Repertory Dance Theatre: Embark

During this past summer’s Utah Arts Festival, there was a camera aimed specifically at catching the actions of the community. Not surreptitiously, though—this particular camera was there to capture eight spontaneous seconds of movement by willing participants that could later be used as fodder for modern-dance phrasing by Repertory Dance Theatre.

RDT has always been in a unique position in that its mission is both to preserve and perform traditional modern-dance works and simultaneously push the performers, their audience and the broader dance-loving community into engaging new and emerging movement. No better is that unique dynamic fully embraced than in their season opener, Embark, with its combination of classic works by Merce Cunningham and Michio Ito mixed with brand-new pieces like the community’s Eight Seconds of Fame.

To create the piece, RDT dancers looked through the short snippets of video to pilfer phrasing from the performed movements (pedestrian, lyrical, spastic, etc.) of our art-loving community. For dancer Aaron Wood, the variety represented was encouraging.

“The movement I watched was very intricate, with a wonderful sense of freedom and boundless creativity,” Wood says. “I think it was due in part to the allotted time of having just eight seconds to come up with something. I’m always amazed at how creating movement seems to reflect a person’s current state of being. From the community members I saw, Salt Lake is inspiring and gracious.”

One of RDT’s main goals has always been to demystify the art of dance; this time it accomplishes that goal by involving the community in its creation. (Jacob Stringer)