Michelle Dorrance, founder and artistic director of Dorrance Dance and recent recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, has been called “one of the most imaginative tap choreographers working today” (The New Yorker). I hoped to get some insider perspective on rhythm tap and percussion when I went to her company’s performance of The Blues Project at Northrop Auditorium, so I asked Rick Ausland, the co-founder of Minneapolis-based dance and music company Buckets and Tap Shoes, to join me. Rick has performed, taught and choreographed throughout the world, and was nominated for a 2013 SAGE Award for “Outstanding Performer.” Alejandra Iannone, { Dd }: So, if you were going to describe The Blues Project in a word, what would it be? Rick Ausland: Skillful? People might default to saying “It was so energetic!” or that kind of thing. I don’t feel that way. People definitely had high energy throughout the show. It seemed like they were enjoying what they were doing. I think a handful of the best tap dancers in the world were on stage. It wasn’t an explosion of energy though. Was it skillfully done? Yes. Did it blow my mind? No, it didn’t. Do I love Dormeshia? Yes! […]
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