Fall dance production hopes to engage audiences in celebrating Motown music

Fall dance production hopes to engage audiences in celebrating Motown music

From a Detroit factory assembly line to a neighborhood stoop and the street it stands on, East Carolina University dance students take audiences on a journey across the decades to celebrate Motown music from The Jackson 5, Teena Marie and Rick James, The Supremes, and many more in their latest production.

The radio on stage evolves over time, but the WGPR Detroit DJ narration endures to create a rockin' good time during the School of Theatre and Dance's (SOTD) fall dance production, "Dancing in the Streets: A Celebration of Motown." The show runs Oct. 1-5 in McGinnis Auditorium. Tickets are available for $10-$20, and live stream tickets are available for the Friday and Sunday performances.

The Motown show is the first of the SOTD's dance productions to develop around an overarching theme. Audiences might be used to attending "Fall Dance" and "Spring Dance," and school leaders say the new themes should resonate even more.

John Dixon, associate professor of dance and concert coordinator for Motown, said faculty zeroed in on building show themes as a priority as the performing arts continue to fully build back following the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We were feeling - and I think everyone feels a certain degree of this after the pandemic - not as connected as we used to feel to our audiences and a sense of community, and buzz around our shows that we used to have," Dixon said. "(The themes) are really cultural touch points that we thought could reach out into our community and create more engagement, and would be fun for us."

It's also fun for the entertainment design and production team, which had the opportunity to first, build one comprehensive set to serve the entire show, and second, practice the techniques and specifications required to achieve the right look and function for dance scenery. Some pieces must be large enough to accommodate students dancing on them, while at the same time leaving enough room on the main stage for the full performances.

Scenic designer and SOTD teaching assistant professor Nolan O'Dell researches architecture and time period as he develops a scenery plan for each show. He said he thinks audiences will "really see something special" at this one.

"There are some design nods to Motown and Detroit that are specific to that location and time period," he said. "One of the three doorways in the show is based on the actual iconic house in which Motown started. The portals are designed to look like the old Packard assembly plant, and the false proscenium units hint at the industrial art deco elements around Detroit."

Like all SOTD shows, multiple choreographers created pieces for Motown, bringing each person's experience and research to the stage, while approaching the show with sensitivity and accuracy. In addition, the production team includes Angella Fraser, a wig designer and educator who is helping with hair design, set projections of iconic looks from the 1950s to 1970s, and a historical exhibition. Dr. Jarvis Hargrove, an ECU associate professor of history, created and performs the show's narrative script honoring DJ culture and Detroit radio stations, announcing the music as a WGPR Detroit DJ throughout the show.

Hargrove is the director of African and American studies and said he was happy to partner with the SOTD on the show to promote the history and influence of Motown Records.

"Motown Records produced some of the biggest artists and hits in history and has a legacy that can still be heard today, and has influenced music around the world," he said. "An important component to this history is the radio disc jockeys that played this music and continue to do so."

Dixon said he hopes audiences feel like they've been at a celebration of American culture and music, something that feels "real and important and vital" to do as a community.

"It's not a documentary; we're not trying to tell the story of Motown." Dixon said. "We're trying to evoke the feeling that comes from Motown music and honor the source of the Motown label, honor Berry Gordy and his amazing transformation as somebody working in an auto factory to somebody heading one of the most important record labels in our society."

Student choreogaphers Aubrey Kirk and Tala Shay mixed sounds inspired by all of those to create their piece, set early in the show. They mixed 1950s tunes, industrial sounds to pay homage to the factory assembly line, and pieces from an interview with Gordy, the founder of the Motown record label. The dancers make robotic, industrial-style movements, even grouping like an engine during part of the piece. They dance on and around tables designed to represent an assembly line; Kirk and Shay have enjoyed the challenge of designing choreography with the tables.

"It's very much an ensemble piece," Kirk said. "It's very much about the machine."

Nonetheless, inspired by their own dance style differences, Kirk and Shay focused on making sure everyone in their 12-dancer cast has at least one moment where they feel seen on stage, giving appreciation to the group as one, and to each of the contributing dancers.

The two seniors applied together to be choreographers, and coined a new term for their combined dance styles - contemporary theatrical jazz.

"It's a little bit of everything," Kirk said, including her own background with ballet and modern, and Shay's as a competition dancer with jazz, hip-hop and contemporary.

In another piece, guest artist and ECU dance alum Micah Geyer '06 choreographed tap and jazz around music by The Jackson 5 and Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. Geyer was on campus in late August for a just a week to work with dancers and give masterclasses with some of the same choreography. He said he'll be back this week to see the full show.

Geyer said at the time it was "going great," and he pulled inspiration from other choreographers, including Cholly Atkins, the resident choreographer for Motown in the 1960s and 1970s. Geyer watched a documentary about Atkins and Motown and also pulled inspiration from a line Atkins said about Motown being for the people.

"That's what we're going for with this," he said. "It's music for everyone to enjoy."

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