BY JOHN PITCHER
Nashville’s winter dance season will seem remarkably contemporary, with some of the world’s finest choreographers presenting a slew of new works and area premieres in a breathtaking variety of styles.
Social relevance seems to be on the minds of many of these artists. Banning Bouldin, artistic director of Nashville’s adventurous dance collective New Dialect, has created a work that explores the nexus between physical disability and opportunity. The internationally renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will delve into the ramifications of racial inequality in America, while Nashville Ballet ponders the meaning of gender in the 21st century.
New Dialect’s performance of The Triangle, which runs Feb. 20-22 at OZ Arts Nashville, has its origins in great personal hardship. In November 2016, Bouldin began losing sensation in her arms and legs. She underwent a battery of tests, resulting in a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
For one of the world’s foremost dancers, the onset of illness was life-altering. “I had to give up my career as a dancer, because I no longer had the ability to perform challenging works,” Bouldin tells the Scene. Sidelined from the stage, Bouldin focused on choreography, soon producing works of daring originality.
In particular, she created a set of dance etudes intended to challenge our perceptions of weakness and limitation. For these works, which eventually coalesced into The Triangle, Bouldin bound her dancers together with elastic straps. The straps were intended to convey a sense of tension, and the triangular shapes they made during rehearsals inspired the work’s title.
New Dialect’s OZ program will also include the Nashville premiere of a new work by Cuban-American choreographer Rosie Herrera.
Following its performance at OZ, New Dialect takes its program on a U.S. tour as part of South Art’s Momentum initiative.
https://www.nashvillescene.com/arts-culture/cover-story/article/21111501/winter-arts-preview-2020-dance