship of dancers and choreographers within the company, DWC is all about “illuminating the work of art”, Nakagawa explains.  “We are about investing in the future.  So many of us individually and collectively are really focused on today, because if we don’t have a good today we’re not going to have a good tomorrow.  And, I totally get that.  But if you’re lucky enough to have a tomorrow, what’s it going to look like if you don’t think about it today?  I’m going to be optimistic and work towards having a tomorrow.  You might as well think about the future and invest in a positive future for everybody.  For us it’s beyond DWC.  We promote personal responsibility within our dancer contingent but we also feel as an organization that we need to have a responsibility to the bigger picture and our art form.  We try to lead by example.  We work to create an atmosphere conducive to young artists doing their best work by listening, challenging, stimulating, supporting, and encouraging them to own their time here.”

DWC presents 'Beat in the Box'. Photo by Cheryl Mann

DanceWorks Chicago artists come from all different kinds of backgrounds. “They look different, they approach dance differently, they have different goals in terms of dance and different ways they want to fit into the dance community. They are learning about those ways as they go through their journey, of which DWC is just going to be a small part”, says Nakagawa. “The opportunity to gather together diverse individual artists makes us richer and stronger as a group. With lots of different voices in the studio and on stage, DanceWorks Chicago has so many points of view, and energy to catalyze vibrant art-making and connections with the audience.”

DWC alumni present a convincing track record for the viability of training within this model.  The company is proud to have 15 DanceWorks Chicago alumni out in the world in places ranging from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Lion King on Broadway, the national tour of The Color Purple, Chicago’s Luna Negra Dance Theater, Los Angeles Ballet, the freelance dance scene and cruise ships to even Chicago Public Schools.

One shining example of DWC’s commitment to gathering individuals is its Dance Chance event.  This event, which DWC hosts in partnership with the Ruth Page Center, attracts and supports the work of Chicago-area choreographers.  “It’s meant to be the start of a conversation”, says Nakagawa. Dance Chance presents three choreographers a month. Following the event, names of self nominated choreographers are randomly drawn from a fishbowl to present work, in the order drawn, during the next Dance Chance event.  “Each person has 15 minutes to show work or talk about work”, adds Nakagawa.  The event is totally non-curated though there is a guest moderator to catalyze connections between the artists and the audience.  Dance Chance attracts both those who already have a relationship with dance and those for whom dance may be a new curiosity.

DWC presents 'Nocturnal Sense' by James Gregg. Dancers: Peabody, Horton & Jackson. Photo by Vin.

Equally interesting are DWC’s modifications to the dance audition process. The DanceWorks Chicago annual open audition is conducted on stage, which removes the judgmental mirror and adds the audience component. Nakagawa explains, “It’s an unedited, very authentic experience. We talk about the muscle of courage and how it’s important to make sure that gets a work out every day.  We start with a ballet class, with eliminations, and move on to repertoire selections taught by DWC dancers so that the auditionees, and audience, get more of a sense of who we are as well as our culture of inclusion and personal responsibility.  The DWC dancers are responsible for sharing the information and are included in the audition process, which gives them a different vantage point.  Feedback from the auditionees has been very positive.  They seem to appreciate the presence of a supportive audience and, while difficult, they also take advantage of the opportunity to join the audience if they are excused from the audition and use it as a chance to observe and continue the learning process.”  DWC welcomes a diverse audience into the audition.  “Reaching for a dream and making yourself vulnerable – these are things we can all relate to”, says Nakagawa.

DanceWorks Chicago enjoys being part of a community as an in-residence company at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in Chicago’s Gold Coast. The company partners often with River North Dance Chicago on combined company classes and even events like potluck lunches. “There are connections that happen behind-the-scenes that reflect our mutual respect and appreciation of one another.  In fact, Monique Haley, a former dancer with River North, participated in Dance Chance as a choreographer and subsequently created new work for both River North as well as DanceWorks Chicago.  Her new work See(in) Me is actually a DWC collaboration with another Chicago company, Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago!  The collaborations and the energy continue!” shares Nakagawa.

DanceWorks Chicago’s 5^th year includes many performance highlights.  They are excited to debut in Italy with a three-city tour from April 17-19 and for collaborative performances with Muntu Dance Theater, which will take place at the North Shore Center for the Arts, Skokie, IL May 11-12.  DWC also looks forward to their debut at the Spring to Dance festival in St. Louis on May 25 and to their 5^th anniversary benefit, which will be held in their home at the Ruth Page Center on June 3^rd.

To learn more visit www.danceworkschicago.org

Published by Dance Informa digital dance magazine – dance news, dance auditions & dance events.