![“The Green Ballet” by Everrett Shinn, 1943. The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, Pa. “There are so many examples throughout American history of folks going out and [dance] is part of their social lives, but so many innovations in dance have also happened in the United States,” venue curator Alejo Benedetti says.](https://wehco.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2016/10/21/121967785_CB1---Shinn_t800.jpg?90232451fbcadccc64a17de7521d859a8f88077d)
Two of the goals at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville are to welcome all people to enjoy art, and to get them thinking about the ways in which artists have engaged with subject matter throughout the history of our country. Bringing in temporary exhibitions supports both these objectives as it allows the museum to tell a broader story than already exists in its permanent collection. The newest exhibit, "The Art of American Dance," combines the visual and performance genres to provide greater insight into the culture and social constructs of the American past.
"Every artwork tells about a thousand stories. Some are inherent in the piece, but we don't always have access to all of those stories," says Alejo Benedetti, the venue curator for the new exhibition. "If you reexamine the artwork in different ways -- in this case, through the lens of dance -- it [reveals] more of those stories."
FAQ
‘Art of American Dance’
WHEN — Saturday through Jan. 16, 2017
WHERE — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville
COST — $10/adults; free for children, members & on Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m.
INFO — crystalbridges.org
FYI
Featured Artists
In conjunction with the temporary exhibition “The Art of American Dance,” Crystal Bridges brings an exciting selection of dance companies, choreographers and filmmakers to the museum, enriching the experience of the artwork and sharing new insights on intersections between visual art and dance. For a full schedule of programs and featured artists, visit crystalbridges.org.
Oct. 22-23 — Ballet Arkansas: The executive director of the state’s premiere dance company will lead a Gallery Conversation exploring the relationships between art, dance and culture while dancers from the Little Rock-based company will perform dances inspired by the exhibition.
Oct. 28-29 — Nicholas Van Young: Former cast member of the off-Broadway sensation STOMP, Nicholas Van Young brings his dance group SoundMovement to Crystal Bridges for an action-packed Performance Lab. The ensemble looks to explore dance soundscapes and sound design through unique electronic manipulations, audio speakers and looping.
Nov. 4-6 — Alice Bloch: Fourth-generation Isadora Duncan-trained dancer and renowned dance scholar Alice Bloch joins Crystal Bridges for a Spotlight Talk, Gallery Conversation and dance demonstrations that explore Duncan’s influence on women and dance at the turn of the 20th century.
Nov. 10-12 — Thomas DeFrantz: Author, performer and dance historian, Thomas DeFrantz is also the founder and director of an interdisciplinary group that explores connections between performance and emergent technology. DeFrantz will discuss how dance can embody a museum experience, as well as cross-cultural relations found in dance history embedded in his group’s performances.
Nov. 12-16 — Dancing Earth: Contemporary dance collective based in Santa Fe, N.M., Dancing Earth is rooted in the traditions and spirit of the first peoples and land. The group and its founding artistic director and choreographer Rulan Tangen will present performances and lectures that combine dance with a passion to raise awareness of issues faced by Indigenous people in the Americas.
Dec. 7-10 — CONTRA-TIEMPO: CONTRA-TIEMPO is a bold, multilingual Los Angeles-based dance company creating physically intense and politically astute performance works that move audiences to imagine what is possible. Their performances, Gallery Conversation, Spotlight Talk and workshops will provide new insights on social justice and the current temporary exhibition, “The Art of American Dance.”
Source: crystalbridges.org
The exhibition has the potential to breathe new perspective into several pieces from Crystal Bridges' permanent collection added to the show. Organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts, the exhibition makes its third and final stop at Crystal Bridges -- allowing organizers to "put their own little spin" on the curation. "Soundsuit" by artist Nick Cave is an addition Benedetti believes will appeal to the Northwest Arkansas audience.
"There are a number of works that will have a lot of resonance with folks. ['Soundsuit'] is a very popular work we don't always get to show," he says. "In [some of the] earlier works, there is a focus on folk dance, and in this region, though it's not exactly the same kind, we have a history of folk dance. That becomes a point of resonance.
"There are some guests that connect with the visual arts and by bringing dance into the equation, hopefully [it] will inspire interest in dance [for] those who see dance as a little more opaque," he goes on. "But also, people who are more connected with the performing arts, that becomes a point of access for them as well."
More than 90 works of painting, sculpture, photography and other media converge to illustrate stories of dance's place in the lives of American people from the 1830s to the present, along with how American artists have interpreted and interacted with the genre as muse. The show is the first of its kind: An exhibition of this scale focusing on the relationship between dance, the United States and American artists has never been arranged before.
Split into two sections, the exhibition examines dance as a social pastime evolving into an artform in its own right. The historical context contained in the exhibit -- race relations between Native and non-native Americans, political implications surrounding the first wave of feminism, to name a couple -- provides innumerable opportunities for connections and conversations about the works. But it was a different relationship that stood out to Benedetti.
"When I first started thinking about the exhibition, one of the most interesting things for me ... if you think of the most basic definition of dance -- bodies moving through space and time -- traditional art [styles] do not lend themselves to that. They're static -- showing one moment. How do artists resolve that, to depict something that's full of life and movement?" he muses. "The answer to that question changes over time. It starts with depictions of a lot of people dancing, but as art changes over time, it's changing the relationship between art and dance."
NAN What's Up on 10/21/2016