Shawn Harper
Sierra Kay Powell in “Lynchtown.”
Kanopy Dance’s upcoming revival of Charles Weidman’s 1936 dance masterwork, “Lynchtown,” is an important concert for those looking to understand the evolution of modern art forms.
Weidman, like Martha Graham, was part of a wave of dance innovation, breaking away from ballet and looking to folk and even ballroom movement to formulate an entirely new medium: modern dance. And he used dance to comment on social phenomena, such as mob mentality.
Although it was based on an incident Weidman witnessed as a child, “Lynchtown” is far from being a museum piece. “Sadly enough, it’s very relevant today in its content, and in its sense of mass violence, mass hysteria,” says Kanopy co-artistic director Lisa Thurrell.
“Lynchtown,” has been restaged before, with varied success. The original was never filmed, says Thurrell. “Keeping these works alive is a pretty crucial and fascinating process.”
Fortunately, Kanopy was able to bring in Weidman associates Deb Carr and Samantha Geracht Myers. “So much of it is the handing down from one person to the next,” says Thurrell. “We’re getting a very direct lineage.”
“Lynchtown” is the headliner for Kanopy’s Juxtaposed!, a concert of contrasts featuring Chicago-based Winifred Haun & Dancers. It also includes Thurrell’s poetry-based “Come Months, Come Away”; “Promise,” based on John Steinbeck’s East of Eden; and a Robert Cleary original titled “This Is Not America.”
Juxtaposed! runs Nov. 13-15 at Overture’s Promenade Hall.
