Luna Negra on tour

Posted November 18, 2008 9:13 AM in Luna on Tour

There are many aspects of touring that feed the dancer’s artistry and develop the Company’s cohesion and spirit. On tour the Company becomes more than an ensemble, it turns into a support team that carries the dancers through difficult circumstances such as injuries and a myriad of different stage configurations.

It is on tour that the Company’s mettle is tested. Away from home dancers are faced with an audience that knows them only through marketing and newspaper interviews. They become aware of a more vulnerable side of themselves, outside their comfort zone, which increases their performance preparation and helps them develop their ability to “read” an audience. Which in turn allows them to test the different ways of pulling an audience into their performance and creating a path to ownership and acceptance.

Each audience presents a new set of expectations, heritage, culture and economic possibilities that can inform audience reaction and ownership. The audience is not a judge but rather a new entity that we must bring into a conversation to help develop an instant relationship. A relationship that is created in just less than two hours!

We have just returned from performing in Nashville, Tennessee, St. Louis, Missouri and Hampton, Virginia. Each city was a unique experience that tested the dancers. We performed for children from age 9 to 17 so our performances and discussions with the students each day had to be age appropriate and tailored. In St. Louis the dancers taught college students and performed for an audience well versed in contemporary dance. And in Hampton, VA the dancers were challenged by a small stage with a big heart audience. In all instances their bodies are acclimating to weather, available food choices and hotel beds all of which affect their instrument, the body.
But the joy of reaching an audience and developing their performance skills builds awareness and endurance and exposes the dancers to new people and new ways of seeing themselves. Next stop Madison, WI.

Eduardo Vilaro