Celebrating Dance: The Alabama Dance Festival is one of the largest events of its kind in the Southeast

The annual Alabama Dance Festival is one of the largest gatherings of dancers and lovers of dance in the Southeast, according to Rosemary Johnson, long-time executive director of the Alabama Dance Council.

The ADF — now in its 23rd year — serves several purposes, Johnson said.

“The Festival connects and unites the Alabama dance community, raises the visibility of dance and connects audiences to dance through community engagement activities,” she said.

It highlights “the richness and diversity” of dance in the state, according to the ADC website.

The festival is also a chance for dancers and teachers to broaden their horizons.

“The dance world is small — everybody knows everyone else and you are always connecting with people that you’ve known or worked with before,” Johnson said. “But it is also exciting to discover dance groups and choreographers that you didn’t know about before.”

The 2020 ADF will offer an impressive slate of performances, including the Birmingham Dance Showcase, the New Works Concert and the Alabama Dance Festival Showcase, as well as the premiere of a new piece from Wideman/Davis Dance, an acclaimed troupe from Columbia, South Carolina.

The festival includes numerous learning opportunities for dancers and educators, with a faculty that includes teachers from regional and national organizations and dance companies.

One of the highlights of the ADF will be the performances by Wideman/Davis Dance, featuring Tanya Wideman-Davis and Thaddeus Davis. The troupe will premiere “Migratuse Ataraxia,” a site-specific work to be performed in the Klein-Wallace House, an antebellum home in Harpersville built in 1841.

Migratuse means “migrated, departed, to have gone away, having been changed, and the habitual patterns of moving from one place to another,” according to the ADC website. Ataraxia means “calmness or peace of mind, emotional tranquility.”

“The intent of the work is to allow people to experience all of the narrative experiences of the people connected to a place — white or black,” Johnson said.

“Migratuse Ataraxia” is a way of “reframing the narrative of the enslaved individuals that lived on the plantation and create some more holistic depiction of all the lives that were associated with that space,” she said.

The piece makes use of movement, technology, visual installations a curated meal and community dialogue.

This is the first time that the festival has presented a site-specific performance, which creates a new challenge for festival organizers, Johnson said.

“It is much more in depth than if I booked a dance company to come in and perform at the Alys Stephens Center,” she said. “I have had to work much more closely with the artists.”

The ADF has worked with Wideman/ Davis Dance on other projects, so there is “a level of trust,” Johnson said. “We know the quality of work they do. They know us as presenters.”

“It is a very experiential type of performance,” Johnson said. “You are seeing a part of the performance in each room, and then it ends with a special meal that has been designed around the performance,” she said.

New to the ADF in 2020 is the Alabama Screendance Festival, which features filmed dance performances.

"It’s a new medium in which choreographers are exploring how to make work,” Johnson said. “It is very different choreographing for the camera and balancing the dance elements with the cinematic elements. There are multiple screendance festivals across the country.”

The education component of the ADF is very important. Dancers can take master classes with world-renowned teachers, Johnson said. They can also register to audition for local, regional, and national summer programs, college programs and scholarships.

The following are brief descriptions of the performances and other activities that make up the 2020 ADF:

• Jan. 11: Birmingham Dance Showcase. 12:30 p.m. BJCC Theatre. Admission is free. This annual event is “very multicultural,” Johnson said. The event typically features hip hop, salsa, Bollywood and classical Indian dance, as well as Aztec and Chinese styles. Among the 15 groups appearing this year are Alabama State University, Dala Tribal Dance, Rainbow Dance, Red Apple Dance Group, Jasmine Dance Ensemble, Darry Yoga Dance Studio, Natyananda: Dance of India and Southern Dance & Performing Arts Company.
• Jan. 11: There are also free community dance classes in the BJCC North Meeting Rooms from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. These classes are open to people of all ages, including those without any previous dance training, Johnson said. About 400-500 people typically turn out for the classes, and about 200 more come just for the free Birmingham Dance Showcase performance, she said.
• Jan. 17. Dance for Schools. 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m. The Dance Foundation, 1715 27th Ct. S., Homewood. At this workshop for classroom teachers and teaching artists, educators can obtain movement-based arts integration tools and materials and earn continuing education credits.
• Jan. 20-21, 24-26. “Migratuse Ataraxia,” presented by Wideman Davis Dance. 7 p.m. Klein-Wallace House, Harpersville. Space is limited for each performance. Ticket includes a curated dinner that is part of the performance. The event is presented with Klein Arts & Culture.
• Jan. 24. Alabama Screendance Festival. 8 p.m. Dorothy Jemison Day Theatre, Alabama School of Fine Arts.
• Jan. 24-26. Dance classes. Alabama Ballet Center for Dance Education, Alabama School of Fine Arts and The Dance Foundation. The ADF offers more than 45 intermediate to advanced level master classes and workshops in such genres as classical and contemporary ballet, jazz, modern, street jazz, West African and musical theatre. These are paid classes for dancers from middle school age and up that have had training or are currently studying dance. About 400-500 people turn out for these classes, as well, according to Johnson.
• Jan. 25. New Works Concert. 8 p.m. Dorothy Jemison Day Theatre, Alabama School of Fine Arts. The event features works by regional choreographers selected by judges.
• Jan. 26. Alabama Dance Festival Showcase. 2:30 p.m. Dorothy Jemison Day Theatre, Alabama School of Fine Arts. There will be about 20 groups from the state performing this year, including Alabama Ballet School, Alabama School of Fine Arts, Cullman Ballet Company, Mobile Ballet Company, Troy University, Dance South Studio and Patti Rutland Jazz and The University of Alabama.

For ticket prices and more information — including details regarding classes and auditions — call 205-602-3599 go to alabamadancecouncil.org.