Nearly five years out and for much of the world, the pandemic has seemingly been swept under the proverbial rug. Yet the continuing effects of Covid-19 on the performing arts are undeniable. It's been a precarious time for artists—career and life-changing in many cases. Both Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre (KADT) and Project Bound Dance (Bound) are pandemic survivors, and both companies are just now becoming reacquainted with their pre-pandemic artistic identities. Their upcoming shared concert, “Side Effects & Smoking Meat,” reflects a turn back toward the creative trajectory they rode prior to March 2020.
The co-artistic directors of Bound, Ashley Deran and Emily Loar, have grouped together three dances, and will split the bill with KADT in the intimate Color Club space February 21-23. Common dancers in both companies, similar artistic sensibilities and a shared emphasis on theatrical storytelling makes them a natural fit for a joint concert, although this marks the first time the two companies will pair up. They'll repeat the program in Milwaukee in early March.
Deran, Loar and Kelly Anderson, the three primary choreographers on the program, each felt their creative drive during early pandemic days was fueled in part by a strong desire to reconnect with the community they experienced before everything shut down. “The work we started making during and immediately after the pandemic had this kind of rigor and urgency,” says Loar.
"Smoking Meat," with Project Bound Dance; Photo by A. Deran Photography
“Right after the pandemic, I feel like we were shooting on all cylinders. We really missed our community,” adds Deran. “Sometimes there was frustration and anger in the work, and now I feel like we have more focus, and we are refining our movement identity.”
In existence since 2013, Bound has been helmed by Deran, with Loar joining the co-artistic director duties starting in 2018 when co-founder Ericka Vaughn Byrne moved out of town. The two have formed such a tight collaborative working relationship that they literally complete each other's sentences. In the studio they share ideas and have become self-described “excellent editors.” Bouncing ideas back and forth for all the work they create, they aim to hold each other accountable for their decisions. “One of us might have a concept or a phrase,” says Loar. “We share what we've got, then we both edit. We end up putting together the puzzle collectively and in that way we are always learning and pushing each other to be clear with what we want to say.”
In this concert the solo “A Theory On Staying,” originally created and danced by Loar, finds new value and growth in allowing a different dancer to perform the movement role. Together Loar and Deran have restaged the piece on longtime company dancer, Kathryn Hetrick, while Loar will accompany with the reading of their original long-form poem from the original version. “We last did it in Feb. 2020 with [Loar] dancing, as one of the last works at Links Hall before it shut down,” says Deran. “We know this work was experienced right before a major change. We like that it both revisits (the before times) and reflects change.”
Collectively Deran and Loar choreographed their premiere, “Smoking Meat,” a dynamic ensemble work using notions of safety as an early creative springboard. In spring of 2024, they found themselves coming into the studio filled with rage, needing to find a creative outlet for those feelings. “We started with lists of inspirations and that lead us to explore the concept of a protective outer layer,” say Deran, “which then made us consider what we give up of ourselves in the pursuit of physical and social safety.” Fantasy, metaphor and energetic extremes come together in the piece performed by Hetrick, Loar, Ali Lorenz and Sarah Morimoto.
"Smoking Meat," with Project Bound Dance; Photo by A. Deran Photography
The third Bound contribution to the program, “Faded Billboards,” premiered last year as a duet created and performed by both Loar and Lorenz. Developed as a vehicle for exploring dance partnering, the pedestrian and evocative movement vocabulary explores concepts of remembering, misremembering and becoming distracted within close relationships.
For the KADT portion of the program, Anderson has found a recent return to narrative in her work, like what she was making pre-pandemic. “I had abandoned humor, text and pop culture, and I was making really abstract dances (during the pandemic). But just recently I've been looking more towards satire again and towards work that is autobiographical, colorful and loud,” she says.
Anderson considers her 30-minute long “WEALTHcare: an episode,” to be a fusion somewhere between a dance and a musical. “I wanted to explore the idea of healthcare, so I started with my own personal journey as an epileptic,” Anderson says. “Every single person has such a different experience with healthcare, and I decided to start a series of works based on those experiences. This one is the first.” Using comedy, a lot of props, pop culture influences and a cast of five dancers, Anderson hopes to make the autobiographical work relatable to others. What started as a trio last summer, this episode has expanded to a quintet with Anderson, Morimoto, Cheryl Cornacchione, Danielle Gilmore and Michael O’Neill performing.
an episode," with Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre; Photo by A. Deran Photography
Sharing the concert was Anderson's idea. Through the Death's Door Dance Festival (founded by Anderson in Door County, WI), she had gotten to know the work of Deran and Loar. “We weren't really looking for common themes or a way to connect our work for this concert,” she says, “but I felt like our work was very compatible, and it's also nice to take some of the administrative load off by sharing it.”
Anderson, Deran and Loar all thrive on the strong sense of personal connection that performing in intimate spaces provides. Through all four pieces, the artists aim to evoke dialog. Audience is invited to stay afterwards in the lobby and talk with the artists in a very informal setting. “We want to hear about how or why it made someone feel a certain way,” says Deran. “These conversations allow people to process what they saw, and that enriches our work as well.”
“People like to ask questions and it's really a positive experience,” says Loar. “[Bound and KADT] do similar things—we are making work from these very personal experiences, trying to find a universal through line. Connecting directly with our audiences really brings us that sense of community.”
“Side Effects & Smoking Meat” is presented by Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre and Project Bound Dance and runs Feb 21-23 at Color Club, 4146 N Elston. Showtimes are Fri & Sat at 7pm; Sun at 6pm. Tickets are $20-$40 ($17 Students & Seniors) available by clicking the links below.
