Never expect storylines and characters from Denver’s Hannah Kahn Dance Company.
Kahn, a prolific modern dance choreographer and Juilliard School product who is known for her earthy, organic movement, boasts more than 90 original works. But Kahn rarely attempts to tell a story, nor does she even begin with an intellectual idea, when she creates new work like she did for Saturday night’s premiere of “Sliding Down” at The Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder.
Hannah Kahn Dance also will revive two early-career works and three repertoire dances created last year, all of which will highlight the director’s tendency to approach her art via its bare essentials – music and movement.
“I always look for music that has something unusual about it,” Kahn said earlier this week. “The fact that this music is a little asymmetrical yet very rhythmic and driving gives the (new) dance an edge.”
The multidimensional jazz and folk bassist Edgar Meyer spurred “Sliding Down,” a dance in two parts that Kahn created for five women and describes as lyrical yet playful.
Her company will juxtapose the style Kahn developed over the course of three decades in dance with “Glint,” which the choreographer premiered in 1977, and “Bonds,” a work she developed eight years later.
Kahn opted to hark back to early-career works in part because the original score composed by the esteemed arts education scholar Mitchell Korn is warm and accessible – two words that aren’t always applied to modern dance. “I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t love this music,” Kahn said.
Less accessible to people outside the dance world might be the length of “Glint,” which clocks in at around 15 minutes. But company dancer Michael Richman said the production’s running time falls in line with Kahn’s quirky, distinctive timing.
“Learning the piece was hard because it has numerous motifs or (movement) phrases throughout and every single one has some sort of turning or jumping variation, and then we switch directors,” said Richman, a recent graduate of the dance program at the University of Nebraska-
Lincoln. Kahn took a liking to Richman because of his extensive music background.
Richman trained on the oboe, the cello and as a vocal soloist before deciding to focus on what he deemed the more social and collaborative art form – modern dance.
“My training really helps me understand how to add more to the musicality of a dance,” he said. “When it comes to tempo, I feel like I have a better grasp of the beat.”
“Bonds” is the second revival piece Hannah Kahn Dance showcases on Saturday. One of the few works by this choreographer that includes a prop – a rope, in this case – the two-part dance explores relationship limits and restrictions.
“It’s all these little games one might play” when interacting with other people, Richman said of the ensemble piece performed to a Bach cello solo.
“As dancers we learn not to ignore the prop but to understand what it means,” he added. “Never use a prop just to use it. It is an integral part to the piece.”
Three of the company’s newer works – “Pass Along,” “Resolution” and “Bring Us Home” – round out Saturday’s concert, which promises to provide a peek into creative evolution by showcasing one well-known talent’s work over time.
“It’s a richer program because of that time span,” Kahn said.
Staff writer Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-820-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
Hannah Kahn Dance
The director of this eponymous Denver modern dance company premieres one new work and revives two others from the 1970s and ’80s during this one-time concert. 8 p.m. Saturday|The Perfomance Space at The Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder|$12-$15: 303-440-7826, thedairy.org or hannahkahndance.org.
