FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 1, 2022
MEDIA CONTACT: Brian Passey | [email protected] | 480-874-4626
Dorrance Dance to create music from movement in Scottsdale
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — When Dorrance Dance brings its revolutionary “SOUNDspace” show to Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts on March 25, the New York City company will reveal what is most beautiful and exceptional about tap dancing: movement as music.
“It’s been years since the center has presented a tap dance company, so to host one of the most brilliant choreographers, Michelle Dorrance, and her company for the first time will be a treat,” said Diandra Adamczyk, senior programming coordinator at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.
Originally a site-specific work that explored the unique acoustics of New York City’s St. Mark’s Church through the myriad sounds and textures created by the performers’ feet, “SOUNDspace” has been adapted in recent years to tour the country, resulting in a performance the led the The New York Times to rave: “With each performance of Dorrance Dance, tap expands.”
Dorrance Dance is an award-winning company with a mission to engage audiences on a musical and emotional level. The company aims to share the complex history and powerful legacy of this Black American art form through performance and education. Founder and artistic director Michelle Dorrance is a 2015 MacArthur Fellow.
The company has performed around the world and at notable domestic venues like the Kennedy Center, the Guggenheim and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.
In a review of “SOUNDspace,” The New York Times noted how the performers, wearing leather shoes with and without metal taps, “sustained their own absorbing musical composition all by themselves — dancing to the sound made by their dancing.” The review said “SOUNDspace” establishes why and how Dorrance has become the most exciting and original choreographer in tap today.
“The aural difference between the ball of a foot and the tip of a toe is visually magnified by an entire swiveling leg; the bassy boom of a dropped heel is emphasized by deep-bending knees, the whole sinking body seeming to sustain the sound as it decays,” reads the review.
According to the company’s website, Dorrance Dance explores what is most thrilling, brilliant and beautiful about tap dancing — that it is, at once, movement and music.
Dorrance Dance believes its craft is a subversive form, rooted in protest and transcendence. Improvisation and innovation were paramount to the survival of tap dance and are innately embedded in its very foundation. Dorrance Dance strives to honor this legacy.
Movement will become music March 25 at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. 2nd St., Scottsdale, Arizona. Ticket are $29 to $59. Visit ScottsdalePerformingArts.org/events or call the box office at 480-499-TKTS (8587) for more information.
All guests age 12 and older must provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test, taken within 72 hours of the performance date, along with photo ID, to attend performances. As an alternative, guests may provide proof of full vaccination. Masks are highly encouraged to protect artists, staff and patrons. For full health and safety protocols, visit ScottsdalePerformingArts.org/covid-19-response.