Posted February 25, 2009

Bringing dance to the surface

Many up-and-coming dance artists face challenges in striving to bring their choreography to national audiences.

In an attempt to bridge the gap between the creation process and the staging of original dance works, several artists from Seattle and San Francisco collaborated to create the SCUBA National Touring Network, a dance cooperative that gives artists from around the country an opportunity to perform their work in front of national audiences.

This weekend, the Boyer College of Music and Dance will host two SCUBA performances featuring dance works by Temple alumnus Charles O. Anderson and his company, dance theatre X, Shinichi Iova-Koga of the San Francisco-based inkBoat and Seattle dance ensemble Salt Horse. The event is part of the Philadelphia Dance Project’s 2009 performance series.

Photo by Gabe Bienczycki

Temple alumnus Charles O. Anderson and his company, dance theatre X, will be part of the SCUBA National Touring Network performances on Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28. This is the third year in a row that the Boyer College of Music and Dance has hosted performances by SCUBA, which is a co-operative enterprise that supports the growth and expansion of the country’s next generation of contemporary dance artists.

Anderson’s TAR, which was inspired by the “Bre’r Rabbit” and “Tar Baby” tales of African American folklore, seeks to reclaim what was lost in translation and return the stories to their African roots.

If you go When: Feb. 27, 8 p.m. & Feb. 28, 2 p.m. Where: Conwell Hall, fifth floor, Conwell Dance Theater Tickets: $15; $10 students and senior citizens or with Dance USA Philadelphia Dance Pass; $5 for students with OWLcard. Tickets available at the Liacouras Center box office, 1776 N. Broad St. (in person, cash-only sales), online at www.liacourascenter.com or by phone at 1-800-298-4200. Related Links Boyer College of Music and Dance	“TAR is not simply to revise the [Disney] story or to tell the rabbit trickster story; instead, the piece wants to call attention to the context of African American [story] telling,” said Anderson, who earned his master’s in fine arts with honors from Temple University in 2002. Through working with SCUBA, universities like Temple are exposed to companies worthy of attention said Terry Fox, executive director of Philadelphia Dance Projects and curator of Philadelphia Dance Projects Presents ‘09. “This series provides a much-needed presenting platform for independent dance artists and small companies,” Fox said.

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