Sara Bauknecht on dance
Pittsburgh’s dance scene is rich with talent, from budding students at Point Park University, La Roche College and community dance schools to esteemed professionals across a variety of genres. There’s always still room, though, for newcomers.
Meet Courdance. This small-but-driven project-based troupe just wrapped two sold-out performances of its debut show “Rendering Home” — which explored the question, “What is home?” — at Union Project. Its name comes from the Latin root for courage, “cor,” which translates to “heart.” Its mission is to find “courage in motion.”
Come next year, look out for site-specific performances, new works and more from the region’s emerging artists. A seasonal touring program is another goal.
To learn more, follow Courdance. on Instagram @courdance. The group also is running an Indiegogo campaign to help cover costs from its debut shows.
Jeremy Reynolds on classical music
For musicians and music aficionados concerned or curious about a lack of contemporary material on most orchestras’ season schedules, there’s a fantastic article at NewMusicBox about this very issue by one Patrick Castillo.
Programming an orchestra or opera season is a complex affair that takes into account feedback from conductors, soloists, rehearsal time needed, the length of piece, board feedback, fees for extra musicians or instruments, fees for renting the sheet music itself, audience appeal or lack thereof of the program as a whole, and myriad other interlocking details and concerns.
None of these should provide an excuse for homogenous, repetitive programming.
But Mr. Castillo points out in his article that “many of us fundamentally assume that homogenous programming results from cowardice and/or lack of imagination on the part of our orchestras. The first step in constructively addressing the problem is to challenge this assumption.”
There’s room for other musicians and the public to be a constructive part of the programming conversation without leaping to condemn in the spring. Just food for thought as we move toward season announcements in January and February. Read Mr. Castillo’s full article at newmusicusa.org.
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First Published: November 19, 2018, 2:00 p.m.
