The reviews for the show were glowing and you can read them by clicking on the links below.

Culture Mob by Chrysta Brown

World Dance Reviews by Donald K. Atwood

Denver Post by Sabine Kortals

The Ruckus by Tiffiny Kallina

[Vimeo 12237986]

Photo by Bruce Norman

Do you want to continue your dance training over the summer but can’t afford the travel and housing costs associated with out of town workshops?

We have just what you are looking for! Apex is holding our first summer dance workshop right here in Colorado. This is an amazing week of classes in 3 different styles of dance – ballet, jazz, and modern. These classes will be taught by Apex’s artistic directors Heidi Nichter and David Reuille.

We are extremely excited about this program and hope that you will be able to join us. During this week-long program not only will student work in-depth on three different dance techniques,  they will also learn repertory choreography for a final performance on the last day of this intensive.

This summer, Apex’s professional dance company will be performing with cellist Zoe Keating in an amazing collaboration. more details
Students at the workshop will be part of Artistic Director David Reuille’s initial creative process for this show. This is a unique and amazing experience! Students will participate in the creative process and be part of movement phrases as they are developed and adapted for the professional company.

We are excited for you join us and be part of our creative process!

Please visit the link below to begin your registry:

REGISTER NOW!

Stay tuned for weekly updates and articles!

Dance Bridge was established by the Boulder Arts Commission and serves as a news and discussion center for Colorado’s dance scene. According to its website, Dance Bridge is

a multi-faceted project aimed to broaden public participation in dance through support, promotion and the centralization of services and resources. The Dance Bridge acts as a clearing-house for dancers and dance-related activities in the area.

Dance Bridge has also listed Apex events in the past, so we’re very glad they’re recognized for their work in promoting dance in Colorado! Kudos! Check out their website to learn more.

We just caught Cirque du Soleil‘s Kooza performance on Jay Leno and it was awesome! “Kooza” is a two-and-a-half traveling show that will feature clowns, crazy acrobats and colorful costumes (nothing new, but nonetheless awesome!) The show will run until Dec. 20.

Earlier, we looked at the differences between ballet and modern dance. One of those main differences—whether or not the performance tells a story—can confuse some people. This brings us to one common phrase uttered by the virgin dance audience:

“I have no idea what’s going on right now.”

Dance doesn’t always have to tell a story, as songs don’t always have to have lyrics. There’s no right or wrong way to perform, just two very different results. In this article, we’ll check out the different methods behind a dance performance, as well as tips on how to watch a show so you know just what the heck is going on.

Dancing to Tell a Story

It’s not the only style of dance that people use to tell a story, but classical ballet almost always has a cohesive storyline. Telling that story through dance doesn’t just require steps. Music, facial expressions, costumes and lighting are also very important elements in producing a successful ballet.

Imagine The Nutcracker without the colorful costumes or music. Boring! The Nutcracker ballet, for example, is based on a story about a young girl who dreams of a Nutcracker Prince and a fierce battle against a Mouse King with seven heads. Usually these types of performances are fairy tales or very well-known stories. Many ballets also incorporate the use of pantomime to convey important parts of the story.

While ballets that have concrete storylines are easier to watch for beginner audiences, other dances are just as important and enjoyable to watch.

Dance for the Sake of Dance

Sometimes dance can give an abstract take on certain situations, such as relationships, emotions or historical events. One example of this type of dance is Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring…

…which was based on a score by Aaron Copland and a loose story line about a spring celebration in the 1800s of American pioneers. Apex’s recent performance of The Jungle Book in Parker was based on a story by Rudyard Kipling, but used movement to tell it rather than involving strict pantomiming.

But dance doesn’t always have to have a point. Sometimes dance is just for the sake of dance, a popular theme in contemporary and modern choreography. Many pieces like this can find inspiration in music, a piece of art, technology, politics, current events—anything is game for a choreographer to capture it and turn it into a beautiful performance. Apex’s upcoming show, Imagine is a perfect example of a performance inspired by dance and technology.

Check out some of the clips of modern dance, while you’re at it. Very cool.

Hailed by critics as the “Matriarch and Queen Mother of Black Dance,” Katherine Dunham started the first permanent, self-subsidized American black dance troupe and established black modern dance as an art form in its own right.

“Before Katherine Dunham, the only kind of black dance was tap,” said dancer Alvin Ailey in a 1988 interview. Dunham’s work changed the scene for black dance, and influenced dancers of all colors.

In this article, you’ll learn more about :

• Katherine Dunham’s Biography


• Katherine Dunham’s Work


• Influenced by Katherine Dunham

Katherine Dunham’s Biography

In 1928, she moved to Chicago with the help of her brother to go to school for anthropology. She also took dance classes, performed in several local productions and started a short-lived ballet company for black dancers. During one of her anthropology lectures, Dunham discovered that many dances during her time had origins in Africa. She began studying dance as a cultural symbol and its anthropological roots. In 1935, she went to the Caribbean for nine months to study and film native dance on fellowship, where she learned some of the sacred dance rituals of Haitian villagers. She would eventually call Haiti her second home and adopted Voodoo as her religion.

Katherine Dunham’s Work

After returning to the US, Dunham quickly went to work weaving everything she learned into ballet and modern dance that resulted into what is now known as the Dunham Technique.

“What I tried to do,” she said in a 2002 interview, “is take the meaning and the feeling and the intensity of the things that were portrayed and prepare them with a well-trained company so that they would convey to the audience the full meaning of that particular ritual or act.”

Influenced by Katherine Dunham

One of Dunham’s biographer’s wrote, “Today, it is safe to say, there is no American black dancer who has not been influenced by the Dunham Technique, unless he or she works entirely within a classical genre.” Dunham’s work as both a dancer and cultural anthropologist is responsible for the creation of jazz, different types of fusion and, most notably, hip-hop.

Some of her more notable scholars:

• Talley Beatty


• Camille Yarbrough


• Janet Collins


• Alvin Ailey


• Tommy Gomez

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