It was inevitable that, in the cultural shadow of Dancing With
the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance, dance companies
would pair their artists with local celebrities and pillars of the
community. GroundWorks Dancetheater has announced its
celebrity-with-dancer pairings for Decadedance, a celebration of its
10th anniversary. The couples are: Cynthia Dunn, president and CEO
of Judson Services Inc., with Damien Highfield; Robert Eckardt Sr.,
vice president of the Cleveland Foundation, with Felise Bagley;
Robert Fatica of Primo Vino Restaurant, with Sarah Perrett; Dave
Lieberth, Akron Deputy Mayor, with Amy Miller; the Very
Rev. Tracey Lind of Trinity Cathedral, with David
Shimotakahara; and Rita Montlack, Cleveland artist, with Kelly Brunk.
You’ll get to vote with dollars for the winner, with proceeds
supporting GroundWorks education programs. It’s at Windows on the River
(2000 Sycamore Street on the West Bank of the Flats) from 6-11 p.m.
Friday, April 24. Tickets: $125-$175. Call 216.691.3180 or go to
groundworksdance.org.
GroundWorks made its New York debut at the West End Theater
in early March. Christopher Atamian, who writes for Dance
Magazine, showed the kind of surprise that’s becoming familiar to
us in Northeast Ohio when someone discovers that our state is not a
cultural backwater. He headlined a blog post, “Contemporary Dance
Theater … Created from the Ground Up … in Cleveland, no less …
Who knew? (Or: The Little Dance Company That Could).” After describing
the company’s “classically influenced movement set to contemporary and
new music” and praising the choreography and the dancers’ skills, he
went on to ask, “Could GroundWorks evolve into a more important
presence in the dance world?”
The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve hosts a seminar
by Making It as an Artist author Joann DePolo from 1-3
p.m. Thursday, April 18, so it’s time to sign up now. DePolo’s seminars
are part motivational talk and part business, designed to help artists
set goals, challenge themselves and move their careers forward. DePolo
works in acrylic and made a splash in 1995 with “Cleveland Rocks”
— portraits of recording artists and Cleveland scenery on
ordinary rocks, which caught the attention of that painter of
psychedelic graphics, Peter Max. A book signing follows the seminar.
It’s at AAWR (1834 E. 123rd St. 216.721.9020, artistsarchives.org); it’s $25 for
members, $30 for everyone else.
This article appears in Apr 8-14, 2009.