Post by ClassicSoul on Mar 22, 2006 10:22:54 GMT -5
A LITTLE BIT OF SOUL, NOW
Motown legends The Contours and The Eisenhower Dance Ensemble work, work and shake it up, baby, for Saturday show
March 22, 2006
BY EMILIANA SANDOVAL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Back in the day, Motown artists possessed extra-special panache -- unforgettable songs, smooth dance moves, eye-catching costumes.
The Eisenhower Dance Ensemble will bring all that, plus the Contours featuring Sylvester Potts, to "Motown in Motion," Saturday at the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts.
Laurie Eisenhower, artistic director of the 15-year-old modern dance company, has spent almost seven years working on "Motown." She began in 1999, after the former director of the Macomb Center suggested she do a collaborative project.
"I came up with the idea of doing something with Motown and did it on a smaller scale in 2000," she said. "It was half an evening, with my choreography. Then we got funding and I was able to do it the way I wanted to do it."
Eisenhower invited Lindsey Thomas, Gregory Patterson, Stephanie Pizzo, Stephen Koester, Joel Hall and Bill DeYoung to create new pieces to some old favorites.
The choreographers got to choose their songs.
"I was surprised that nobody picked Michael Jackson," Eisenhower said. "They picked more of the older stuff. And at first, nobody picked Stevie, then everyone wanted Stevie. But nobody chose the same songs.
"It's nice to have variety in how they approach Motown music," Eisenhower said. "Motown had a formula that worked, especially early on, and if one choreographer attacked all of the songs it'd be too easy for everything to feel similar, so it's nice to have different approaches."
The program, which was previewed in Charlotte in January, features songs sung by Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Ruffin, the Temptations, Rare Earth, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and the Supremes.
At a recent rehearsal, University of Utah modern dance professor Koester watched intently as the young EDE dancers ran through Martha and the Vandellas' "(Love is like a) Heat Wave," a peppy, beachy piece with lots of turns and a few flips and handstands.
"I want you to really explode," he told the panting dancers. "I want to really see the dancing, not the choreography."
The Contours -- Sylvester Potts, Darrel Nunlee, Kim Green and Tony Womack -- will be performing with the dancers and on their own, with a six-man band. Expect to hear "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," "Higher & Higher," "Cry to Me," "Get Ready" and "Tracks of my Tears."
A new generation discovered the guys when the 1962 hit "Do You Love Me" climbed back up the charts in the late '80s thanks to a little movie called "Dirty Dancing."
"They're one of the only groups still performing, and of course, they're really good," Eisenhower said. "As soon as they came in the studio, the energy level went up. And they're very nice people, very down to earth."
The men are center stage to sing Smokey Robinson's "First I Look at the Purse," with three females playfully dancing around them. This past weekend, costumer Mary Ellen Cameron-Scott was busy making new dresses for the number, which Pizzo choreographed.
"The ones we had for the January performances just didn't work," Cameron-Scott said. "The Contours wore red suits and we weren't prepared for that. Now I'm doing a bias-drape velvet with silk chiffon in burgundy, rose-pink and green. They're punchier, and they look better with red."
Cameron-Scott has been working on costumes since last summer. The EDE's other costumer, Leslie Littell, had to fill an unusual order for "You Keep Me Hanging On," choreographed by Eisenhower.
"I saw the Supremes on Ed Sullivan or some show like that, and all three of them were in one big gigantic dress," Eisenhower said. "Nobody else seems to have seen it -- maybe I dreamt it. Anyway, that was my inspiration."
The three dancers wear fuchsia satin pumps, long pink gloves and share a big hot pink skirt. It's a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek dance, with a lot of hand movements and one tricky somersault.
For "How Sweet It Is," sung by Marvin Gaye, choreographed by Thomas (who passed away in 2004), the dancers wear oversized, iridescent purple suits and sparkly purple shirts as they act out the words to the song.
"Costumer Leslie Littell actually found those in a store in Pontiac a few years ago, and I had just seen the Tempts in Las Vegas wearing purple suits, so it seemed perfect," Eisenhower said.
Ending the first half is "Heard It Through the Grapevine," sung by Gladys Knight and the Pips with Eisenhower choreographing.
The Oakland University Repertory Dance Company and about 25 lucky youngsters will take part.
"We use dancers from the community, young kids, older dancers, retired dancers," Eisenhower said. "This year it's mostly students from our school in Rochester. The kids love to perform with professional dancers. They're not polished but it shouldn't be -- it's really cute to see the little kids dance."
The finale is the Contours' big hit, "Do You Love Me." Some of the dancers' moves might look familiar -- Eisenhower incorporated the original Contours choreography into hers.
The company hopes this isn't the last time it'll be grooving to "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" and "Nowhere to Run."
"We hope to tour it nationally, and the Contours are willing," Eisenhower said. "I'm pretty optimistic it'll happen."
