The Newman Center saves the day when it comes to dance in Denver. Contemporary performances aren’t easy to find — or sell — here, and the Newman takes it share of risks whenever it books touring troupes into .
But it does know how to pick them, and the three companies coming up promise to up the excitement for dance fans while keeping the planning easy. The Dance Company performs Jan. 24-25. follows Feb. 21-22. The season wraps May 9-10 with the Los Angles-based Diavolo.
Each has its unique appeal.
Aspen Santa Fe is a regional favorite with a national reputation. The company is known for producing intimate and innovative works using a familiar corps of dancers. It’s a small troupe with a big personality.
Diavolo is a large troupe with an even larger personality. Its artistic director, Jacques Heim, has choreographed for Cirque du Soleil, and the company is known for its gymnastic twists and architectural sets.
The Jones/Zane company rounds it out and adds a bit of dance history to the mix. The New York-based troupe has been around for 32 years and done much to shape the way modern movement looks today.
Jones has run the troupe solo since Zane died in 1988 from complications due to AIDS. Along the way, he’s scored a MacArthur “Genius” award, a and two Tony awards.
At this point, dance fans know the company well and that familiarity informs the dances it presents. The Newman Center event is called “Play and Play,” and is full of references to the company’s past.
The program quotes artist Jasper Johns’ famous line : “Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it.”
“That’s exactly what we do. We take a piece of dance material and continuously play it,” said Janet Wong, the company’s associate artistic director.
One piece on the program even takes its name from that idea. “Continuous Replay” began as a solo piece created by Zane in 1977. He devised 45 separate movements and repeated them again and again in sequential order, starting with one; then one-two; then one-two-three and so on.
After Zane’s death, Jones took Zane’s movement map and expanded it into a duet for a number of performances. It’s now a more elaborate, 20-minute piece for up to 20 dancers, who typically perform it unclothed.
The piece shows how “Bill T. Jones continued dialoguing with Arnie after he passed away,” said Wong. The pair were domestic partners as well as co-creators, and their dances were almost like their children, she said.
“When Arnie passed away, Bill thought he would end the company, but then he thought about the child, and the company continued.”
The program also includes the signature piece “D Man in the Waters,” and “Spent Days Out Yonder,” which began as an experiment of sorts for Jones and evolved into a rep piece for the entire troupe. The dance is performed to a section of one of Mozart’s string quartets.
Interestingly, the company has chosen to perform to live music on the current tour, working with regional musicians at each stop. Students from the University of Denver’s will perform at the Newman Center.
That adds a local layer to the event’s appeal, and Newman is just right for it. The venue was built as an orchestra hall and a dance stage, and both attributes will be put through their paces over the next couple of months.
The same could be said for Denver’s dance community, which has learned to seize the moment when top companies come through town.
Ray Mark Rinaldi: 303-954-1540, rrinaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/rayrinaldi
BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE DANCE The Newman Center presents the New York-based dance troupe for two performances. 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Newman Center, 2344 E. Iliff Ave. $23-$57. 303-871-7720 or newmancenterpresents.com.
