Kendyll Hazzard
Ellie McShane in Unincorporated Dance Lab's first offering.
While dancing together at Isthmus Dance Collective’s 2024 spring show, D.E.L.V.E., five local dancers decided they wanted more chances to showcase their artistry.
“It was a reminder that we wanted more opportunities to create and to perform,” says co-founder and dancer Caitlyn Lamdin.
The dance group they formed, Unincorporated Dance Lab, will launch with an inaugural show, “Ofrenda (an offering),” Nov. 2-3 at the Madison Youth Arts Sunrise Theater.
The program, named after one of the show’s pieces, consists of four dances, all from Madison choreographers.
Ofrenda Cecilia, by Eddie Salas, draws on the tradition of ofrenda, the offering altar at a cemetery during Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a multi-day holiday of Mexican origin to commemorate deceased loved ones. People place photographs of lost loved ones on ofrendas, as well as decorations and personal tokens. Ofrenda Cecilia is Salas’ ofrenda to his grandmother, Cecilia. The show opens on the first anniversary of Cecilia’s passing and the second day of Día de los Muertos.
Inquiry by Sarah Langdon was inspired by conversation. “As I choreographed I found myself thinking about the conversations I have about my gender as a nonbinary person. I often find myself searching for the right way to qualify my identity,” says Langdon. “I’m not always successful and there’s confusion, but through that back-and-forth comes understanding.”
The show’s other pieces are Ode on Aurelius by Kendyll Hazzard, which explores stoicism, and Ashes by Miye Bishop, which explores the cycle of death and rebirth.
The group, founded by Lamdin, Langdon, Hazzard, Tara McAninch and Taylor Rosenthal, started in May 2024 and began rehearsals for their upcoming show in mid-June. Unincorporated’s founders have danced in Madison dance groups and in UW-Madison’s dance program; Hazzard also now dances as a student in Massachusetts.
The group is balancing rehearsals with full-time jobs. “Even though we all work nine-to-fives, we’re all passionate about keeping dance in our lives,” says Rosenthal.
Unincorporated tries to accommodate its dancers with work and family commitments by rehearsing each piece in the program at a different time throughout the week, in an attempt to ease schedules.
Co-founder McAninch says the group is needed in Madison: “There are so many gorgeous dancers out there who aren’t able to perform with the current foundations we have. So it was a way to support that and let it grow.”
“All of these pieces are emotionally significant to the choreographers, and each didn’t necessarily have a space in Madison to be able to showcase these works,” adds Lamdin.
Unincorporated’s founders used their own money and raised some from ticket sales and a crowdfunding campaign to give the participating artists “some sort of stipend,” says McAninch.
The group also relies on volunteers for filming the show, stage managing, and promotional material design.
“We’re five friends who came together,” McAninch says. “Regardless of the fact that we’re not backed by some sort of company, we put it together. It just has a lot of heart.
“We’re taking it one day at a time,” she adds. “Even if it's for one season or even if it's for five seasons.”
