If people watching is your thing, well then look no further than Atlantic Station! You will see some things! If you where this past Saturday then you saw the ever growing organization that is Dance Canvas performing on the lawn. Legs where flying at the 3rd Annual pARTY for ART and it was not just the professional dancers. What put a smile on my face was the little girl in yellow mimicking every thing she saw on stage. This is why I love people who bring dance into the community for all to see. Founder and Director Angela Harris has been working endlessly for over three years to make the dream of connecting the average Atlantan with the arts. I think any one would call her efforts a success but I know that she will not stop there! She is determined and it shows in the quality of people she chooses to work with.
First to present, with a sassy and tribal based work, was Usula Kendall-Johnson. All I have to say is work it girl! I smiled and laughed and could not look away from her performance. She performed with every fiber of her person and you had no doubt that she loved every minute of it!
Second was the incredibly talented Bubba Carr. What he brought to the stage was dark and intense. It didn’t hurt that he had a line of incredibly beautiful, talented, half naked women working the circular, grounded movement like fiends. They had my attention from the first gesture.
With all that said, I need to stop and say that the following choreographer, Lonnie Davis, is, well, a kick your butt, make you work, push you harder than you thought physically possible amazing teacher and choreographer. You walk out of his classes feeling a high (and pain) that makes you want to come back and work some more. I have seen many of his works and have never failed to be impressed with the quick, athletic and precise way that he moves and works in. But what I saw in Blind Love, a debut of his new ongoing work, was breath taking. It was soft, gentle, and just… I honestly wish I had more words but even now, I can only think of one Beautiful. I can not wait to see more, and wont have to wait for long, as Mr. Davis has just been appointed co-director of Wylliams-Henry Contemporary Dance Company. The company will be splitting its time between Kansas City and Atlanta and making its season debut here in Atlanta this fall.
The arts are alive here in Atlanta people, come out and support your local artists!
If you would like more information on the above mentioned artists and organizations please click on the following links.
Dance Canvas: http://dancecanvas.com
Bubba Carr: http://twitter.com/#!/bubbacarrnow
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0139622/
Wylliams Henry Contemporary Dance Company: http://wylliams-henry.org/
dancersonthetown 