dance

Words, dance and visual art flow into GHDT ‘Melange’

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By John Lyle Belden

On the weekend of January 11-12, Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre presented its fourth iteration of “Melange,” a largely-improvised blending of artistic disciplines by three individuals who had not only not rehearsed, but met one another on the first performance day. At the center is a performer who sings or speaks – the only element that is prepared – while a GHDT dancer interprets the goings-on in dance and a local artist captures an impression on a canvas.

Actor Jean Arnold was at the center of the space, delivering a program of spoken word, poetry and song. At the start she gave a rhythmic recitation of the folk song “The Unicorn” to set the mood of wonder and introspection with a touch of humor.

Compiled and arranged by Arnold, these pieces include a mother’s reflections on children, one she called “Fearless and Fierce,” a passage relating inner peace to world peace, one on “The Dancer,” and one “on Loving.”

The source material, she said, was literally all around us as the big box of a performance space – The Florence at the Academy at Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre – before its recent renovation had various quotes, sayings, poetry, and scripture passages of numerous faiths written below the floorboards and behind the wall surfaces, under the guidance of founder and artistic director Gregory Glade Hancock. Arnold had seen these, she said, and included some in her performance – quoting sources ranging from the Bible to Jimi Hendrix.

GHDT principal dancer Thomas James Mason was a flowing force that moved throughout the performance. He ranged from pure interpretation to moments of interplay with Arnold, when she would, with a mischievous grin, join him for a step or two. At moments, an old-time microphone stand would swirl in and out by Mason at her beckoning.

The dancer seeming to be all over the stage was captured in a number of dynamic poses by portraitist Robert Maurice Smith. In his drawing Saturday evening, Smith also captured Arnold’s energy, including, in a moment of late inspiration, the pages of the script binder that she occasionally held appearing to flow out to merge with Mason’s outstretched limbs. At the end of the performance, host (and GHDT assistant director) Abigail Lesaris auctioned the impromptu artwork with proceeds going to the dance company.  

“I am many things, but I am not quiet,” Arnold said smiling during the performance. Afterward, she noted this was unlike anything she had done on stage and enjoyed the challenge. “I wanted to leave people with something,” she said of her inspired approach.

As with the previous Melange productions, there was an almost polished feel to the unrehearsed proceedings, a confident reflection of artistic professionals. All present understood that this was, like all live theatre, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

As this posts, there is still today’s performance, 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12, at The Florence, 329 Gradle Drive, Carmel. See gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org for details and tickets, as well as info on their next show, “Down on the Bayou,” three weekends, Feb. 8-23, at The Florence.

Anguish of atrocity honored in Gregory Hancock program

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By John Lyle Belden

Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre presented another brilliant example of its ability to tell a story and evoke feeling through movement with its “Autumn Nights” program.

“Art should be challenging,” founder and director Gregory Glade Hancock says. This is certainly brought to bear in the debut of his important work, “Beyond These Gates the Land Groans.” These words were written on a wall of the Police Prison Camp at Salaspils, Latvia, operated by Nazi Germany as a labor and concentration camp from October 1941 until the Soviets closed it at war’s end in 1945. Though not as infamous as larger facilities, it was just as cruel, leading to the deaths of thousands of people (many of them, children) from disease, starvation and other mistreatment.

In 1967, a Memorial was built to remember those who were lost there, which included a number of sculptures whose brutal appearance reflected their suffering. Hancock saw these on a recent visit to Latvia and said he was instantly inspired to compose this piece.

The resulting performance literally stunned us. The movement portrayed the grace of humanity but no further beauty. Dancers worked in open space against the constant tension of being in a restrained, hopeless place. They appear as representation of the memorial statues, in the same poses, and move to express their struggle and sorrow. They come forward, challenging us to see them, hear their silenced cries. The stark vision extends to the costumes (also by Hancock), plain prisoner uniforms hanging loose upon starved bodies, as well as there being no music, just the ongoing rhythm of a recorded human heartbeat. At a moment of desperate necessity, there is the wail of a violin. At the end, as we had been cautioned before the show, few felt like applauding – some in the audience briefly clapped out of respect for the artists; the rest of us, intensely moved, honored it with silence.

