Dance 'underground' takes center stage

The midwest premiere of "underground," a new work from noted choreographer David Dorfman, inspired by the 1960s protest movement, will cap a week-long series of dance workshops, from April 2 though April 7, at Knox College.

Dorfman, who specializes in community-based dance projects, has invited Knox students and members of the Galesburg community, ages 16 and up, to participate in free workshop rehearsals from Monday, April 2 though Friday, April 6. Participants will then perform "underground" with members of Dorfman's company at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 7, in Harbach Theatre, Ford Center for the Fine Arts, on the Knox campus in Galesburg, Illinois.

The performance is free and open to the public.

"Underground" is based on the activities of the Weather Underground, an American protest organization that originated with opposition to the Viet Nam War, and later, according to authorities, engaged in rioting and bombing. "The Weather Underground," a 2002 documentary about the organization, was nominated for an Academy Award.

According to Dorfman, his work uses dance to explore questions such as: "When can activism become terrorism, or vice versa?"

The workshop rehearsals will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Monday, April 2 through Thursday, April 5, and from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday, April 6. As many as 30 student and community participants will be accepted on a first-come basis. Interested participants must register by March 28 with Kathleen Ridlon, lecturer in dance and coordinator of the Center for Community Service at Knox, at 309-341-7085 or by e-mail volunteer@knox.edu

Dorfman's choreography is collaborative, according to Jennifer Smith, assistant professor of dance at Knox. "David uses a group process, in which the participants help to shape the dance," Smith said. Dorfman has described his dance style as combining "athletic movement with a delicate gestural vocabulary," Ridlon says. "Dance experience is not needed however you must be comfortable with movement."

"Underground" was first performed at the 2006 American Dance Festival and received its New York premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival last November. The performance at Knox is its midwest premiere.

Dance critic Joy Goodwin wrote that "uncomfortable honesty courses through 'underground' like an electrical charge. This is the rare kind of dance theatre that keeps people on the edge of their seats." In a review in The Brooklyn Rail, Nicole Pope wrote that Dorfman "emphasizes the persistence of the daily, moment-to-moment act of choosing your politics through a kind of kinetic diplomacy."

"The collaboration between Knox and David Dorfman Dance started with a member of David's group, Karl Rogers, who graduated from Knox in 1998," Ridlon says. "Last year, Karl and David worked with Knox dance students to create a work, 'Prairie Fire: An Action Plan,' was part of the foundation of 'underground.'"

Writing for KQED, reviewer Mary Ellen Hunt notes a part of "underground" that Rogers and Dorfman created for diversity training sessions. "Rogers asks a question," Hunt wrote, "and the dancers jet? forward or backwards presumably signifying a 'yes' or a 'no.' The questions can be benign or provocative [such as] 'Is your country worth killing for?' ...tidal waves of dancers ebb and flow in visually arresting masses..."

David Dorfman Dance has developed more than 30 community dance projects, and the company has performed worldwide. Dorfman has received seven New York Dance and Performance Awards.