An Evening with West Virginia Dance Company

For its 43rd season program, WV Dance Company will introduce a new evening long work entitled “Love of Power vs. Power of Love”, which will explore the choice between exerting power over others or acting out of love. The piece unmasks the divisiveness, isolation and intolerance that involves the misuse of power, and reveals the power of love to heal, unite and remind us of our shared humanity.

The section of the work by Donald Laney, “Episodes of Reality”, portrays a range of power dynamics at an interpersonal level revealing the possibilities of love, connection and acceptance versus dominance, hatred, and rejection, with a specific focus on discrimination faced by the LGBTQ community and the personal search for truth. The dance will feature electronic music as well as original percussion by WV composer Mark Davis.

Toneta Akers- Toler’s choreography “Collective Transparency” will feature scenes of hegemonic oppression impacting personal and collective identity. The work will portray how identity, including our ability to embrace the masculinity or femininity that exists in all of us, is influenced by power structures and will show individuals and groups coming to embrace their marginalized identities as an act of resistance but also moving forward through love to a more unified community. Spoken text will include the voice of West Virginia’s Storyteller Adam Booth. The music compositions will include West Virginia natives Dr. Richard Grimes, Lady D (Doris Fields), and studio recording by Dan Bailey. Light design will be by Tonry Lathrom.

Performers of the dance work will be Forrest Hershey, Rebecca Johanson, Donald Laney, Brittney Fitzgerald Lester, Miranda Nichols and Alyssa Orrico

Made possible by WV Arts Presenters of the WV Commission on the Arts

An Evening of Dance with the West Virginia Dance Company is part of FestivALL Fall, October 10-13. Visit festivallcharleston.com/events for the complete schedule of events.