Dancers were the principal GHDT company – Sophie Jones, assistant director Abigail Lessaris, Thomas Mason, Cordelia Newton, Josie Moody, Olivia Payton, and Audrey Springer – with GH Academy students Arden Brothers and Hazel Moore.

The program also had lighter and otherwise entertaining works. It opened with “The Visit,” a 1992 Hancock dance with Eastern European influences, appropriate to the Halloween season. Mason enters the center spotlight and summons the others in a bewitching circle of celebration and magick. The “sisters” include Lessaris, Moody, Payton, Springer, and provide a lovely introduction of new dancers Jones and Newton – the latter getting a brief solo. Student Penelope Lomax also makes an appearance.

Hancock also revived a fun 2008 piece, “The Seven Deadly Sins.” All listed above, as well as students Abigail Arboleda, Fiadh Flynn, Morgan Rice, Josephine Steinmetz, Charlotte Terzino, and Brittney Zhang, take turns in various numbers embodying Pride, Sloth, Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, Envy, and, of course, Lust. In the end, Terzino reappears as Virtue to set the moral order right.

The “Autumn Nights” came and went – last Friday evening and Saturday afternoon – at The Tarkington of the Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Carmel. Upcoming events will be nearby on The Florence stage at Gregory Hancock’s office and Academy, 329 Gradle Drive:

 “Melange” returns with three artists of different disciplines combining their talents in a single improvised theme. On Nov. 16-17, visual artist Kevin James Wilson, vocalist Tessa Gibbons, and GHDT’s Josie Moody will create a masterpiece within the same space.

“WinterFest,” a celebration of different year-end holidays, will be at the Florence on December 6-8 and 13-15.

For information on these and performances in 2025, visit GregoryHancockDanceTheatre.org.

‘Tales’ part of DK’s continuing story

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By Wendy Carson

Last week, I had the privilege of attending a preview performance of the latest Dance Kaleidoscope show, “Late Night Tales,” at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. I decided to go into it without having any idea about what I would see and was delighted by the result.

As I didn’t have a copy of the program at the time, I was not able to read about the ideas behind each of the four sections, so I give you my insights and interpretations as to what I personally experienced. Overall, my impression was that the show took us through several decades of dance styles and history.

The initial piece, hiFi (choreographed by Sean Aaron Carmon), was lively and very jive inspired. It included several fun songs and some classic crooners from Perry Como. This felt like a beautiful tribute to life in the late 1940s, incorporating ballet and touches of modern dance as well.

Dance number two, Rhapsody in Blue (choreographed by David Hochoy), whisked us from the streets of New York City to the ‘50s glamor of Hollywood. It included a spectacular homage to Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire, along with choreography indicative of several hit shows of the period.

The third number, Peak/Valley (choreographed by Janice Rosario), brought us to the ‘60s and the strong influences of Martha Graham on the dance styles of this time. The movement evoked images of tribal celebrations, African wildlife, and personal interactions. Being much more stylized, it felt more in tune to the modern dance styles one would expect from the company.

The final number, “Late Night Tales (choreographed by Joshua Blake Carter), brings forth the title of the show and some of its inspiration. With clips of an interview with David Bowie interspersed, we are plunged into the gritty underground rock movement of the ‘70s. The latter half of this offering felt like a tribute to futuristic sci-fi stylings (think Metropolis) and provided an amazing showcase to highlight each dancer’s physical prowess and abilities.

In all, the show was delightful and appeals to all ages, hopefully inspiring some familial stories for our generations to share. Unfortunately, it only had one weekend of performances, but DK has more wonderful dances planned in the coming months: “Nothing is Forever, Darling,” featuring the music of Rufus Wainwright, in January at Schrott Center for the Arts; and world premieres “Emerge” and “Under the Covers,” March and May, respectively, at Newfields. Visit dancekal.org for details.

I would also like to mention that with it being a preview, I was privy to watching the cast go through their individual warm-ups prior to the show. That was a wonderful performance all its own. If you ever have the chance to experience it yourself, I strongly suggest you do.

