By Doug
Holder
 |
| Zoe Dance Company |
One might pass the window of the Sherman Café
in Union Square and see a man in his middle years praying over his New York Times, nursing a cup of coffee,
and pondering the remains of his oatmeal scone. That would be me. On this
particular morning I was waiting to interview the Artistic Director of
the Zoe Dance Company, Callie Chapman
Korn.
Korn is
originally from Lynn, Mass. but for a number of years has lived in Somerville
with her husband and kids.
Korn, a graduate of the Boston Conservatory,
started the Zoe with her classmates in 2002. They used to perform at places
like the Boston Common accompanied by a boom box. They kept at it and they were
later performing at a number venues in and around Boston and internationally,
such as Somerville’s Art Beat, Harvard
Square’s May Fair, Boston Center for the
Arts, Mass. College of the Arts, Green Street Studios, Corporacion
Cultural de Las Condes ( Santiago, Chile), and many others.
I asked Korn if she considers her company a
Modern Dance company. She replied: “Modern Dance was basically a movement of
the 1950s. The Postmodern movement was in the 1960s. I like to call us a
Contemporary Dance company. We have a fusion of many styles and influences.”
One part of Zoe’s mission statement (according
to their website) is to increase social awareness. Korn has a special interest
in the 1970 coup in Chile, and the corruption of government. Through movement,
video, and vocalization, some of her dance pieces have addressed this.
Zoe has no official office. Korn said this
true of most local dance companies.
She
said she strives to expand her audience base beyond rich white people. In this
regard the company has performed at such venues as the Somerville Dance Festival, and has had performances at the Union
Square Plaza, events that are free and open to all.
I asked Korn what themes she brings to her
dance. She said: “Emotion, how people love, how they hate, and how they react
to each other.”
This young choreographer told me she has a
performance coming up at the Dance
Complex in Cambridge March 1 to 3. It may well be worthwhile for my fellow
Somervillians to cross the border to the Republic to view the work of this
gifted artist who resides in the Paris of
New England, Somerville, Mass.
No comments:
Post a Comment