The Charleston Dance Festival may only be in its second year, but the December 9-15th event has some pretty cool moves in store for trained dancers and general audiences alike.
For the former, organizers Charleston Dance Alliance and Dancefx scored Kathleen Jewett, education director of lauded New York company Shen Wei Dance Arts (who you may remember from Spoleto 2011), to give a five-day master class. Pro dancer and choreographer Sean Bankhead, who’s worked with the likes of Beyoncé and Britney Spears, is leading classes as well.
The public entertainment begins on December 12 with an interactive dance installation at Redux Contemporary Art Center called “Find the Moment.” Centered around an exhibit by James Brendan Williams and inviting audience interaction using Richard Serra’s famed verb list, it features dancers from various companies along with live music by Jack Burg, Bill Carson, and Nick Jenkins. The next night, movers and shakers from around the region face off in a Hip-Hop Battle at Memminger Auditorium presided over by Bankhead. Finally, December 14 brings a pair of Performance Showcases spotlighting some 20 companies including local groups such as the Afro-Latin Buen Ache and modern dance troupe Annex. “It’s probably the only time you’ll get to see almost every dance company in Charleston at one time,” says festival co-founder and director Sara Bennett. For full details, visit www.charlestondancefestival.com.