Fall for the charms of SSS ‘Music Man’

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By John Lyle Belden

It’s an often-told story: A stranger comes into a sleepy town and everything changes. However, in this case, that’s the stranger’s plan the whole time.

Summer Stock Stage presents a full production of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man,” directed by founding artistic director Emily Ristine Holloway. And I do mean “full” – the whole musical on the full-size Ayers Auditorium stage (at Park Tudor School) with orchestra in the back, led by Mike Berg Raunick, and a cast that Holloway tongue-in-cheek calls “seventy-six actors” (a rough count in the program is close to that number). They represent 30 different Indiana schools, she said, mainly teenagers with younger children in age-appropriate roles.

This company gives an exceptional performance throughout, from the overture to the curtain call.

In 1912, “Professor” Harold Hill (Justus Palumbo) arrives in River City, Iowa, a practiced con man posing as a traveling salesman of band instruments and uniforms. The grift involves convincing a town it needs a youth band, selling them everything they need with the promise he’ll organize and teach, but skipping town with the money before giving a single actual lesson.

Iowans aren’t that easy to fool, especially town librarian Marian Paroo (Jilayne Kistner), but Hill accepts the challenge, demonizing the new pool tables downtown and getting everyone singing and dancing as they await the arrival of their instruments. Both Marian and Mayor Shinn (Andrew King) suspect something dishonest is happening, but are swept up in the events of that magical summer. Marion’s shy, lisping little brother Winthrop Paroo (Tad Klovsky) is coming out of his shell; meanwhile, local delinquent Tommy Djilas (Justice Harris) is doing honest work, albeit as Hill’s unwitting accomplice.

But even master manipulator Hill isn’t immune to changing attitudes – or love.

The cast also features Gracie Reckamp as Amaryllis, the girl with a crush on Winthrop; Taylor Smith as Marcellus Washburn, an old friend of Hill’s now in on the scam; Paige Murray as the Mayor’s wife Eulalie, who wishes to be seen as cultured so is easily talked into leading a women’s dance committee; Gabi Bradley as Zaneeta Shin, the Mayor’s daughter who is seeing Tommy; Elizabeth Hutson as Marion and Winthrop’s mother, who takes a shine to Hill from the beginning; Caleb Trinoskey as Charlie Cowell, a crude traveling salesman out to expose Hill; and Martini Otaletan, Jackson Bullock, Thomas Bowling, and Colin Alber as city School Board members who find themselves formed into a pitch-perfect barbershop quartet.

Palumbo and Kistner, both college-bound high school graduates, give professional-level performances as Harold and Marion. He gives Hill suave charisma and endless charm; while she presents as nobody’s fool, while understanding that this “band” may be the best thing to ever happen to this town.

King amuses with his bossy bluster as Mayor Shinn. Murray easily steals scenes as his wife. Hutson’s Mrs. Paroo is a steady presence, an old Irish soul whose only desire is for love to prevail. Klovsky, naturally, charms as Winthrop.

While the songs and story are what makes this musical famous, this production features some incredible dancing, choreographed by Phillip Crawshaw. The big numbers fill the stage with precision and dazzling moves; moments when Tommy and Zaneeta pair up really pop; and the movement and clever use of the books during “Marian the Librarian” are simply stunning.

For anyone who likes “The Music Man,” or is open to it, this brilliant production is a must. Performances are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 28-30. The Saturday Matinee is a “sensory-friendly” performance for patrons who would be more comfortable with that. Park Tudor is at 7200 N. College Ave., Indianapolis, follow the signs to Ayers Auditorium. Go to summerstockstage.com for tickets.

Footlite ‘In Paris’ in Indy

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By John Lyle Belden

At a time when the French capital is on our minds with the upcoming Olympics, Footlite Musicals presents “An American in Paris.”

Based on the 1951 Gene Kelly film – a showcase for both his dancing and the celebrated music of George and Ira Gershwin – the musical, with book by Craig Lucas, had its world premiere in Paris (naturally) in 2014 before its acclaimed Broadway run in 2015. The local production, Footlite’s summer show featuring college-age performers, is directed and choreographed by Kevin Bell.

