Segerstrom Center Presents DORRANCE DANCE ETM: DOUBLE DOWN – Preview

Segerstrom Center for the Arts MICHELLE DORRANCE ETM:DOUBLE DOWN
Photo: Matthew Murphy

When:

May 3, 2019

7:30 PM

 

Where:

Segerstrom Hall

600 Town Center Drive

Costa Mesa, CA

Tap dancer and choreographer Michelle Dorrance, winner of a 2015 MacArthur Fellowship brings her company Dorrance Dance to Segerstrom Center for the Arts for one night only: Friday, May 3, 2019 in Segerstrom Hall at 7:30 p.m. The company will perform the West Coast premiere of the complete ETM: Double Down.

Michelle Dorrance and her Bessie Award-winning collaborator Nicholas Van Young pair tap dance with electronic music. Performing on percussive electronic tap boards designed and made by Young, the company creates a combination of movement and music, producing what Dorrance and Young call ETM (which stands for Electronic Tap Music). Young’s electronic tap boards make the stage talk back, as every step, swipe and scrape of their choreography sets off an element of sound, building musical loops, turning the stage into a musical instrument in its own right. Set to Afro-Brazilian, indie-pop, and music from Adele triggered by the eight dancers’ footwork, ETM: Double Down hopes to this American dance form to a new level and reminds the audience that tap dancing is something to both watch and listen to.

Young built the ETM: Double Down equipment over two years, connecting them to a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) controller, popular in electronic music since the 1980s. ETM: Double Down also features live music by an acoustic trio that includes vocalist Aaron Marcellus, bassist Gregory Richardson and pianist Donovan Dorrance. Along with the musicians, there are seven tap dancers, including Dorrance and Van Young, Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie, a ‘B-girl’ (2016 Bess Award Winner), whose movement also activates the music, Christopher Broughton, Elizabeth Burke, Warren Craft, Leonardo Sandoval and Byron Tittle.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts MICHELLE DORRANCE ETM:DOUBLE DOWN
Photo: Hayim Heron
Segerstrom Center for the Arts MICHELLE DORRANCE ETM:DOUBLE DOWN
Photo: Matthew Murphy

A spokesperson for Segerstrom Center says, “Dorrance Dancehonors tap dance’s unique history in a new context by upholding the traditional form while pushing its rhythmic, technical, and conceptual boundaries. The company is passionately committed to expanding the audience of tap dance, America’s long-standing indigenous jazz vernacular. By incorporating other forms that have shaped the foundation of American culture – such as street, club & experimental dance – Dorrance Dance highlights the traditional elements of tap dance and its musical rhythms in a contemporary light.”

Founder and Artistic Director of his own dance company, Sound Movement. Young co-created ETM: The Initial Approach and ETM: Double Down with Michelle Dorrance, which feature innovative and unique tap dance instruments of his own design. “

Tickets:

$39+

For more information visit the Segerstrom Center (SCFTA) website or visit the box office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, or call (714) 556-2787.

 

Editor's Note-- Watch this cool video showcasing an earlier performance of ETM by Dorrance Dance  -- 

 

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