Annex Dance Company today announced a concert at the Sottile Theatre on February 10th, 2024. The concert will include new and reimagined repertory, highlighting the company's continued investigation of connection through movement invention, themes, and one another. Ticket prices for the 7 pm performance are $25 students/seniors, $40 Adult. Tickets can be purchased at https://gsbo.cofc.edu/.
The modern dance pieces chosen for the February concert include a range of work featuring company members ages 22-47 years old, collaborators of different artistic mediums, and selected Charleston youth performers as part of the company’s education commitment. The company will premiere It’s Not Yours To Keep, a work started during the annual residency at Camp Ballibay of the Fine and Performing Arts in Summer 2023. Also making a company premiere is Broken Crayons Still Color. Choreographed by artistic director Kristin Alexander for the Fall 2023 College of Charleston Department of Theatre and Dance concert, the piece will be performed by company members sharing the stage with area college and high school students. Both It’s Not Yours To Keep and Broken Crayons Still Color touch on themes of being a presence or support for others, but also recognizing our own strength.
“I have come to learn that 2023 was a tough year for many people. I personally witnessed people I love struggling, and it was hard to know how to be there for them,” shares Alexander. She continues. “Broken Crayons Still Color is dedicated to two very important women in my life, and came from the idea that even at our lowest we still have gifts to give.”
Work that directly connects to the people, history, and environmental issues of the Lowcountry is important to the company. The company will present Salt in the Soil, a modern dance piece created in response to sea level rising and saltwater intrusion causing ghost forests. Originally created for the stage in 2017, the piece was re-imagined as a dance film in 2020, allowing the choreography to be captured amongst the trees at Botany Bay. Salt in the Soil addresses the ecological impact of rising seas that many people may not quite understand.
Collaborator Clare Fieseler, climate and environment reporter at The Post and Courier, shares “The sea is quietly surging, more and more each year, slipping its poison salt into the soil. Often killing large areas of trees, ‘ghost forests’ are spreading at a rapid pace due to the effects of climate change and extreme weather in coastal forests. Some of the worst damage remains out-of-sight in rural areas away from cities and daily consciousness.”
Alexander’s choreography and Janine McCabe’s costume design were highly influenced by the ecology behind the dying trees.
“In addition to conversations with Clare, both Janine and I were very taken by images of ghost forests. The textures, colors, shapes, and, of course, the isolation that was able to be captured, even though so much of what happens is under the soil,” Alexander states.
The concert will close with the stage adaptation of The Path Taken. Originally premiered in 2015 as a site-specific piece for City Gallery at Waterfront Park, The Path Taken used the spatial design of the gallery, themes of personal journey and crossroads, and Robert Frost’s poem "The Road Not Taken," to create the movement vocabulary and influence the creative process. An original score by Michael Wall was commissioned for the work that had the dancers moving through the open and confined spaces of the two level gallery.
“The first time we performed The Path Taken we danced inches away from patrons, encouraging people to travel with us or choose to view the different sections from above, below, or obscure angles,” shares Julie Clark, associate artistic director. “It’s exciting to take this intimate, encompassed work and translate it to a traditional performance setting where the breadth of the Sottile Theatre stage and the use of theatrical lighting will push and enhance the performance.”
As always, patrons are encouraged to find more information regarding the performance and take a look into the behind-the-scenes process by on the following social media outlets: https://www.facebook.com/
Performance time, details and ticketing information will also be shared on the website.
About Annex Dance Company: Annex Dance Company premiered in November 2007 in Bethlehem, PA. In 2010, Annex made Charleston, SC its new home, quickly joining the city’s thriving arts community. Annex Dance Company is committed to providing accessibility to professional modern dance in Charleston, SC. The company is rooted in modern dance tradition while pushing the boundaries of movement invention through relationships and intention. Annex Dance Company has performed throughout the east coast including Philly Fringe Festival (PA), District Dance Share (DC), STEPS Performance Series (NY), Annual Richmond Choreographers Showcase (VA), Greenville Dance Festival (SC), Charleston Dance Festival (SC), and Piccolo Spoleto Festival (SC). The company works with students in Charleston County Schools through Engaging Creative Minds and spends part of the summer in-residence at Camp Ballibay for the Fine and Performing Arts (PA). Performance, collaboration, and education remain at the forefront of every season. Annex is committed to arts advocacy and opportunities for dancers at all levels, students through professionals and supports the arts through collaborative projects with artists of different mediums.