With World War II just ended and the City of Lights finally recovering, we meet Adam (Seth Jacobsen), an American still limping from his war wounds. He makes his living playing piano and writing music while helping local friend Henri (Louis Soria) become a nightclub singer, unbeknownst to his industrialist parents. Meanwhile fellow American soldier Jerry (Alexander Holloway) purposely misses his train out of Paris so he can stay and work on his art.

From the beginning there is a mysterious girl (Jaelynn Keating) who we find out is Lise, a second-generation ballerina who, at the request of American heiress Milo Davenport (Remi Shirayanagi), is to star in a new ballet written by Adam, who feels a deeper connection. For Jerry it was love at first sight, as he insists on having more time with Lise to finish his sketch of her. But what neither man knows is that she is a long-time friend of Henri, who is working up the courage to propose to her.

The cast also includes Audrey Beaverson, Ella Bassler, Tajeyon Bohannon, K. Dottery, Emma Gedig, Josh Hoover, Tatum Meadors, Danny Roberds, Katie Van Den Heuvel, and Thomas Zotz as The Maestro of the ballet company.

This production is unusual in being a sort of hybrid of a traditional stage musical and ballet, with graceful dancing in most scenes. This works in part because of the triple-threat talents of Holloway and Keating. Their singing is exceptional in numbers like “I’ve Got Beginner’s Luck” and “The Man I Love” and their dancing is exquisite, especially together in the climactic title ballet. Jacobsen is also strong in stage presence and singing voice, as well as showing he’s quite a dancer in a fantasy scene.

A celebration of love and Gershwin, “An American in Paris” has performances Thursday through Sunday, June 27-30, at Footlite’s Hedback Theater, 1847 N. Alabama St., Indianapolis. Get tickets at footlite.org.

GHDT turns the page on its Saga

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By John Lyle Belden

Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre features modern style with international influences and accessible visual storytelling. This was on full display in “Sagas and Superstitions,” the show that concluded the company’s 26th season, earlier this month at The Tarkington in the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.

The program featured a couple of premiere pieces. “Don’t Sit at the Corner of the Table,” with choreography and costumes by founder and artistic director Gregory Glade Hancock, is a new work inspired by old superstitions of Eastern Europe (set in Ukraine). The title refers to where a young girl must not sit, or she might never get married. The dance features bold movements and a fair amount of humor and whimsy as three sisters – Abigail Lessaris, Olivia Payton, and Josie Moody – entertain two suitors, portrayed by Thomas Mason and guest performer Isaac Jones.

The other new piece is the choreography debut by GHDT instructor and retiring company member Chloe Holzman. “Pelo Caminho” tells a traditional Brazilian story of a young man (Mason) on a quest to see the King and Queen (Jones and Payton). On the way he befriends the Spirits of the River (Hannah Brown), the Fox (Camden Lancaster), and Thorns (Moody) who aid and teach him. Holzman makes good use of Hancock’s style of flow and form, and the dancers’ long-time camaraderie with her no doubt aided in their flawless performance.

Hancock revived his contemporary telling of “Greek Mythology,” which included all the dancers listed above, including Holzman as well as Audrey Springer, portraying various characters and stories.  He concluded with “The Wedding,” set in Poland and inspired by Roma traditions, performed by the company with Lessaris and Jones as bride and groom.

Brown and Lancaster, as well as Holzman, are retiring from the company, and each got to perform a featured dance from one of their past GHDT performances.

We have always found these shows fascinating and entertaining, and look forward to the coming season, which opens with “Autumn Nights” on Oct. 25-26. For more information, visit gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org.

‘Melange:’ Gregory Hancock blends art forms on Carmel stage

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By John Lyle Belden and Wendy Carson

Mélange (n) (French): a mixture or blend

Gregory Glade Hancock, founder and artistic director of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, has shown us his innovative style and imagination time and time again, expressed primarily in movement. Of course, there is also music and costumes, but dance is the primary focus.

