Something happens to dancers when you put an audience in front of them: their “Spidey senses” start to tingle.
After weeks of rehearsing, counting, correcting, stopping, starting and doing it “one more time,” suddenly there are people watching and everything changes.
They listen differently.
They see each other differently.
They take risks.
Things that we’ve been working on for weeks suddenly click into place.
It’s like the Power Rangers’ Megazord coming together.
And Sunday night, I got to watch it happen.
We returned to Athens Square with the Queensboro Dance Festival for one more outdoor performance before our October season. Walking away from the show, the first thing I kept thinking about was how distinct each of these dances had become.
They all lived in completely different worlds. And yet, somehow, they were all mine.
Out of the void; Into new light popped in its new six-person restaging.
Passages had the lyrical elasticity I’ve been looking for.
The characters in Portrait felt clearer than ever in their intentions.
And the first section of Shadow Dance finally felt like it landed.
There are things you can learn by running a dance 20 times in rehearsal. And then there are things you can only learn by putting it in front of people.
An audience changes everything.
Outdoor audiences are especially fun because they’ll tell you EXACTLY what they’re thinking. They’re a little rowdy. When they like something, you get a hoot or a holler. When they really like something, the applause keeps going. And outdoor audiences are filled with families. We all know kids have absolutely no problem telling you what they think.
There’s nowhere to hide.
As a choreographer, I love that.
But the audience isn’t the only thing that changes, the dancers do too.
Performance seems to unlock their superpowers. They listen to each other more deeply. The relationships sharpen. Musical choices become clearer. The energy between them becomes something we simply can’t manufacture in the rehearsal room. Sunday was a spectacular showcase of that. Each work was masterfully performed and highlighted exactly why each of these dancers is in the studio.
And then there was Out of the void.
This is, by far, one of the harder works in our repertory to perform.
It’s an ensemble work that requires incredible clarity of rhythm while somehow maintaining a sense of calm inside Mark Sanderlin’s fast, heart-racing score.
There’s a lot happening.
For this season, we expanded the work to six dancers, reworked its patterns and gave it a fresh look with new costumes.
And Sunday night, maybe for the first time, everything felt right.
It was clear.
It was technical.
Everyone was listening to each other.
Everyone was listening to the music.
And I got to sit there and just watch it happen.
That performance confirmed something for me that I think I’ve been slowly realizing throughout this entire process:
RMD has entered a new era.
These dancers are 10/10.
The level of the dancing is high.
The works are clear, distinct and engaging.
And when you put these artists together onstage, there is an energy that deserves to be seen.
That doesn’t mean we’re finished.
Far from it.
Over the next few weeks, our focus shifts toward getting Dawned back on its feet and putting the finishing touches on Shadow Dance. Eric Dietz is in the studio with the musicians as I write this, preparing to record the new score, and I cannot wait to hear what the final product sounds like.
There is still plenty to do because I don’t actually think a dance is ever completely finished.
A dance is never finished because we never stop growing.
The dancers change.
I change.
The questions change.
An audience shows us something we couldn’t see before, and we bring that information back into the rehearsal room.
We listen.
We adjust.
We try again.
And eventually, we put it back in front of you.
On October 24 + 25, these dances will take another step forward at Peridance KnJ Theater.
Sunday reminded me that they’re ready for that space.
And more importantly, these artists deserve it.
Now we need people in the seats to experience it with us.
And if you want to help us continue giving these artists the time, resources and space to keep doing this work:
See you in the studio,
Robert