LINK
Motown legends The Contours and The Eisenhower Dance Ensemble work, work and shake it up, baby, for Saturday show
March 22, 2006
BY EMILIANA SANDOVAL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Back in the day, Motown artists possessed extra-special panache -- unforgettable songs, smooth dance moves, eye-catching costumes.
The Eisenhower Dance Ensemble will bring all that, plus the Contours featuring Sylvester Potts, to "Motown in Motion," Saturday at the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts.
Laurie Eisenhower, artistic director of the 15-year-old modern dance company, has spent almost seven years working on "Motown." She began in 1999, after the former director of the Macomb Center suggested she do a collaborative project.
"I came up with the idea of doing something with Motown and did it on a smaller scale in 2000," she said. "It was half an evening, with my choreography. Then we got funding and I was able to do it the way I wanted to do it."
Eisenhower invited Lindsey Thomas, Gregory Patterson, Stephanie Pizzo, Stephen Koester, Joel Hall and Bill DeYoung to create new pieces to some old favorites.
The choreographers got to choose their songs.
"I was surprised that nobody picked Michael Jackson," Eisenhower said. "They picked more of the older stuff. And at first, nobody picked Stevie, then everyone wanted Stevie. But nobody chose the same songs.
"It's nice to have variety in how they approach Motown music," Eisenhower said. "Motown had a formula that worked, especially early on, and if one choreographer attacked all of the songs it'd be too easy for everything to feel similar, so it's nice to have different approaches."
The program, which was previewed in Charlotte in January, features songs sung by Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Ruffin, the Temptations, Rare Earth, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and the Supremes.
At a recent rehearsal, University of Utah modern dance professor Koester watched intently as the young EDE dancers ran through Martha and the Vandellas' "(Love is like a) Heat Wave," a peppy, beachy piece with lots of turns and a few flips and handstands.
"I want you to really explode," he told the panting dancers. "I want to really see the dancing, not the choreography."
The Contours -- Sylvester Potts, Darrel Nunlee, Kim Green and Tony Womack -- will be performing with the dancers and on their own, with a six-man band. Expect to hear "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," "Higher & Higher," "Cry to Me," "Get Ready" and "Tracks of my Tears."
A new generation discovered the guys when the 1962 hit "Do You Love Me" climbed back up the charts in the late '80s thanks to a little movie called "Dirty Dancing."
"They're one of the only groups still performing, and of course, they're really good," Eisenhower said. "As soon as they came in the studio, the energy level went up. And they're very nice people, very down to earth."
The men are center stage to sing Smokey Robinson's "First I Look at the Purse," with three females playfully dancing around them. This past weekend, costumer Mary Ellen Cameron-Scott was busy making new dresses for the number, which Pizzo choreographed.
"The ones we had for the January performances just didn't work," Cameron-Scott said. "The Contours wore red suits and we weren't prepared for that. Now I'm doing a bias-drape velvet with silk chiffon in burgundy, rose-pink and green. They're punchier, and they look better with red."
Cameron-Scott has been working on costumes since last summer. The EDE's other costumer, Leslie Littell, had to fill an unusual order for "You Keep Me Hanging On," choreographed by Eisenhower.
"I saw the Supremes on Ed Sullivan or some show like that, and all three of them were in one big gigantic dress," Eisenhower said. "Nobody else seems to have seen it -- maybe I dreamt it. Anyway, that was my inspiration."
The three dancers wear fuchsia satin pumps, long pink gloves and share a big hot pink skirt. It's a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek dance, with a lot of hand movements and one tricky somersault.
For "How Sweet It Is," sung by Marvin Gaye, choreographed by Thomas (who passed away in 2004), the dancers wear oversized, iridescent purple suits and sparkly purple shirts as they act out the words to the song.
"Costumer Leslie Littell actually found those in a store in Pontiac a few years ago, and I had just seen the Tempts in Las Vegas wearing purple suits, so it seemed perfect," Eisenhower said.
Ending the first half is "Heard It Through the Grapevine," sung by Gladys Knight and the Pips with Eisenhower choreographing.
The Oakland University Repertory Dance Company and about 25 lucky youngsters will take part.
"We use dancers from the community, young kids, older dancers, retired dancers," Eisenhower said. "This year it's mostly students from our school in Rochester. The kids love to perform with professional dancers. They're not polished but it shouldn't be -- it's really cute to see the little kids dance."
The finale is the Contours' big hit, "Do You Love Me." Some of the dancers' moves might look familiar -- Eisenhower incorporated the original Contours choreography into hers.
The company hopes this isn't the last time it'll be grooving to "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" and "Nowhere to Run."
"We hope to tour it nationally, and the Contours are willing," Eisenhower said. "I'm pretty optimistic it'll happen."
LINK
