Like any choreographer, Robert Moses wrestles with the complexities of movement and form, but he is most intent on using dance to engage the world around him.
He tackles big issues such as war and slavery. His 2005 work, “The President’s Daughter,” for example, draws on the liaison Thomas Jefferson had with a black woman, unflinchingly exploring the abuse of power and hypocrisy of racism.
“A lot of the work is content- and context-driven,” Moses said. “Even when the work is about what people refer to as sort of abstract notions, it really is still about human beings, because I don’t really care about things that aren’t that true.”
His San Francisco-based company, Robert Moses’ Kin, is returning to Colorado for a short tour that includes stops in Fort Collins, Boulder and Denver. As part of the visit, it will premiere a newly commissioned work, “Reignforest.”
Because the company’s appearance is part of EcoArts, a nearly month-long series of collaborative events addressing such subjects as climate change and green technology, Moses was asked to build his piece around the theme of sustainability.
That word usually suggests ways to reuse scarce resources and establish an ecological equilibrium, but Moses was more interested in examining what he calls the human side of sustainability.
He was inspired by Jonathan Glover’s “Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century,” a 2000 book that explores the underlying causes of the Holocaust and other atrocities and tries to map ways humankind might avoid such tragedies.
Moses is especially interested in the idea of how ideologies and belief systems can reign over and suppress individuals without those persons having any direct connection with the forces affecting them.
“So, sustainability is about the sustainability of goodwill to man, which is in poor supply,” Moses said.
The choreographer said he will be working on the 12- minute piece until the last moment. It currently includes all 10 dancers in his company, but he might trim the number.
Being able to have his say about the world around him was the reason Moses decided to found his own company in 1995, after a multifaceted dance career that included stints with Twyla Tharp and the American Ballet Theatre.
“I said, ‘OK, I think I need to start dealing with issues that I’m concerned with and the way I see the world,’ ” he said. “And I needed a group of dancers or artists to do that. So, it was time to move on and do something else.”
He sidestepped New York City, which remains the American dance capital, and decided to base himself in San Francisco, an arts-friendly city with a rich dance history.
“I can live here in the way I want to live,” he said. “The ocean is right there. There’s a lot of green. The city is there, which I love, as well. It’s a big city, but they’re not quite big- city people. There’s just enough hippies and just enough yuppies. It’s the right place for me.”
Robert Moses’ Kin performs an annual season in San Francisco and tours regularly, including appearances at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Mass., and City Center’s “Fall for Dance” festival in New York City.
Wherever the company goes, the choreographer said, he sees connecting with the audiences who are there as his primary mission.
“If you don’t get something, if the movement doesn’t touch you, if it doesn’t really move you, then that’s my responsibility. It’s not yours,” he said. “You came with an open mind and a lot of goodwill, so my job is to work my tuchis off to get some notion across to you.”
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
Robert Moses in Colorado
Robert Moses’ Kin Dance Company | Modern dance The San Francisco-based troupe presents a program of five works, including the premiere of a commission titled “Reignforest.” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St., Fort Collins, and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27, University of Denver, Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave. Wednesday, $26-$28, 970-221- 6730 or ci.fort-collins.co.us /lctix; Sept. 27, 303-357-2787 or .
Robert Moses’ Kin Dance Company | Informal performance and discussion Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. A presentation of “Speaking Ill of the Dead” and excerpts from “Reignforest” will be followed by a discussion with Moses and a panel of scientists. 7 p.m. Thursday. $10. 888-512-7469 or .
“Topics For Our Times: An Open Discussion on Dance and Race” | Panel discussion Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, 2401 Welton St. A discussion with Moses; Cleo Parker Robinson, artistic director, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, and Denver-based tap dancer Harriet Butcher. 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 26. Free. RSVP by Wednesday. 720-865-2404 or tnelson@denverlibrary.org.
