Preview
20th Anniversary Jam
Decidedly Jazz Danceworks
Choreographed by Vicki Adams Willis, Kimberley Cooper, Michèle Moss, Hannah Stilwell and Sheron Wray
Runs June 11 to 23
Martha Cohen Theatre (Epcor Centre)
There was a time when the offices of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks were run out of a basement, its board meetings were held in living rooms across the city and its dancers experimented in a tiny Kensington studio. It was all the brainchild of Vicki Adams Willis (then head of the jazz dance program at the University of Calgary) and two of her students, Michèle Moss and Hannah Stilwell.
Twenty years later, the company has grown, to say the least. Yet one thing clearly remains: jazz.
"Time’s passed in the blink of an eye," says Moss, one of several choreographers for the 20th Anniversary Jam, this season’s spring show, who is also taking the DJD stage as a dancer for the first time in seven years. "It’s a cliché, but a lot of blood, sweat and tears have hit the stage over the years. Now here we are, with an amazingly successful school, lots of creative energy left to move forward, and lots of people to pick things up and continue on."
Those contemporaries include dancer, artistic associate and resident choreographer Kimberley Cooper, who has been a part of DJD’s ups and downs for 14 years, and who has been working hard to help reunite alumni for this year’s celebration.
"It’s interesting to see these women again who were my heroes when I started," says Cooper. "Having them around again makes me feel like I’m 18 again. It’s fun to look back, and I think I’ll realize that more as I move into this show."
As its name implies, the second half of Jam strays from jazz standards into the free-form, improvised domain. To prepare for that, the eight DJD dancers locked themselves away in Banff for a week with British guest instructor Sheron Wray and the show’s quintet of musicians. Now they are joining forces with the alumni to improvise dances nightly throughout the show’s run.
"I think everyone feels differently about improvising on stage," says Cooper. "For me, it makes it all the more exciting. It forces you to be in the moment – there’s no automatic pilot – and that’s the greatest way to feel on stage."
Moss agrees. "It’s risky, challenging and fun," she says. "But there’s a little anxiety in getting there. Sometimes you reach the highest height and it’s this great hallmark moment – everything connects. Other times, you feel like you alone crashed and burned."
Wray, a renowned choreographer who specializes in jazz improv, instilled some no-nonsense guidelines into the dancers to help them adjust. Among the participants in Wray’s workshop was DJD guest dancer Gibson Muriva, a contemporary and traditional dancer in his native Zimbabwe who has been absorbing DJD’s brand of jazz dance for nine months now.
"It was nice to meet someone who had such a passion as we do," says Muriva. "Sometimes you have to start again and go from the beginning in dance to know what you’re doing – find the style and find yourself in it. With improv, I surprise myself every time, and it’s always challenging."
Along with funk, swing and the free-form stylings, Jam promises some past DJD favourites, including the well-known "420 Special," a Big Miller tune and a company standard. Using variations on the jazz classic "Take the ‘A’ Train," choreographers such as Moss will help Willis meld DJD veterans with the company’s current, younger self, while the end-of-the-night jam will bring everyone together onstage. Moss, who’s kept in touch with many of DJD’s alumni, is looking forward to seeing some old faces.
"It’s always fun to have those talks in the dressing rooms and green rooms about what we’re up to," Moss says. "It’s called the 20th Anniversary Jam because it’s in the moment, and you always end up in a different place than you started."
The same might be said for DJD, which has over the years become stronger, more efficient in training its dancers and unique among Canadian dance companies for its jazz flavour. Moss can’t guarantee that she’ll be there in another 20 years, but she’s confident DJD will still be around. As she describes listening to free-form jazz, Moss could be summing up the chemistry of DJD as well.
"I was at a jazz festival last year, and being there I felt like a collaborator with my ears," she says. "Sometimes I could hear it working, but sometimes it didn’t. There are risks and stylistic choices those musicians are making. But they know who they’re playing with. They know (each other) so well, so everything works." |
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