For Colorado dance novices and aficionados, there are plenty of cool moves upcoming.
At Sounds Exciting!, Lakewood’s summer concert series, Minnesota- based Buckets and Tap Shoes will present their percussive, rhythmic act complete with five-gallon buckets, metal cans, barrels and, of course, tap shoes.
As part of a regional tour that also includes performances in Steamboat Springs, Loveland and Vail, the Ausland brothers — Rick and Andy — are evidence of the staying power of tap dance as a contemporary art form.
“I feel like there’s more and more tap dance out there,” said Rick Ausland. “People like Gregory Hines did a lot for tap, but there are many others too, like Savion Glover. And there’s lots of great footage of tap dance — say Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson and Jimmy Slyde.
“There are a lot of traditional influences to draw from, plus all the cool stuff that’s happening in hip-hop and other dance forms.”
Buckets and Tap Shoes have been around for more than a decade, but the young, long-legged hoofers are always reinventing themselves.
“Our show changes a bit from performance to performance,” said Ausland. “We’re always adding new things and arranging things differently, although we generally perform with the same group of people.
“We have chunks of material within a show that are choreographed, where we dance together. But then we break off and have solos within that, like in a jazz performance. That’s one way to keep things fresh for us and the audience, where we have a lot of variety.”
For the brothers, building a career around high-energy, high-voltage dance and music was a natural evolution.
“It just makes sense,” Ausland explained. “With a mom who’s a dancer and a dad who’s a drummer, my brother and I were in dance lessons by age 3. We had the same teachers and the same training as do the other people who dance with us. We move a certain way.”
Specifically, the brothers studied at Larkin Dance Studio in Maplewood, Minn., well-known for turning out show-stealing, competitive dancers. The Auslands also studied with dance celebrities like Dianne Walker and the late Cholly Atkins.
“What sets us apart is that we put an equal emphasis on music and dance, not just one or the other,” Ausland said. “Andy and I are like drummers with our feet. We also include a guy who plays drum, a bass player, and trumpet or sax.
“Sometimes we even add some magic tricks. We never forget that dance is entertainment and we like to catch people off guard.”
That artistic philosophy is shared by Michael Nunn, co-founder, with William Trevitt, of the London-based Ballet Boyz, who will make their premiere appearance with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet on Thursday and Friday.
“We’re focused on actually enjoying everything about dance,” said Nunn. “A lot of people — dancers and audiences alike — seem to forget that dance should be enjoyable. It’s entertainment and it’s for the public.”
Since leaving their 12-year careers as principal dancers with London’s Royal Ballet, the tight friends have developed their own distinct brand of dance performance, including multimedia elements of film and video, pop music and fresh choreography.
The New York Times describes the troupe of five dancers as having “found the elusive formula that all artistic directors of ballet companies seek: how to make dance immediate, accessible and exhilarating.”
“The idea behind our performances is that they should be ideal for someone who’s never been to see dance, but also the dance aficionado,” Nunn said. “Dance should be easy to understand, even if it’s quite complex and difficult to execute.”
In Aspen, Ballet Boyz will perform a trio, a male Argentinian tango and two duos.
“Lots of dance companies use multimedia in their performances like we do, but ours tends to focus on the dance lifestyle, the creative process, or the inspiration of a particular choreographer,” Nunn continued. “Basically, two to three minutes before each piece, we give the audience a chance to get to know a choreographer or a composer whose role in dance is otherwise faceless.
“It’s like going to a contemporary art gallery. You might look at a painting that’s a black square and think, ‘That’s just a black square.’ But if you know something about the artist — their inspiration, their process — you see so much more than just a black square.”
The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet season concludes Aug. 9, including upcoming acts by Hubbard Street Dance and DanceBrazil.
Dancing around Colorado
Ballet Boyz Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Aspen District Theatre at the Aspen Elementary School, Maroon Creek Road, Aspen. Thursday and Friday, 8 p.m. $20 to $64. 970-920-5770 or .
Buckets and Tap Shoes Strings in the Mountains. Youth concert. Strings Music Pavilion, Steamboat Springs. Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. $10. 970-879-5056. Note: The youth concert at 11 a.m. is sold out.
Sounds Exciting! Lakewood summer concert series Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Amphitheater at Heritage Center in Belmar Park, 801 S. Yarrow St., Lakewood. Wednesday, 7 p.m. $4-$6. 303-987-7845 or .
Summer Side of Loveland concert series Civic Center Park, Civic Center Park-Foote Lagoon, 500 Third St., Loveland. Thursday, 7 p.m. Free. 970-962-2392.
Vail International Dance Festival Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail. Aug. 5, 6:30 p.m. Free.
Also Aug. 2, noon, outside of Starbucks in Arrabelle at Vail Square; Aug. 3, noon, outside of Starbucks in Beaver Creek Resort; Aug. 5, 6:30 p.m., Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail. 888-920-2787 or .
