photo: Ed Flores
The art of collaboration plays just as much a role as dance in the newly formed Art.If.Act Dance Project. Under the artistic guidance of UA School of Dance MFA graduates Ashley Bowman and Claire Hancock, Art.If.Act's professional debut was in October 2009 at UA's Stevie Eller Dance Theatre.
A mere 5 months later, the company will mount another ambitious undertaking by producing Dance in the Red, a 2-night dance/film/live music program benefiting the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF).
"We feel really fortunate to be able to take advantage of the highly collaborative element of Tucson," Bowman said. "That's really our signature." Last year, she and fellow UA dance student/choreographer Joshua Blake Carter presented Dance in the Red as an artistic/informative project to bring attention to HIV/AIDS and benefit SAAF.
"Josh moved to Chicago for a job; we're bringing him back this year to debut a new dance piece to a Shostakovich composition." Including Carter's piece and a new film by Bowman, this year's Dance in the Red will present 7 choreographic premiers, two new film pieces, and a live set of music from Tucson band Reverie (formerly Street Pajama).
Both nights start with a silent auction; at press time, donors included Delectable's, Gaslight Theater, the UA School of Dance, Tucson Symphony and others, but "we're still looking for lots of donors," said Bowman.
Last year's one night of Dance in the Red raised about $9,000 for SAAF; this year, the event has grown to two nights and "the artists are being paid. We think artists should be paid for what they do. Especially in this economic climate," Bowman explained.
"The headline feature of the event is the set by Reverie. They wrote a new song especially for Dance in the Red," Bowman said.
The benefit takes place Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27; silent auction at 6 p.m. and performance at 7:30 p.m. Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, 1737 E. University Blvd. on the UA Campus. Tickets are $45, with a portion benefitting SAAF. Visit ArtIfActDanceProject.com for more information.
