Destined to Dance
Outside of the dance world our culture maintains the notion that dance is an unmanly art form. Interestingly enough, a man--King Louis XIV, created the art of ballet. Men are simply not recognized for such achievements. Inside the dance world, male dancers are accepted for their artistic ability and have many opportunities available to them.
Dancer Chen Wu-kang, the founder of "Mandance," set out to change the dance environment in Taiwan through creating an innovative new dance production. The initial production concept was not intended to be gender specific, but became an all male cast of dancers based on the selected talent. In October 2004, Eliot Feld premiered the Ballet Tech production of "Mandance Project," at the Joyce Theater in New York where five male dancers and one female performed twelve World Premiere Ballet's including: "Backchat," "Ritual Memory," "Object," "A Journey," "Spiral," "Vision," and "A Stair Dance" (a tribute to the late Gregory Hines).
In early May 2007, Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater (SDDT) presented "Mandance," San Diego's first all male dance concert featuring San Diego based choreographers and dancers. Jean Isaacs shared, "I saw that Eliot Feld did a show in New York called "Mandance" so I borrowed the image." In the Jean Isaacs adaptation of "Mandance," the production was a specific tribute to male dancers. According to Isaacs, "I feel that men are underrepresented in dance, particularly in Western Dance and we are trying to correct this discrepancy with this concert. It takes a leap of courage for guys to go into dance and this will give them a leg up. I have played a hands-off role in this show. Every piece will be new to me. I relish that."
The SDDT program consisted of eight modern dances, including Daniel Marshall's "Moments After," Gabriel Masson's "The Day Before Tomorrow," plus the World Premieres of Bradley Lundberg & Eric Geiger's "Interstice," Joe Alter & Eric Geiger's "Duet for Solo Violin," John Diaz's "Conceptual Hygiene," Marcos Duran's "Stories Far Away," Daniel Marshall's "Layers," and Keith Johnson's "Threshold."
In the narrative duet "Interstice," Dancer/Choreographer Bradley Lundberg explains, "I wanted to create a piece that was a bit more relevant to my actual life. My piece was about a relationship between two men. The piece is meant to show the complexity of any intimate relationship."
Some of the wonderful things about modern dance are that male dancers can begin dance training well into their late teen years and height and physiques are very diverse. For Lundberg, "I was never exposed to it when I was young so I felt like I really had to train intensively to catch up. Luckily I danced with Jennifer Muller/The Works when I got to New York. She teaches very technical modern that helped me become a strong dancer." Lundberg has also performed with Steeledance, Creach/ Company, Keith Johnson Dancers, Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater, and McCaleb Dance.
Veteran Dancer/Choreographer, Eric Geiger was invited by Bradley Lundberg to become involved in the creation and performance process of "Interstice." Geiger studied dance under scholarship with Alvin Ailey and performed with companies such as Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Lyon Opera Ballet, Djazzex Modern Dance, V-TOL Dance, San Diego Dance Theater, San Diego Ballet, ODC, and McCaleb Dance where he currently holds the position of Associate Artistic Director.
On the subject of dance opportunities for men, Lundberg believes, "There are definitely more performance opportunities for men, the problem is that there are too few male dancers to begin with so male dancers are drawn to where there is more work. In New York there was more than enough. At the local level, there are not enough good male dancers."
In a time when male dancers are so few, male tribute programs like "Mandance" represent something very important. Lundberg shared, "There have been numerous shows that have featured all female casts. The fact that you have to make a show specifically for men just shows that there are much fewer men to begin with." Geiger added, "Mandance" provided a venue to perform in the same evening alongside other dance artists that I might not have had the opportunity to do so otherwise."
Issues in the dance world always take on some form. Lundberg voices his concern, "There is a limited amount of money and more and more companies are project based. On the local level, the era of the company that develops a technique and unique voice seems to be ending. Material is not developed over a long period of time since money doesn't allow it." Geiger concurs, "Obviously funding and support, and I try everyday to change that by going in to the studio and creating the best work I can. I love what I do, and I would never change that."
Dance in the Western World has evolved and strides will continue to be made in the years to come. Through the voice of dance, men have a powerful outlet to express their concerns about our judgmental society and productions like "Mandance" will help inspire present and future male artists. Fortunately for the "Mandancers" of today, the opportunities are plentiful.
Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater Company & School of Modern Dance @ Dance Place San Diego www.sandiegodancetheater.org