Lisa Hall McKee, artistic director of GO! Contemporary Dance Works, wants you to know that her company’s newest production, Continuum, is not The Nutcracker.
“We try to help give a different view of dance,” McKee said. “Everyone needs to quit thinking of just The Nutcracker. There’s so much going on with dance and so many possibilities, it’s just endless. You can go as far as your brain can take it.”
McKee and company utilized this progressive approach when assembling Continuum, which will be presented Saturday at the Clarence Brown Theatre.
Twelve pieces directed by seven different choreographers promise a diverse viewing experience for the audience, Madison Tate, an 18-year-old dancer in her seventh year with GO!, said.
“A lot of companies are very good at a certain genre, usually,” Tate said. “At GO!, we’re good at several genres. Lisa is incredible at taking different genres, different teachers, and putting them all in one show so they can relate to every single person in the audience.”
On Saturday, this will translate into aerial, contemporary, pointe and floor work combining to create “an explosion of movement,” McKee said.
“What GO! does is we take modern dance, ballet and contemporary movement and put them together in ways that are athletically oriented but also very exuberant for the audience,” she said. “We want the audience to see things that don’t get to in Knoxville.”
Within the show, some of the pieces will examine historical experiences, such as “Golden Lilies,” which is based on the cultural practice of Chinese foot binding, or “Takora,” the story of an African slave ship. “Silent Cinema… Groucho’s Mark,” a representation of famous silent movie scenes set to 1920’s music, promises to provide some comic relief.
Preparations for this performance have been extensive, with dancers, whose ages range from 12-26, practicing a minimum of 10 hours per week.
“They’ve been rehearsing since August 10 hours a week—that includes Fridays and Saturdays,” Lynn Banks, manager of Studio Arts, said. “We’ve been doing this Saturdays and Sundays for the last two weeks, as well, plus they’re taking class on top of this. They stay pretty busy.”
Despite challenges along the way, including a dancer suffering a broken toe this week, the company is ready to bring their hard work to the Clarence Brown stage.
“Personally, I love coming to the Clarence Brown Theatre because I am a UT grad and performed for four years here in college,” McKee said. “It’s just a trip to be able to be here and get to have all my dancers on the stage I got so much experience on.”
Continuum will be performed twice on Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets, which are $18 for adults and $12 for students, can be purchased in advance online or at the door.
Go! Contemporary Dance Works will present Continuum on Saturday, November 1, 2014, at 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Clarence Brown Theatre. The performance is in partnership with the Penny for the Arts Program and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
