Edgy works and powerful performances in 2015 showed that Atlanta remains a busy dance hub — with new voices emerging, established ones maturing and an influx of fresh ideas from New York and elsewhere.
The National Black Arts Festival turned its spotlight to dance, showing that the art form, though often under-appreciated, is a major player in African-American history and culture. John McFall, artistic director of Atlanta Ballet, announced his retirement last September, but not before demonstrating that his 20-plus year commitment to collaboration and creative risk-taking had paid off from an artistic standpoint — with Helen Pickett's "Camino Real" as shining proof.
Lauri Stallings' performance group, glo, found new audiences in New York, Las Vegas and across Georgia, while Manhattan-based Complexions Contemporary Ballet announced plans to establish headquarters in Atlanta. Here are a few of the year's highlights.
"Attic." Choreographer George Staib is among the growing number of Atlanta dance artists who have studied Ohad Naharin's Gaga movement system at its source in Israel. For his company's January premiere of "Attic" at Emory University's Schwartz Center, Staib applied Gaga, along with his own exacting methods, to an investigation of personal memories from his childhood in pre-revolutionary Iran. His experiences as part of a loving extended family, living amid political unrest and threats of violence, gave rise to a tense, driving and volatile style that galvanized about a dozen Atlanta-based dancers, eliciting some of their finest performances to date.
"Camino Real." Helen Pickett, Atlanta Ballet's intrepid resident choreographer, struck gold last March with her first full-length work, a dance theater adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play. Pickett wisely distilled the somewhat surreal work into two love stories that unwound under a ringmaster's iron fist, pitting hope against defeat and honor against tyranny. Set in a densely complicated, dark-tinged realm, Pickett revealed the emotional tension and lyricism in Peter Salem's score as performers gave compelling characterizations underscored by facile technique. Added to that, several dancers carried off speaking parts with aplomb.
"Salute to Men." Last year, Giwayen Mata presented its first narrative work, honoring mothers and daughters. In June, the all-female African dancing and drumming group spun an edgier story of the struggles of African-American men, casting light on pressing issues of racial profiling, black-on-black crime and police brutality. Led by artistic director Omelika Kuumba and joined by a cast of children, male musicians and artists of song and spoken word, these courageous women offered solutions in African traditions, with guidance to the young and support for a village — all driven by a vibrant, sometimes fervent, and always powerful beat.
"SoLe Sanctuary." In this NBAF headliner at the Rialto Center for the Arts, tap dance virtuoso Savion Glover and his colleague Marshall Davis Jr. paid tribute to Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis, Jr., Jimmy Slyde and other legendary hoofers who guided Glover as a child and young dance innovator. Whether as loud as a jackhammer or as soft as waves lapping onto the seashore, Glover's and Davis' cascading rhythms hearkened past and present, from ceremonial drums to work songs to jazz and rap music. Images and stories emerged inside every groove. Photos of his mentors appeared as Glover called out their names in a shower of taps. When he stepped off the platform and a cheering audience sprang to their feet, it seemed we were applauding them all.
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