COLUMBIA REPERTORY DANCE COMPANY PRESENTS “NEXT” FOR THREE EVENINGS AT CMFA ARTSPACE

The Columbia Repertory Dance Company will present a full evening of dance for three nights at the CMFA Artspace, September 9 -11, 2022.

NEXT

centers on the idea of progress, and features a number of pieces that reflect the nature of life and moving forward in today's climate.

The Columbia Repertory Dance Company will perform NEXT on Friday, September 9th, 2022 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, September 10th 2022, at 7:30 PM and Sunday, September 11th, 2022 at 2PM at CMFA Artspace (914 Pulaski St, Columbia, SC 29201). Admission is $30 for this event, and more info and tickets can be found at www.coladance.com or https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5534979

With NEXT, Columbia Repertory Dance Company presents their third annual summer concert and first as a nonprofit organization. Featuring South Carolina choreographers Angela Gallo, Erin Bailey, Dale Lam, Ashlee Taylor and Artistic Director Stephanie Wilkins, the organization will mount an evening of high caliber entertainment that changes common perceptions of dance in Columbia, and follows their mission

statement in helping to both employ SC dance artists and ultimately aid in their retention in the state. The company will showcase a variety of work that represents snapshots of the emotional and physical world and offers something relatable but elevated as the world learns how to exist post-COVID. By collaborating with local artists and organizations and blending the highly physical with the highly emotional, Columbia

Repertory Dance Company aims to create an experience that draws people in and encourages them to make dance a regular part of their arts consumption.

In 2018 co-founders Bonnie Boiter-Jolley and Stephanie Wilkins founded the Columbia Summer Repertory Dance Company with a desire to offer dancers more options in a city focused heavily on ballet. They started with the financial sponsorship of the Jasper Project, a plan focused on summer performances (Columbia’s dance offseason) and a sold out debut performance in 2019 which was followed by a sold out concert in 2021.

The company has extended their season length and become a 501c3 non-profit organization. The group’s popularity among Columbia natives comes from their commitment to exploring refreshing narratives and styles of dance in their work.

The Columbia Repertory Dance Company will perform NEXT on Friday, September 9th, 2022 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, September 10th 2022, at 7:30 PM and Sunday, September 11th, 2022 at 2PM at CMFA Artspace (914 Pulaski St, Columbia, SC 29201). Admission is $30 for this event, and more info and tickets can be found at www.coladance.com or https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5534979

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The Columbia Repertory Dance Company’s mission is to broaden the experience of professional dance artists and patrons in Columbia, SC through multidisciplinary collaborative performances year-round. We aim to retain the talents of South Carolina dance artists and provide a spectrum of professional opportunities while inspiring and developing a broader and deeper understanding of dance in Columbia and surrounding areas.




Columbia Dance and Improvisation Festival happening NOW - blog by Jasper Intern Abby Davis

improv The first annual Columbia Dance and Improvisation Festival (CDIF) is taking place in Columbia from Thursday, August 7th through Sunday, August 10th.  The event is being hosted by The Power Company Collaborative at Columbia College.  Dancers will spend the four days participating in a wide array of classes, improvisational jams, informal performances, and discussions. The four-day intensive aims to bring South Carolina dancers together to practice improvisational skills, showcase works in progress, and share feedback.  Associate director and instructor Amanda Ling says she hopes people leave with “more security in dancing and moving through space with other people.”

 

CDIF is offering six different classes—contemporary dance technique, contemporary dance fusion, yoga and somatic reflection, contact improvisation, improvisational methods, and site-specific dance and composition. Instructors include Martha Brim, Marcy Yonkey-Clayton, Amanda Ling, Ashlee Taylor, Erin Bailey, Angela Gallo, and Terrance Henderson, the 2014 Jasper Artist of the Year in Dance.

 

In addition to technique classes and morning yoga, there will be three improvisational jams throughout the festival.  Amanda Ling says that she is mostly looking forward to the improvisational jams, “that is the time for people to just be spontaneous, and you never know how it’s going to turn out.  Sometimes they’re really subtle, reflective, and meditative, and other times they get really wild and crazy where everyone is dancing and laughing and the music is loud.  It can really go either way, and I enjoy both directions, so I’m excited to see which way they will go.”

 

“Dance, dessert, and discussion” will take place on Saturday night, with the dance aspect consisting of an informal performance from any dancers that wish to share.  This gives the dancers an opportunity to showcase some of their works, finished or unfinished, and get constructive feedback from fellow dancers.  The Power Company Collaborative, Columbia College, Coker College, and Winthrop College will all be participating in the showcase.

 

While this is only the first annual Columbia Dance and Improvisational Festival, The Power Company Collaborative is already looking forward to the future of the event.  They are interested in adding a component that would involve younger dancers, offering housing to people coming from out of town, and expanding to include other states and even other disciplines. Martha Brim, director of The Power Company Collaborative, says “The Power Company has just gone through a transformation of becoming more collaborative, so I think it would be wonderful to open it up to other arts and disciplines beyond dance.”  For this year, however, Brim hopes that when the dancers leave the festival, “everyone feels rejuvenated, artistically and personally, and really connected with a community that’s growing.”

 

- Abby Davis