One Art Event a Week: Dance Kaleidoscope

[Laura Frank]

Week 18: Dance Kaleidoscope's "All That Jazz" at the IRT

I have been attending art events; really, I have! I went to First Fridays on July 3 and the King Tut exhibit at the Children’s Museum on July 9. But I just haven’t had a chance to write about these events. So after a mini-break, I’m back in the saddle.

On Thursday night, Adam and I went to see Dance Kaleidoscope’s “All That Jazz” performance at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. Tickets were buy one, get one free with the Arts Council of Indianapolis’ Indy Arts Card (free at www.indyarts.org), so we got to see the performance for only $15. That’s cheaper than two tickets to the movies!

Dance Kaleidoscope (DK) performed to the music of Indiana native Cole Porter in the first half of the performance. I really enjoyed DK choreographer David Hochoy’s playful, flirty interpretation of this music from the 1930s & 1940s. Although I am unsure of the name of the song (they were not printed in the program), the piece where five of the male dancers performed was amazing! Their athletic abilities rival that of a football or basketball player. Each male performed a small solo within the song and the twists, turns and flips were brilliant and acrobatic.

The second half of the performance was dedicated to Duke Ellington music. This half of the program seemed a little darker than the first. The dancing was beautiful and complicated and different dancers were included in the mix. What I loved about the DK dance company (and dancing in general) was their incorporation of theatrics in their moves. The viewer was able to understand the story in the song by the way the dancers responded to one another and to the music.

One of the highlights of the night was a question and answer session with choreographer David Hochoy during intermission. Members of the audience could ask Mr. Hochoy anything they wished…what he ate for dinner, about the upcoming season, about his cat…anything was allowed. I thought the audience asked some great questions including how the dancers audition for DK (auditions are held in New York, Chicago, and Indianapolis) and how Mr. Hochoy comes up with the choreography for a piece (he listens to the music over and over while doing Pilates, and the dances just come to him while working with the dancers as he feels the music). More sophisticated audience members might find this to be inappropriate; I found that it made the event more intimate and gave some insight to the mind behind DK.

If you missed out on this performance, DK is offering a free show this Saturday the 25th at White River State Park’s Family Arts Series. The event is outdoors and show times are 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. DK also recently released their upcoming season, and I am really looking forward to their presentation of “Love Is…”, said to include songs by George Gershwin, Lennon & McCartney, and Richard Rogers, all performed live by tenor Steven Stolen.

[Laura Frank]

I just read your blog post on Magical Mystery Tour, Hope. Thanks for sharing! Now I am even more jealous...

If you ever want to ask David Hochoy the questions mentioned in your blog, I got the feeling that the intermission Q&A session is always done at the Thursday night show. My only reason for this assumption is that when David showed up on stage during intermission, he said something like "Well, since it's Thursday night, I am here to answer any question you may have...". I was in the balcony and feared I would not be able to speak loudly from there.

[Hope Baugh]

I was lucky enough to see "Magical Mystery Tour" and wrote about it on my blog, along with several questions that I would like to ask David Hochoy some day. (Here is a direct link, if you'd like to read it.) I was very sorry to miss "All That Jazz." Thank you, Laura, for writing about it!

[Laura Frank]

Aren't they amazing? My only regret is that I didn't get to see their Magical Mystery Tour show this year.

[Linda Broadfoot]

If I could have season tickets to ANYthing in this town, it would be DK! I believe they are an under-appreciated amazing gem of talent.

[Laura Frank]

As a side note, The Indianapolis Colts were a 2008-2009 Season Sponsor for DK. Just thought this was a nice example of sports supporting the arts!