Beyond Fouettés

By Nancy Galeota-Wozny 

Artistry, not tricks, is the focus in a growing number of competitions.

The judges’ votes are in, and everybody is in agreement: No one needs to see another poorly performed fouetté or hear the song “Carwash” again. After seeing dance after dance with wobbly turns stuffed in the middle, even the most mild-mannered judge gets bleary-eyed. What happened to solid choreography, in which every movement has a purpose? At first glance tricks may seem like the mainstay of the competition circuit, but dig a little further and you will find several key players who are holding up the choreography flame. Good competition choreographers and art-minded competition companies do exist—and they are finally finding each other.

Competition company directors are not all the same; some value art more than flashy tricks. One such director, Cathy Roe, has emerged as a strong voice for promoting and rewarding original choreography in her company’s competitions. The “fouettés to ‘Carwash’ ” syndrome has been troubling Roe for some time, and she is not shy about getting her views out. “I want to change the face of dance choreography at competitions,” she boldly states on her brochure. “I want to see composition take the place of tricks.”

Roe ran a dance studio for 15 years and took her team to competitions all over the United States, so she knows the terrain—and she’s out to change it for the better, artistically. Her company, Cathy Roe’s Ultimate Dance Competition and Convention, welcomes the adventurous in spirit and those disheartened by previous competition experiences. “When I started my company I knew that the world didn’t need another competition,” says Roe. “Teachers were telling me that they had to compromise their artistic integrity in order to win. I was discouraged about what was happening to dance artistically.” The choice of which competitions to attend can be tricky for school owners, because parents may choose a studio for their children based on the number of trophies it boasts. But Roe recognized a need and believed she could fill a niche. After seeing too many dances that ended in a centerstage tableau, she knew the field was ripe for a change.

“There are a million ways to end a dance,” says Roe. “I try to point that out during competitions and even give awards for the most creative ending.” She’s also fond of bringing up Doris Humphrey’s groundbreaking classic, The Art of Making Dances, at award ceremonies. Roe wants her competition to be a learning opportunity. “My only mission is to create a space on the competition venue for choreographers to craft dances outside of the style of what’s popular,” says Roe. “I want my teachers to know they can bring what matters most to them in dance to my competition without fear of needing to fit in.”

Roe acknowledges innovations in choreography with several awards. The “Dare to be Different” award recognizes a group or individual who takes a creative risk. In addition, she offers regional and national awards specifically for choreography. Roe, who produces a video of each winning team, is encouraged by what she sees at her growing competition. “I’m using my competition as a platform for dance education,” says Roe. “I want the kids to know that dance is a big place.”

American Dance Awards (ADA) also holds choreography high on the list. When Gloria Jean Cuming assumed the company’s helm in 2003, she wanted to continue the tradition of high-caliber choreography that she and her co-founder, Rhee Gold, had established. “Choreography means quite a bit when it comes to determining the overall winner,” says Cuming. “[It] is weighted as much as performance in our system.” ADA also has special choreography awards for participants in two age groups, the “Young Choreographer of the Year” award and the “Diamond Choreography” award, which serve as incentives for continued creativity. “We attract schools that want to present innovative work and more adventurous musical choices as well,” the director says.

Cuming creates the kind of environment at her competitions that she would want to experience as a teacher. Her judges, whom she prefers to have experience with bringing students to competitions, also reflect her priorities. Cuming has noticed that modern dance trends have infiltrated the competition scene. “We see less glitter and more plain costumes,” she says. ADA also does not subscribe to the “everyone gets a medal” approach. Cuming describes the scoring system as “realistic,” adding, “I’m lucky to keep attracting the best schools across the country.” 

Choreographers and dancers have a voice in the competition picture as well. Amber Perkins, who has   a BFA from University of the Arts in Philadelphia, is an ambitious choreographer and the owner of 8 year-old Amber Perkins School of the Arts in Norwich, NY. She also directs the Phoenix Project Danse Theatre, a professional modern dance company. She wasn’t sure there was room for a modern choreographer on the competition circuit, and she still has reservations about how these two worlds coincide. “It was very difficult when we started—we were the outcasts,” says Perkins. “Things have changed drastically since then, and you see more modern choreography.” Perkins competes only at ADA (she hasn’t found another one that works for her) because of its artistic value system and the judges’ training.

