Sketches at Dogtown Dance Tells Personal Stories From Unique Cultures
On Nov. 9, CLAVES UNIDOS, a Richmond contemporary dance company will be presenting their latest dance concert entitled Sketches at Dogtown Dance Theatre.
Sketches includes work from four choreographers in a two part performance about history, life and overall powerful and life-changing experiences. The first section of the performance is entitled Immigraphobia and is by Annielille Gavino.
Immigraphobia is about the history of immigration in America and the current debates surrounding immigration. Gavino was born in the Philippines and has been dancing professionally since age five. Immigraphobia is her first full-length dance work.
Black Orpheus and the Mountain is the second part of this performance and is about Meoleaeke Arebreane Jones, a dancer who had a near fatal auto accident in 2006. While in a month long coma, Jones experienced an out of body spiritual vision. Choreographed by Kevin LaMarr Jones, LaWanda Raines, and Meoleaeke Arebreane Jones himself, Black Orpheus and the Mountain is about the journey Jones took to recover.
Kevin LaMarr Jones is the founder and artistic director of CLAVES UNIDOS who says he is really looking forward to share these personal stories in an artistic way.
“We started calling it Sketches because it is really a work in progress,” Jones said.
Jones graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance and Choreography and dances with the Latin Ballet of Virginia. Jones founded CLAVES UNIDOS as a way to bring “people together through dance classes, productions and events that are life and community-affirming”. Sketches will be the third performance presented by CLAVES UNIDOS, which has been around since 2010.
Jones said he is looking forward to presenting the show which they have been working on it for the past year.
“I’m really excited about putting it up, and it’s not my full vision of what I want the work to be but we wanted to put something up now so that we could get some feedback and get some impression from actually performing the work, see it on the stage and get a good video of it so that we could develop these pieces for the future,” Jones said.
Since Sketches is based upon the experiences of living people it is meant to have a personal and current message.
“Both parts of the show are very personal and come out of personal experience; personal victories and personal hardships of people who are living, breathing and are in the show” said Jones.
Jones also said the audience will be able to see the show performed by dancers who truly love to dance and love communicating through dance all while inside a unique theatre. Dogtown Dance Theatre was transformed from an old gymnasium in 2005.
“Dogtown Dance Theatre provides a home for independent artists to create and present their work in movement, music, visual and vocal arts. We seek to enliven our local community by fostering expansive creative expression and education across diverse populations,” states their mission.
Jones says Richmond is a great place for dance and he finds the city encouraging, refreshing and fulfilling. Sketches highlights the passion for dance by people with all types of dance backgrounds in an overall story explaining dance can tell a powerful story.
“I know in all the work I put out I try to eliminate the biases of dance that I see sometimes,” Jones said. “We have hip-hop, we have modern, we have African-Caribbean style, we have performance art, we have a little bit of ballet, it’s got almost every kind of dance, there’s some traditional Indian dance in it. It’s using dance as a communication tool, across cultures, across dance experiences, across biases and I think people will come away with that.”
Sketches will be performed Saturday, Nov. 9th, at Dogtown Dance Theatre with shows at 3:00 pm and 7:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased here.
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