PRINTMissouri Contemporary Ballet debuts new choreographer
Alex Gordon will present EVOKE at the Missouri Theatre
PHOTO COURTESY OF MISSOURI CONTEMPORARY BALLET
In May, Alex Gordon, 24, became a company member at the Missouri Contemporary Ballet after showing off his choreography and dance skills to the artistic and executive director.
November 10, 2011 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Alex Gordon approaches choreography from an architectural perspective by constructing every element of a dance from the ground up. He focuses a concept, selects the right music and starts sketching away.
This thought process is unique at the Missouri Contemporary Ballet, where seasoned choreographers use a more streamlined methodology. For a newer company member like Gordon, building off his background has eased the challenging venture into the choreographing arena. “I majored in architecture and minored in dance at Washington University,” the 24-year-old choreographer says. “Both of these areas really play off one another when I visually create a piece.”
WHEN: Nov. 17 and 18, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Missouri Theatre
COST: $12-25
CALL: 882-3781
In May, the company’s artistic and executive director, Karen Mareck Grundy, invited apprentices to choreograph original pieces, one of which would be selected for the fall showcase. Gordon presented a quartet ensemble and impressed Mareck Grundy enough to become a company member and also extend his vision for the Evoke showcase.
“I like my shows to be like a roller coaster, and I think Alex’s piece will add to that mixture of emotion,” Mareck Grundy says. “His choreography got a lot of positive feedback from the audience, and I know they’ll be excited to see it come back in an expanded form.”
The title of Gordon’s choreographed dance that will be performed in the showcase is “The Dirt Beneath” because of its ambiguity that allows spectators to make personal conclusions on the dance’s subject matter. Inspiration developed from people he has met throughout his life.
“In the show, everyone wears masks or costumes that try to hide everything they think is ugly,” Gordon says. “And, in truth, everything that is ugly is what makes them unique. And that’s the beauty.”
When choreographing, Gordon views every dancer as a character. Changes in the music indicate the introduction of a new person or thought that challenges the piece. His strong, artistic vision keeps
the stakes high and the mood of the piece changing, much like Mareck Grundy’s preferred roller-coaster feeling.
The young visionary knows his detailed drawings of costume and lighting designs are a small sliver of the performance; it’s up to the dancers to communicate the theme of the piece. As a dancer himself, he questions their motivations at rehearsals and challenges their emotional connection to the music.
With the Evoke performance on Nov. 17 and 18 at the Missouri Theatre, Gordon is tightening up his work by taking the time to go back through each individual frame. With seven pieces in the fall showcase, five of which are world premieres, the entire company is experiencing crunch time.
Mareck Grundy is choreographing a new work entitled “Furious Angels” for the production and reviving two older dances, “Breaking Patterns” and “Twisted,” which were included in the first showcase ever presented by the company. Other choreographers, including Shannon Lee Wann and Joshua Blake Carter, will debut their pieces, some of which Gordon will be dancing in himself. As a budding choreographer, he enjoys working with experienced individuals and feels this opportunity has both challenged and focused his artistic perspective.
“It’s rare that you get to work with a group that gives you so much poetic license,” he says. “You learn so many different techniques, and this has been my chance to present a fusion of everything I know.”
