Next month, American choreographer and dancer Michelle Dorrance presents The Center Will Not Hold along with dancer Ephrat Asherie.
Originally presented as a short duet created and performed in December 2022, The Center Will Not Hold is an expanded and reimagined work featuring a collective of performers working in street, club and social dances such as house, breaking, hip hop, tap dance, Memphis jookin, and body percussion.
We caught up with Michelle to find out more.
Q: Tell us about The Center Will Not Hold?
A: The Center Will Not Hold is born from the seed of a short duet called “a little room” that Ephrat Asherie and I created in December 2022 and has grown into a deeply collaborative work with 10 other singular artists. The dancers are all rooted in footwork-driven styles and are expert practitioners and tradition-bearers of one or many of the following street, club, and vernacular dance forms: House, Breaking, Hip Hop, Tap Dance, Chicago Footwork, Detroit Jit, Litefeet, Memphis Jookin, Body Percussion. Composed by my brother Donovan Dorrance, the work also features a world-champion snare drummer/percussionist, my dear friend John Angeles (whom I met in the Off-Broadway show STOMP).
Q: This work was born in direct response to the divisive, oppressive and violent energy currently rising in America. How can tap dance be a vehicle to communicate this oppression?
A: Tap dance was born under some of the most horrific, oppressive circumstances in American history, making it a natural language and vehicle through which to respond to the rise of fasicm in our country. Similarly, the street and club styles that are also featured in this work were developed by marginalized peoples in the streets and social spaces of American cities, in direct response to those very same divisive energies and oppressive forces
Q: What has it been like to collaborate with Ephrat Asherie?
A: Ephrat is one of my best friends and she has inspired me deeply throughout our entire friendship. Abstractly, this work has been a dream of mine since the day I first saw her dance. She is one of the most generous and dynamic performers I have ever witnessed and despite our neuro-divergence driving everyone we work with up a wall, every day I get to share artistic space with her is such a gift.
Q: Who inspires you?
A: My parents, my mentor Gene Medler, and my tap dance elders inspire me endlessly. The artists I am blessed to collaborate with inspire and teach me every day.
Q: What is next for you?
A: I’m working on a big-scale musical for the first time and can’t wait to say more as soon as I’m allowed to!
The Center Will Not Hold runs at Sadler’s Wells from 17-18 April. Book here.