"I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance. "
~Friedrich NietzscheAmy Hansemann is a bolt of kinetic lyricism, her body all lilting and sinewy. She turns about the room, full of doe-eyed expectation and hope. That is, until piles of clothes start hitting her in messy blobs of color and fabric. Hansemann's fellow dancers throw piles of clothes at her with theatrical disdain. Soon she's covered in t-shirts, pants, lingerie and socks, until her airy dance is anchored by the weight and she's carried off in defeat.
See what happens when you have just too much stuff? You get buried in it, weighed down, and can't dance your dance.
Hansemann and 10 of her fellow dancers in the Detroit Dance Collective are rehearsing "The Power of Green", the modern dance company's March 13 show highlighting environmental themes. The company is an intergenerational mélange of artists, several of whom made the decision to enjoy the full bloom of their talents in the Detroit area rather than more glamorous locales.
That includes artists like Ashley McGill, 23, of Flat Rock, who graduated from Detroit Public Schools and majored in dance at Ohio State University, only to return after graduation. It was the company's improvisational and modern take on dance that attracted McGill, who was heartened to know that "this kind of work is going on here, and just to come back and discover that it was here all along."
In the case of the Detroit Dance Collective, it's been 29 years since it was first founded by several area dancers as a way of bringing modern dance to the Detroit area. One of the founding members, Barbara Selinger, still heads the company as artistic director and performs as a dancer.
"I just think we really have something special to offer," says Selinger. "It's about humanity. People need to connect with each other and their community, and I think they can do it through the arts and by coming to see the DDC."
As some of the dancers acknowledge, however, bringing people in the Midwest region to the arts is an uphill battle, one compounded by the lack of arts education and awareness. So while the scene may be rich, and the artists stocked with talent, it often goes unnoticed in a region known more for leathery tough autoworkers and beer-serving bowling alleys than dance companies.
"I hate that it's so underground," McGill says of the art scene. "You sort of have to be in it to know about it."
Susan Clayton, 47, of Royal Oak has danced with DDC for 19 years, but still fights the perception of some in the area that she can't possibly be a "real" artist. "When we say we're professional dancers, they don't realize it's a legitimate career," she says. "This is what we're doing with our lives."
Adds 26-year-old dancer Lisa LaMarre of Royal Oak, "I get upset. People think I'm a student."
Like the demographic of the company itself, performers are a mix of ages and backgrounds, few of whom are simply looking for something different to do on a Friday night. The audience is mostly made up of returning fans.
Dancer David Guzman, 55, a member of DDC for 22 years, is still optimistic that things will change. "Detroit needs the culture," he says. "It still needs to develop, and it is, but not to the point where it's New York or Chicago. Detroit's not that but it could be." But with a local economy taking regular belly flops into layoffs and cost-cutting, even trying to promote the arts is hard. "The potential is there, it's just a matter of getting people to see it," says Guzman, a Southgate resident.
Selinger's latest work, "The Power of Green", will touch on a timely topic while attempting to demonstrate how an art form as abstract as modern dance can communicate real truths about our society. In the true spirit of modern dance, Selinger regularly integrates other art forms like sculptures and slide-shows to create a multimedia experience.
It's a pity then, she laments, that her small company is feeling especially pinched by cuts in grant funding, donations, and audiences when it offers such a full experience.
But the economy makes the future uncertain. "Communicating with people is what I do and what I hope to continue to do," she says. "We will be here, but perhaps in a different way."
A fact not readily noticed in widespread economic downturns is that for all the bloodletting bigger companies are doing that makes headlines, it's the smaller organizations that ultimately feel it more. For small companies like the DDC, funding cuts don't just mean layoffs; they mean the difference between life and death.
The dancers of the DDC, who number nearly a dozen, clearly feel that sense of urgency. That's why a large chunk of time is dedicated to youth education; today's students are tomorrow's audiences.
"It's so important that we get into the school and teach them while they're young," says LaMarre, the company's education director.
The DDC goes to elementary schools to introduce a world of movement to an increasing number of sedentary youth. "It's a different experience than sitting in front of the computer or a TV," says Selinger. "It's very rewarding work to work with kids."
Currently, it's the company's education programs and artist-in-residence programs that are financially sustaining it. The hope is that the company can ride out the tough economy to celebrate its 30th anniversary next year with a slew of special performances.
"I want to make it into a year that says this is the past, this is the present, and this is the future," says Selinger. "The [performances] will reflect that." She's optimistic, but realistic, about the company's future. While she doesn't know how her company will emerge from the latest economic crisis, she believes there needs to be a long-term sea change with how arts are perceived and funded in the region.
"There needs to be more focus on the smaller companies," says Selinger. "We're the ones really keeping the arts alive."
The Detroit Dance Collective will present The Power of Green at 8 p.m. Friday, March 13, at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn. Tickets are $22 for adults, and $18 for students and seniors. For more information call (810) 444-4553 or visit www.detroitdancecollective.org.
Megan Pennefather is a freelance writer living in Royal Oak. This is her first article for Metromode.