Tonight, the eight finalists competing in San Diego Dance Theater’s Emerging Choreographers Showcase & Awards will witness their dance ideas come to life.
There are big pluses for all participants, including the audience. Formerly titled Young Choreographers Showcase, the event is meant to introduce and new choreographic talent.
Established in 2010 by former SDDT director Jean Isaacs, the showcase invites applicants to create a work that incorporates movement, costumes and lighting to tell a story.
In the past, applicants under the age of 30 were invited to participate. This year, current artistic director Terry Wilson expanded the competition to include all ages.
“If you cut it off at age 30, you are missing out on a lot of other people who have something to say choreographically,” Wilson says. “I think what makes it interesting, is that there are different historical perspectives in contemporary dance. You have 7-year-olds who are technically out of this world but they haven’t been around long enough to dance about anything profound.”
In the past, Isaacs helped to pick the finalists but Wilson has removed herself completely from the judging process.
“I thought it would be more equitable,” Wilson says. “I have had applicants ask me what to do, but that is stacking the deck. I have to stay neutral.”
This year’s theme is environmental justice and the finalist’s works should have a developed, understandable position that s that theme, along with a conclusion.
“They must present an idea that is clear and understandable,” says Wilson, who also is a dance professor at San Diego City College and a dance lecturer at UC San Diego.
“Sometimes, there is an abstract component, but you have to be thoughtful about the last message you leave with the audience.”
Three winners will be decided by three judges who will then go on to pick the new applicants for next year’s showcase.
Best Choreography, or first prize, offers $1,000 and a showcase at Live Arts Fest. The Best Dancer and Audience Favorite awards each pay a cash prize of $500 and all three winners can attend a free SDDT summer workshop. The cash prize is a powerful incentive but the opportunities the showcase provides is the bigger draw.
“The money would be great,” acknowledges finalist Erin Kracht, who graduated last year with a bachelor of fine arts degree from San Jose State University. “But I’m more excited to get exposure and the chance to create new work. SDDT is very generous with giving us free space for rehearsal time. I also get to work with the lighting designer, build community by meeting other dancers and to celebrate other emerging choreographers.”
Kracht first consulted with a professional environmentalist about “topics that need more attention” before creating “Molded,” a dance inspired by the excessive use of plastics in our daily lives. Three dancers perform with giant sheets of plastic to a musical score punctuated with the sounds of working in a kitchen.
“We have an environmental issue we can’t get rid of and there will be consequences,” Kracht says. “For the first part, the dancers work around the looming plastic and at the end, they get caught in it.”
Along with creating new choreography, Kracht and fellow finalist Tina Carreras will dance in each other’s works. The theme inspired both finalists to consider changing their habits.
“I can’t be wasteful with my art and try to make a statement piece about how the world should be,” Carreras says. “I think the whole theme is helping me to be aware of how I’m actually contributing to the problem.”
Now in her 40s, Carreras is the oldest finalist in the program. She recently earned her certificate in dance performance and teaches modern dance for the SDDT’s Aging Creatively program. Carreras’ choreography, titled “Original Intent,” is accompanied by The Stolen Orchestra’s “God is Green.” Her dance presents the case for imagining the world as “just, pain-free, kinder and more equal.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not the way it is,” Carreras says.
I have eight minutes and six dancers and I’m trying to convey that if humanity got a glimpse of a just world, we would want to be different. We would want to change.”
The Emerging Choreographers Showcase & Awards event has built a reputation for boosting many dance careers. Past winners have gained employment with notable dance companies, while others have secured teaching positions. The audience gets to contribute to the show by choosing the dance they find most interesting.
“I didn’t get into the showcase for the money or even for the win,” Carreras adds. “It’s more for the opportunity to create something and get it out there. The winning is the icing on the cake and the validation that you made a good piece.”
San Diego Dance Theater presents: Emerging Choreographers Showcase & Awards
When: 6 and 8 p.m. today
Where: Light Box Theater, 2590 Truxtun Road, San Diego
Tickets: $16.75
Phone: (619) 225-1803
Online: sandiegodancetheater.org
Luttrell is a freelance writer.