With his Mélange series, Hancock widens the view, presenting us with a visionary concept of art in its many facets. In each performance, he brings together a dancer, a visual artist, and a singer to combine their talents, each artist influenced by the others. To make the result more spontaneous and organic, there is no rehearsal, and the visual artist arrives with a blank canvas, forcing improvisation and the participants’ concentration to make their collaboration work.

This past weekend was the second presentation of the concept. The grouping consisted of painter Madhuchhanda Mandal, dancer Olivia Payton (of GHDT), and vocalist Cynthia Collins (who brought along accompanist Brent Marty). The empty black-box stage of The Florence rehearsal and performance space in Carmel held just the piano, the artist’s easel and paints, a microphone and a chair.

This talented combo gave us a delightful exhibition of their combined talents, especially since some of them met for the first time just prior to the show. Collins set the tone by choosing to showcase a collection of songs by the incomparable Kander and Ebb (of Broadway hits including “Cabaret,” Chicago,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman”). A polished theatre pro, she added some entertaining patter to help set up the songs and relate what they mean to her – and even indulged in a Streisand hit and a rousing performance of “New York, New York.”

Payton’s sultry style perfectly complemented every song. She noted later that it helped that most of them were widely familiar. She seemed to feel her way through the various moods evoked by Collins’ vocals, giving her own flair so we get the novelty of a Fosse-free “All That Jazz.”

Mandal was tasked with creating a piece of artwork reflective of the performance and brought forth a delightful painting – impressionist and abstract, yet evocative of city lights and changing seasons – that was then auctioned to support the GHDT. To provide the event’s climax, we only see her face and hands at work throughout, with the canvas’s back to the audience; at the end the art is revealed to make the “mélange” complete.

Afterward, Collins noted that this was more than just a blending of disciplines. With Mandal, Payton from Hancock Dance, her from Actors Theatre of Indiana, and Marty from Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre working together, a sampling of Carmel’s varied arts scene.

Hancock plans another Melange in the coming months, with a different set of varied artists. For information on the date and participants, follow Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre on social media or visit gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org.

‘Wild’ fun at GHDT Academy

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By Wendy Carson      

Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre has brought back its wildly popular “The Wild Wild West,” which premiered in 2019. If you missed the show then, thank your lucky stars and hustle up to The Florence Theater in Carmel to catch it this time around.

It is surprising how balletic many of the typical movements we associate with cowboys in the Old West actually are. Within the first few seconds of Thomas Mason’s opening number, you understand the grace of this cadence.

We are also treated to some Native American dancing that was rigorously researched by the choreography team, including director Gregory Glade Hancock. Traditional Western dances of the time are also included.

The show has an overarching story with various scenes being introduced via cards carried across the stage in a tribute to silent movies. Theme music and visuals hearken to Westerns of both Hollywood and “Spaghetti” style. Also, in a rare breach of tradition, many of the performers have bits of dialogue throughout. Featured dancers include assistant director Abigail Lessaris as Mason’s love interest, Chloe Holzman as an Indian Chief, Olivia Payton as an Indian Princess (and one wacky cowpoke in a couple of ensemble scenes), Josie Moody as dance-hall girl Darla, and Camden Lancaster as the “Mysterious Woman.”

The intimate setting of the Florence, the performance space at the Academy of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, makes it easier to hear and see all of the action and maybe even interact with the dancers.

While the dancing is always taken seriously, the entire attitude of the show is very tongue-in-cheek. Feel free to clap along to the music whenever the feeling hits or whoop and holler if you’d like. With so much rollicking fun on stage, this is truly a treat for the whole family (especially younger ones and those who tend to resist seeing “dance shows”).

Dust off your cowboy hat, slip on your boots, lace up your bolo tie, and mosey on up to the Hancock Dance academy at 329 Gradle Drive, Carmel, for performances 5 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 25. Get tickets and info at gregoryhancockdancetheatre.com.

GHDT does ‘Nutcracker’ their own way

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By John Lyle Belden

Likely one of the most produced entertainments this time of year (aside from a play with someone named Scrooge) is some version of “The Nutcracker.” Let us suggest you check out Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre’s unique vision of the classic E.T.A. Hoffmann children’s story, performing this weekend in downtown Carmel.

