The Plain Dealer – GroundWorks DanceTheater planning fresh, contemporary ‘Fall Series’ program

By Zachary Lewis, The Plain Dealer

Only a small percentage of modern dance makes it to the big stage. But at one big stage in Cleveland this weekend, the new and experimental constitute 100 percent of the offerings.

That’s because GroundWorks DanceTheater is setting up at the Allen Theatre, and everything it does, and plans to do, is contemporary, as fresh as fresh can be.

“My vision is to bring in innovative, unique dance makers and expose people to their work,” said artistic director David Shimotakahara. “It’s about what we can contribute to the art.”

Several contributions are in store Friday and Saturday. On the program for both evenings are three works by three living, active choreographers, and two of them were created just for GroundWorks’ “Fall Series.”

What’s more, the pieces aren’t just fresh. They’re also diverse, the work of three different dancers employing different styles of movement and exploring three very different topics.

No wonder Cleveland State University invited the company to be in residence. Unlike many troupes, which perform the work of a single choreographer, the dancers of GroundWorks pride themselves on their ability to realize any and all creations, no matter how dissimilar.

“I think we embody that challenge pretty well,” said Shimotakahara. “You don’t see a lot of that kind of versatility. For us, it’s not just about curating existing work.”

The centerpiece of this weekend’s concerts is “After Chorus,” a new work by Israeli choreographer and former Batsheva Dance Company dancer Noa Zuk.

Based mostly on original music by Zuk’s husband, Ohad Fishof, the piece employs vocal sounds and a deliberately fragmented dance vocabulary to convey something cryptic straight from the deepest recesses of the brain.

“It’s really hard for the dancers,” noted Shimotakahara. “A dancer’s instinct is to connect movements, but she [Zuk] wants this to come out of the subconscious. There’s nothing in particular you can say it’s about, and yet I do feel something emerges.”

“Inamorata,” by Kate Weare, explores an entirely different notion, that of relationships and the need to belong. It also makes use of an eclectic palette of music, one ranging from Bach and medieval chant to country, Argentine tango and electronica.

Premiered by GroundWorks last spring at Cleveland’s Breen Center for the Performing Arts, the work receives its second staging this weekend by a company convinced of Weare’s future.

“She’s really breaking out,” Shimotakahara said.

Shimotakahara himself is the author of the third and final work on the program: “Emergent,” set to music by David Lang, Maya Beiser, Meredith Monk and Hildur Guonadottir.

It’s a fitting piece for the occasion. As GroundWorks starts a new season in Cleveland and mulls its future, a dance created in collaboration and dealing with humanity’s march toward greater complexity stands to be more apropos than ever.

His company’s finances and leadership stable, Shimotakahara is now looking to grow richer and more complex aesthetically. “Now I want to circle back and think again about increasing the artistic level,” he said.

GroundWorks DanceTheater’s Fall Series
What: Works by Noa Zuk, Kate Weare, and David Shimotakahara.
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26.
Where: Allen Theatre, PlayhouseSquare, Cleveland.
Tickets: $20-$25. Go to groundworksdance.org or call 216-751-0088.