Perkins sees no value in changing her standards to conform to an aesthetic she does not share. She is not remotely interested in conforming to the status quo, preferring to use classical music instead of popular songs and making dances that are longer than the norm (typically 8 to 10 minutes). “I choreograph for competitions as I would do a concert piece for my professional company” says Perkins. “If they are executed well they are going to stand out.” Even at ADA, her works are often among the few modern dance offerings. In one winning piece, she created a kinetic Stonehenge and outfitted her dancers with harnesses and other rock climbing gear. She prefers deeper themes that allow her to explore her craft. “They know what kind of school I am,” Perkins says with confidence about ADA’s mission to be inclusive. “They will [use] judges who are college professors or have a modern background.” One of her winning pieces was spotted by Mary Pat Henry, an ADA judge, ballet chair at the University of Missouri, and artistic director of Wylliams/Henry Dance Theatre. Henry invited Perkins to set the work, for which she won the Mantis Project’s “Spirit of Elan” award in 2004, on her company. The choreographer stays on top of what’s happening on the New York scene and urges her students to see as much dance as possible.

Many judges want to see substantial choreography. Kari Anderson, who has been judging competitions for Showstoppers for 12 years, is committed to seeing more than tricks on the competition stage. “We are given a lot of discretion in the judging process to reward fine choreography,” says Anderson. “In almost every city we go to I see something that takes my breath away.” Showstoppers is known for leaving room for subjective opinion in the judging process, and for that reason studios that push the creative envelope are attracted to the company. Its judges bring a high level of professional experience to their jobs. “We have reputation for rewarding excellence,” Anderson says, “and we continue to attract those who deliver it.”

Good choreographers want to be rewarded for their work and not passed over because their works lack tricks. It’s frustrating when judges seem ignorant about the history of modern dance. Paula Abbott-Barry runs Abbott’s Performing Arts Center in Houston. After 20 years of attending competitions, she has learned to be a good judge of the scene. For her, the judges’ qualifications tell all. When they cannot pronounce basic ballet vocabulary, it’s a dead giveaway that the competition is not a match for her students. She has found the whole package in Starbound. “They have college educators or retired professionals judging,” says Abbott-Barry. “They always seem to appreciate what I’m trying to do, and my kids come away feeling good about themselves.” Abbott-Barry recently learned about Roe’s efforts to reform the field and wants to give her company a try next season. Dance Educators of America and Dance Masters are also sound choices, she says.

It’s naïve to think that there isn’t a good-size divide between the commercial and nonprofit worlds of dance. But the gap may be narrowing. More university-trained dancers are opening dance studios, and studio owners with years of professional experience on the Broadway stage or in companies want to up the ante for their students. Due to the growing number of competition companies, studio owners can be choosey and select competitions that hold choreography in high regard.

The field needs a healthy synergy between artist and competition. If not, talented choreographers will simply not compete; the field will suffer and the “same ol’ same ol’ ” will prevail. Good choreographers must stay in the playing field in order to make it clear that in dance, art comes before sport.

That said, there is nothing wrong with integrating eye-popping moves into dances for the competition stage. Ballet has much to teach us about the use of virtuosity as a choreographic tool—consider the famous 32 fouettés in the Black Swan pas de deux in Swan Lake. “Everything builds toward that moment,” says Stanton Welch, artistic director of Houston Ballet. So go ahead, put in those virtuosic moves. But if you want them to be considered top-notch choreography, give them a reason for being there.

Photo Captions (top to bottom): Mireille Hassenboehler in the Black Swan variation in Swan Lake (photo by Jim Caldwell); Paula Abbott-Barry’s students from the Abbott’s Performing Arts Center in Houston, TX;  Competitors from the 2005 Showstopper East Coast Finals and 2005 Regionals (photos by Leah Gibbons).