Choreographed by Gregory Glade Hancock with Dawn Deahl and Shari Washington Rhone, this dance program is a showcase for all ages of students at the Academy of GHDT. The contemporary feel is enhanced by a largely Tchaikovsky-free score, instead featuring music by the likes of David Arkenstone, David Byrne, Danny Elfman, and Hans Zimmer. The arrangements work, and still serve the story.

Another difference is the casting of a boy, “Klarence,” performed by Vincent Kitchen in select performances. Others have the more traditional Klara, danced by his twin sister, Violet Kitchen. We attended a performance with Vincent, who is outstanding, already showing the poise and presence of dancers much older.

Featured dancers also include Audrey Holloway, Hillary Riley, and Audrey Springer, who appear as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Nutcracker, and a soloist in the international dances. Megan Webb appears as Drosselmeyer, Evangeline Meadows is the Mouse Queen, and Zoe Hacker is the Snow Fairy.

Other dancers include Claire Bagato, Annabelle Breeden, Arden Brothers, Fiadh Flynn, Lera Griffis, Amelia Joest, Aailyah Johnson, Stella Kitchen, Jocelyn Larry, Jo’Nia Larry, Jovair Larry, Josephine Meadows, Hazel Moore, Ellington Thacker, Isabella Webb, Molly Webb, and Tara Williams.

Presented with Hancock’s flair for visual storytelling, this familiar yet unique production is at the GHDT performance space, The Florence, at 329 Gradle Drive, Carmel, Thursday through Sunday, Dec. 7-10. (Parking spaces will be kept open for patrons – the Carmel Christkindlmarkt is nearby.) For information and tickets, visit gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org.  

Footlite ‘Family’ invites all to holiday celebration

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By John Lyle Belden

Footlite Musicals is an all-volunteer organization, and it’s in that spirit of community that, rather than a single-story musical, everyone pitches in on a singing revue with aspects of Radio City Spectacular to create a familiar-feeling yet new holiday celebration, “A Footlite Family Holiday.”

You know this is going to be a little different when the first singer enters crooning “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka. However, after this invocation of holiday whimsy and magic, we get a variety of old favorites, carols, and newer songs of the season – from traditional, to Irving Berlin, to Pentatonix – performed with the Footlite pit orchestra, acapella, and even one number with kazoos. There is plenty of swaying and dancing with numerous costume changes, trees, a train, an audience sing-along (lyrics provided), and a sacred moment.

Nods are given to different celebrations: Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and, at most performances, a tribute to Diwali presented by Indy Bollywood Group (Sana Suresh Kumar, Deeya Jain, Haleigh Lincey, Usha Sirimalle, Raaga Yoga, and Tamara Yoga).

For additional artistic flair, there are a couple of impressive moments with aerialist Molly Campbell performing above the stage on silks.  

It seems that nearly everyone else does a little of everything – some of the singers dance, some of the dancers sing – so I’m hard pressed to give any single credits. Here’s how the program lists the ensemble: Featured singers Anya Andrews, Zach Bucher, Aprille Goodman, Logan Laflin, Carolyn Lynch, Leigh Query, Danny Roberds; featured kick-line dancers Renee Callahan, Claire Gray, Bailey Ray Harmon, Paige Penry, Megan Raymont, Lindsey Schaecher, Ashley Sherman, Amelie Zirnheld; ensemble players Susan Bott, Jeremy Crouch, Jarred Harris, Jenn Kaufmann, Nancy Laudeman, Nicole MacLean, Libby Munson, Grace Rehmel, Lydia Rivers, Chris Vojtko, Sparrow the Poodle, youngsters Elsie Daunhauer and Leo Daunhauer (who appears as a breakdancing Elf on the Shelf); and, at least during the first act, Santa Claus himself.

While the format is familiar, this particular collection of songs and performances stands apart, making it a fresh entertaining addition to local holiday traditions. Join the “Footlite Family Holiday” through Dec. 3 at 1847 N. Alabama St., Indianapolis. Get tickets and info at footlite.org.