Souvenir: Diary 2020
This work originated during the pandemic over zoom as 6 different dancers in 5 different states worked with Toneta on zoom. The work first appeared as a film as Dane Toney edited the many hours of dance choreography created. This work is now presented in live concert that gives a reminder that everyone on the entire planet experienced a life changing event. The visceral images of the choreography are analogous to reading pages of a dairy, experiencing the emotions of a time in history that will never be forgotten. The music by Dr. Richard Grimes written before the pandemic offers a sound language that takes us to the time in life’s journey when the deepest mysteries are contemplated. The changing dynamics with the symbiotic journey of experiencing the sound and movement languages offers a chance for intense self-reflection.
Choreography: Toneta Akers-Toler
Composer: Dr. Richard Grimes
Music: Cordis
Prakasa
“The light in me sees and honors the light in you” is the phrase that Heather Taylor-Martin based this dance. The inclusion of mudras and shapes from the ancient form of yoga with constantly changing spatial orientations creates a universal message of respect while also giving a chance for a very personal experience.
Choreography: Heather Taylor-Martin
Every Little Movement
Gerri Houlihan first created this work as a solo for Robert Battle, the current director of Alvin Ailey Dance Company. Later she divided the solo into three solos due to many invitations to recreate her work on many college dance departments and dance companies throughout the world. Gerri reflects in movement the beautiful images that she sees reflected from the music of Felix Mendelssohn. The images seem seem to take the audience across time but also gives a feeling of an experience of living in the moment.
Choreography: Gerri Houlihan
Metamorphosis
Art as protest is presented in this work as Carli Mareneck brings the story of the Monarch Butterfly, West Virginia’s state butterfly, to the stage in a fun and magical creation. The movement and props built specifically for this dance reminds us to pay attention to a gift of nature that is on the way to extinction.
Choreography: Carli Mareneck
Props: Carli Mareneck
Katabatic Gusts
This work built specifically for the arts education project gives specific images that create an abstract story using movement as a way to gain knowledge of science. It reminds us that we depend on a collaboration that is necessary in a world where people and nature both need to thrive in order to survive.
Choreography: Donald Laney
Effervescence 60m
Dane Toney created an alluring dance that is a delightful experience of images of the Great Barrier Reef to remind of us not only of its beauty but also reminding us of those rising temperatures in the water that are rapidly causing this ecosystem to be destroyed. The unique movement creates a sense of a plethora of differing emotions. The sense of touch is brought to the surface as the movement creates an atmosphere of being underwater.
Choreography: Dane Toney
Between Angels
Gerri Houlihan gives the audience an uplifting abstract story with this dance full of quirky high energy movements to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Gerri’s masterful ability to reflect the dynamics of the music gives a satisfying sense of order and simultaneously offers exciting dance phrases that are tantalizing!
Choreography: Gerri Houlihan
Catching Light
Catching Light is inspired by the long history of glassmaking in Appalachia and the colorful work of well-known glass artist Ron Hinkle. Elements of energy, rhythm, color and shape will be explored including the physical, sometimes improvisational movements of the makers during the glassmaking process.
Choreography: Toneta Akers-Toler
Sound/Story: Adam Booth
Music: Richard Grimes
Dancers: 6
Evanescent
A contemplative work that raises awareness of the interconnected nature of humanity and the challenges we face as our needs and priorities intersect. Through connective phrase work and solo movement, the work conveys how small individual actions impact the choices of others and cumulatively, the direction our world takes and questions whether individual striving is always to the benefit of the greater good of humanity.
Choreography: Donald Laney
Dancers: 6
Sarpashana
This intense, highly physical new work explores the destructive force of addiction in our lives and the role of fear in driving those addictions. References will be made to the Sarpashana Sourcebook, a diverse collection of essays about addiction from a number of vantage points, including the Buddhist, Alcoholics Anonymous, Al Anon, scientific, and the psychoanalytic. The name Sarpashana, meaning “poison eater,” refers to the power of the recovery process to defeat addiction, or the “poison.”
Choreography: Heather Taylor-Martin, Donald Laney, Toneta Akers-Toler
Dancers: 6
Ahava and the Residual Holocausts
In 2006, the United Nations instituted an International Day of Commemoration, declaring that, “the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one-third of the Jewish people along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice.”
A solo that contemplates the darkest time of the 20th century and the question:
“Do any of us really have freedom, if one of us does not?”
Choreography: Toneta Akers-Toler
Dancers: 1
Spirit Chaser
Spirit Chaser is an artistic interpretation of a traditional African folktale about the relationship between predator and prey. Brought to life by the use of a dynamic mask and set against a background of original music, this collaboration parallels the cross-pollination of artistic ideas shared between the countries of Africa. Audiences will appreciate the influence of African art on our own cultural traditions.
Choreography: Carli Mareneck
Music: Mark Davis
Mask Design: Ricki Peters
Dancers: 1
The Mountains Speak
With exciting, athletic movement and haunting vocals, The Mountains Speak shares a fiery story of injustice and perseverance drawn from WV’s labor history.
Choreography: Toneta Akers-Toler, Donald Laney
Music: Jake Krack, Bare Bones
Text/Story: Adam Booth
Dancers: 6
Dynamic Equilibrium
A rhythmic, physical expression of images from Chinese culture.
Choreography: Heather Taylor-Martin
Dancers: 6
Paraguas
A humorous and playful duet inspired by a chance encounter.
Choreography: Carli Mareneck
Dancers: 2
Five Chapters from a Broken Novel
Drawn from a collection of quotes from books, films and overheard conversations, Five Chapters from a Broken Novel is a collection of 20 short dances: some humorous, some dramatic, some purely physical. Together, they form a continuously unfolding sequence of intimate portraits, in which human nature is revealed in all its beauty and rawness.
Choreography: Doug Varone
Original Costume Design: Liz Prince
Dancers: 6
