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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

A dance performance is perhaps most mesmerizing when the performers glide across a stage, synchronized in their motions. With rhythmic choreography and flawless timing, a group of dancers can transform into a single, breathtaking unit of movement, stretching out arms and twirling around in circles, all in sync. Talented companies can draw on the movements of its community of dancers, making it seem as if those on stage are an extension of some single, larger experience.

The 940 Dance Company and its artistic director Susan Rieger take this idea of communal experience to the next level. Exploring and communicating the human experience in particular is the goal of 940. Through concerts, lectures and demonstrations, workshops and master classes, Rieger and the six-person company, based in Lawrence, Kansas, present innovative, relatable dance theatre to audiences of all ages in hopes of reaching this goal.

Formerly known as the Prairie Wind Dancers, the company was founded in 1987 by Candi Baker, director of dance at the Lawrence Arts Center, and has performed across the Midwest in both rural and urban areas. Baker’s innovative choreography honored the culture and history of the Midwest, focusing on themes like settling the plains, quilt-making and other experiences associated with the region. This long history in the Midwest lent the company a stable foundation that Rieger, who became artistic director and choreographer in 2007, says is often hard to come by with dance theatre.

“Word seems to travel pretty slow about performances,” says Rieger, who co-founded and served as executive director of aha! Dance in Kansas City, Mo., before joining 940. “But since we have this long history, it makes the future a little less uncertain.”

Changing the name of the company to 940 (which is the address of the Lawrence Arts Center) did alter the course of the company’s history, though; Rieger says the name opened the company up to a broader focus. Performing in rural areas is still a priority of 940, but Rieger says the focus is more on what rural and other communities want and need from dance.

“I really look to the Liz Lerman-model of dance,” Rieger says. “Staying in communities longer and really recognizing how dance can be a great tool for understanding and growth—it’s about how the arts contribute to community development and identity.”

With a variety of themes and music, Rieger, an award-winning choreographer, draws inspiration from all sides of human experience, including events in current news, elements of psychology, and other themes. The 2007 work Tomorrow, Greener Grass, for instance, depicts the dualities of immigration, showing both the sacrifice of leaving one’s home land and the hope of a better life in a new place. Disability Romp (2006) is a satirical look at what sanity and insanity really mean, and Sword of Damocles, one of Rieger’s most recent works, explores destiny, passages of time and how we deal with our own mortality, all in a humorous way.

Despite the company’s broader focus, however, the Midwest still remains at the heart of 940. For example, The Two Faces of Wind, a performance for students pre-school to middle school age, addresses issues associated with wind, a vibrant force of nature in the Midwest landscape.

Transformations, an annual concert that was performed on Tuesday, is another performance celebrating people in the Midwest. Initiated by Baker more than a decade ago, Transformations is inspired by the residents, families and staff at First Step at Lakeview, a residential program for those suffering from substance abuse. This year’s program featured six different works, including Rieger’s Sword of Damocles and works choreographed by other members of the company, creating a collaboration that centers on the transformative powers of dance.

Collaboration is another key aspect of creating accessible dance for 940. Rieger and the company—comprised of returning members Jennifer Flynn, Bobbi Foudree, Eric Tedder and Ashley Trullinger, and new apprentices Justin Hundley and Michaela Sherman—work together in the choreographing stages to craft a single vision.

“For a dance, I might not have the moves worked out yet, so I’ll say to them, ‘Dance here as a gargoyle,’ then we’ll start, and I’ll say, ‘Oh, I liked what you did there; go back and do that gargoyle move again,’” says Rieger. She encourages company members to contribute their own choreography. These collaborations have led to great successes for company members, most recently in the selection of two pieces from 940—Rieger’s Ark-eology and Justin Hundley’s Back to You—to be performed at Modern Night at the Folly, City in Motion’s annual choreography showcase, on February 5.

The 940 Dance Company has inspired more than 100 communities throughout the Midwest with the power of dance, but Rieger still feels there is one community the company has yet to connect with. “We have more of a widespread reputation in rural communities,” she says. “This year, I really want to reach out to Lawrence more.”

PREVIEW:
City in Motion
A Modern Night at the Folly
940 Dance Company, Lawrence Arts Center
Saturday, February 5 at 8 p.m.
Folly Theater
300 W. 12^th Street, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-474-4444 or visit http://940dancecompany.org or http://www.cityinmotion.org/

Top Photo: The 940 Dance company performs Ark-eology, an energetic work choreographed by artistic director Susan Rieger to the music of John Cage.

By Sarah Bluvas

Dance Features Contributor (Past writer)
Sarah Bluvas is a Kansas transplant.  After growing up in the metro-Atlanta area, she moved to Lawrence, KS, to attend the University of Kansas and instantly felt at home in the Sunflower State.  Throughout her studies of journalism, English and art history, Sarah looks for connections to help her view her surroundings in new ways.  In particular, she is interested in the ways in which we can use the arts in our everyday lives.  As a volunteer at the Spencer Museum of Art and an intern at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Sarah has made these connections between the visual arts and real-world experience, and is now looking to experience the performing arts with a similar, more inquisitive eye.  When she’s not busy taking in all that the Kansas City arts scene has to offer, Sarah enjoys road-tripping across Kansas, looking for adventures.