How to go
What: “Hitsville USA”
Where: Dayton Marriott, 1414 S. Patterson Blvd., Dayton
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1
Cost: The show is sold out. It was $60 (includes dinner and performance).
More info: www.dcdc.org
The timeless music of Motown fuels the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s presentation of “Hitsville USA,” the organization’s first mainstage show of the season slated for Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Dayton Marriott.
“Hitsville USA,” named after Motown founder Berry Gordy’s original Detroit-based headquarters, will include a nostalgic array of tunes from such legends as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Lionel Richie and others. Organizers are predominately aiming to capture the distinctive essence of the Motown brand that revolutionized America in the 1960s.
“The showmanship of the Motown era stands out the most for me,” said DCDC artistic director Debbie Blunden-Diggs. “Everybody believed in showmanship. The Motown artists had wonderful voices and could certainly sing, but it always seemed to be more about the ‘show’ which always intrigued me. Also, people connect with Motown with accordance to what their age is. There were a lot of Motown artists I didn’t really realize recorded on the Motown label and we’ll be bringing that element of rediscovery to the surface.”
It’s difficult not to reflect on Motown without visualizing the crisp, precise choreography given to such acts as the Temptations and The Four Tops. Blunden-Diggs, who specifically choreographs the opening number “Dancing in the Street,” along with “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” says DCDC will pay homage to Motown’s iconic routines with their own unique flavor adhering to modern contemporary dance.
“Audiences are basically going to see DCDC’s twist on Motown choreography,” she said. “We’re going to give it back to our audience in DCDC style and DCDC fashion. They will certainly see remnants of imagery of that era, but they’ll also see highly trained dancers/artists molding, crafting and shaping the music visually in a very different way.”
The concert, which will be preceded by a soul food dinner, will also feature choreography by company members Dorse Brown, Amy Renee Jones, Abby Leithart, Marlayna Locklear and Nabachwa Ssensalo among others.
“We are giving our members opportunities to grow in their craft as they are creating,” Blunden-Diggs said. “I really think we’re offering a very fun evening. We can’t create a four-hour show, which we could easily do with this material, but I feel we’ve done a good job of trying to weld and weave the Motown legacy together in a very artful way.”
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