New Hampshire Dance Collaborative to Present ‘The Shire’

by | Oct 2, 2022 | Press Releases

On Thursday, October 13 at 7:00 p.m. at The Rex Theatre in Manchester, New Hampshire Dance Collaborative (NHDC) will present ‘The Shire,’ a performance by NSquared Dance. ‘The Shire’ is a bioregional exploration of the state of New Hampshire through the lenses of location, economics, historical references, agriculture, nature, and the region’s culture.

“I developed the concept through my graduate studies while working on my MFA at Wilson College,” said NSquared Dance Co-Founder Zackery Betty, who cited a deeper purpose behind his work. “If the community can see the caliber of local dance talent that is in their backyard of New Hampshire, I think there would be a different appreciation for the art itself.”

Joan Brodsky, founder of NHDC, agrees and said dance talent like Betty led to her selection of NSquared Dance as the first recipient of their Accelerator program. Launched in June, Accelerator was designed “to support dance professionals as they seek to further enhance their artistic content and professional abilities.”

“Dance has the transformational power to further develop human understanding and tolerance for one another,” explained Brodsky. “Accelerator is an initiative whose primary goal is to make the case that dance is an important and relevant part of human experience. Dance can bring people together.”

Regarding the performance, ‘The Shire’ is a mixture of contemporary dance occasionally juxtaposed with contradance, while the choreography is inspired by the history, culture, geography, and economics of New Hampshire. Honoring its distinctive character, the costume design, compositional qualities, filming locations, and dancers all hail from New Hampshire.

‘The Shire’ takes place on Thursday, October 13 at 7:00 p.m. at The Rex Theatre. Admission is free.

Founded in 2014, NSquared Dance strives to energize audiences through movement and enhance creativity, artistry, passion, and drive of youth and aspiring dancers. To learn more about NSquared Dance, visit nsquareddance.com.

Founded in 2017, NHDC’s mission is “to make dance a more well understood, accessible and utilized art form.”

Excerpts and Investigation: The Shire

Excerpts and Investigation: The Shire

by | Sep 14, 2022 | Past Performances

E&I from The Factory of The Shire
E&I from The Factory of The Shire

Excerpts and Investigation of The Shire – a dance/ theater piece in Hip Hop/street style dance created by Anthony Bounphakhom

Location: The Factory on Willow in Manchester, NH

Date: 9/14/2022

This event was created in order to preview the performance of The Shire in an intimate environment where the audience was situated on the same level and just feet away from the dancers. The dance portion was kept to 20-30 minutes so as to whet the appetite for more. It was moderated by Matt Cahoon, Artistic Director of theater KAPOW who asked dance maker Zackary Beatty and the NSquared dancers compelling questions which provided context and an explanation to the audience.

Because dance can baffle the general audience, Excerpts and Investigation was designed to provide a learning experience for the viewer and also to provide them an opportunity to ask their own questions. Dance creates waves of energy. The audience was able to hear footfalls and breathing and witness the hard, physical work involved in this craft. The goal of New Hampshire Dance Collaborative was to better prepare the audience for the full performance on the proscenium stage a week later.

New Hampshire Dance Accelerator Announces First Fellows

by | Aug 23, 2022 | Blog

Our first two artists have already built dance organizations which have name recognition and a clear, creative mission. They simply need a welcoming and supportive environment in which to thrive and the opportunities to share their craft.

We chose to use the term Fellow at the risk of sounding self-important, because our candidates were selected because their accomplishments, focus and singular vision make them ready for a rigorous process of training.

  • NHDC will provide artistic coaching though a mentorship relationship with seasoned choreographers and theater professionals
  • Strong support for articulating both the case for dance in general and the individual stories of these particular artists through Exponential Squared, a business development firm that focuses on ideas and the written word.
  • Both a media and social media campaign that will culminate in performances at The Rex Theatre in October
  • Coaching in grant writing and the art of a good press release

Zackery Betty and Anthony Bounphakkom have the potential to make a transformative impact on the culture of New Hampshire Because dance hasn’t yet taken flight in New Hampshire like the visual arts, NHDC’s vision is to create an appreciation and utilization for dance that reflects our state and that is used with greater imagination and scope than simply as something to be watched.

New Hampshire Dance Collaborative is Evolving

by | Jun 5, 2022 | Blog

We are announcing the New Hampshire Dance Accelerator, which will be the vehicle to support dance professionals as they seek to further enhance their artistic content and professional abilities. We plan to work with dance and movement based organizations in a very tailored way.  Help is always needed to negotiate theater space, branding, conventional and digital marketing and technical support. Rigorous artistic coaching is beneficial to make our existing dance organizations even more excellent.  Criteria for acceptance into the Incubator program is being developed and we’ll post more about it soon.

We are also going to include a place on the Events page called Dance Around the State. This listing will include performances, workshops, summer dance intensives and more.  Please email your news to us here.

Birdie

by | Dec 15, 2021 | Past Performances

Birdie – a theater/dance piece by Lorraine Chapman

Dancers: Anthony Bounphakhom, Jenna Gross, Maya Infascelli, Jill MacLaughlin, Janelle Abbott Staley, Lisa Travis

Location: Canterbury Shaker Village’s Merry, Merry Canterbury celebration

Date: December 2021

Conceived of and choreographed by Lorraine Chapman, Birdie honors the story of Alberta Kirkpatrick, the last orphan accepted by the Canterbury Shakers. In collaboration with Canterbury Shaker Village’s archivist, Renee Fox, Lorraine not only researched Kirkpatrick’s personal story while at The Village but also, the Canterbury Shaker’s unique tradition of creating theater productions that they “the Entertainments”. Birdie combines dance, song and acting, using first person letters that Kirkpatrick wrote to her father during her stay. He struggled to find employment in a changing landscape of growing industrialization and placed her permanently with The Shakers.

The Shakers got their name from their use of dance in worship. Dance was a defining aspect of the Shaker’s deep expression of their faith. Dance is an authentic and powerful story telling tool that expresses a range of human emotions for which words can only hint at.