Saturday May 31, 2008

Transformation is the most powerful word in our language. It describes change in a most favorable light, it sums up the experience of living, and it speaks, in a spiritual sense, to what makes life interesting.  

TransforMotion, a word to describe transformation through motion, is the perfect name for this show. As it is also the perfect word to describe what happens at Dance 101 everyday.

On June 13th and 14th 127 dancers, from all walks of life, all ages and all races take the stage in one unified voyage of movement through dance. Some are professionals, some are amateur, but all share a passion for physical expression that transcends every aspect of their being. Dance is the great equalizer: it doesn't matter what box you check, as dancers we stand shoulder to shoulder and our differences become inconsequential.  We connect in this process of transformation, unified in the face of many challenges: mastery of dance is not easy.  But as with anything worthwhile, the rewards are tremendous.  It takes enormous courage to take the stage - no matter what it is you are doing - and I, like you, will sit in awe of our performers: of their strength, of their passion, and of the transforMotion that will occur right before our eyes.

Vision is but a daydream unless it is shared by others. I recall a conversation with Charles "Bubba" Carr in the studio back in 2005 in which I asked him to leave the glamour of his amazing Hollywood career to help me fulfill the mission of Dance 101 here in Atlanta.  It was a hard pitch and it took me 3 years to court him - so strong was the pull of national acclaim and demand for his genius. But every artist belongs to his purpose and in Bubba's case, it is to enrich the lives of everyone he touches through dance, something he now does  with more depth than ever before. Evidence tonight: this show could only happen in Atlanta.  Nowhere else would professional and amateur dancers share the stage, transparently and in unison under the artistic direction of one of the most talented and visionary choreographers of our time.

TransforMotion is in testimony of the power of dance: a daring, progressive and soulful expression of movement which will surely be recognized as a hugely significant accomplishment within the dance community of Atlanta. The sleeping giant has awoken. Atlanta dances and the world watches. -Ofelia

*Photocredit: lee.08