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Britain--New Land for Dance?
| Article
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16742 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1989 |
2,362 Words |
| Author
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Gary Parks
Gary Parks is the news editor of Dance Magazine. |
Picture this:
Dan Wagoner, as American a choreographer as they come, has relocated to England. One of the most prestigious modern dance companies in Europe, London Contemporary Dance Theatre, has invited the West Virginia native to become its artistic director.
Picture this:
As his American troupe, Dan Wagoner and Dancers, celebrates its twentieth anniversary, this genial choreographer is moving to Britain because of the shining opportunity that awaits him across the sea. "There sits in England everything I would like to have here," muses Wagoner, "a large organization [the Contemporary Dance Trust] that can support a company, pay the dancers, [and] give rehearsal time." In other words, the land of opportunity for this American dance artist appears to lie back in the Old World, not here in the New.
What's wrong with this picture?
At fifty-seven, Wagoner is a respected veteran of more than thirty years' standing in the world of modern dance. He performed in the companies of such illustrious choreographers as Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and Paul Taylor before founding his own troupe. The obvious good humor and quirky inventiveness of his choreography has made Dan Wagoner and Dancers perennially popular, both in New York and on the college circuit. Government bodies, such as the National Endowment for the Arts, which has granted Wagoner many choreography fellowships, and the South Carolina Arts Commission, which supports the company through an innovative residency program, have consistently recognized his talent. But Wagoner's work--profound, often funny, and imbued with the spirit of Americana--has never attracted the major private funding that a performing arts group must have these days in order to survive.
"I'm not established at all here in a business sense," Wagoner states. He shakes his large, handsome head of gray hair and frowns. "The corporations and foundations have never funded me. They say that I'm not 'emerging'--and they fund mostly 'emerging' people. They say, 'You're established. It's done.'" He grins. "And yet I'm not established. I don't have enough money to pay the rent. We're in debt constantly."
Such is the life of a modern dancer--or almost any dancer, for that matter. The cost of living is high, especially in New
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