Justin Tornow's COMPANY; photo by Brooke Meyer

The unofficial, yet highly used, slogan of this city is, “Keep it Durty, Durham.” This isn’t to say that Durham is literally a dirty place. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, as Durham has grown into a destination for foodies, businesses, and art connoisseurs of all genres. Durty Durham refers to keeping our town gritty, rough, and raw. It pays homage to the city’s spirit as being independent and diverse. And this is how Durham’s dance scene is defined.

Durham has been a hub for modern dance during the summer months for over 35 years, as dancers from all over the world come to participate in the American Dance Festival. Yet, the year-round local dance community has only recently begun to flourish within the past 10 years. As Durham’s reputation has grown into one of artistic cultivation and community support, more and more dancers have relocated, or returned, to the area to continue to develop their professional careers. We continue to grow into a community with promise for artistic excellence and experimentation.

How to begin:

The first thing to do is to get on the weekly DIDA DL email list to keep up-to-date on what is happening in Durham dance. There are several websites to check out as well, including the Triangle Dance Project and Triangle ArtWorks that give detailed information on performances, classes, auditions, and choreography submissions. Lastly, join the Facebook groups NC Dancers, NC Triad/Triangle Contact Improv, and/or the Triangle/Triad Dance Instructors. People post regularly on upcoming workshops, master classes, teaching opportunities, auditions, and contact jams.

The Durham Arts Council is our local arts organization that also houses a beautiful for-rent theater. The North Carolina Arts Council is also a helpful resource for local dancers and is located just down the road in our state capital of Raleigh. Beyond that, Durham has several organizations to join that provide up-to-date information on what’s happening in the NC dance community.

• North Carolina Dance Alliance (NCDA)
• NC Dance Education Organization (NCDEO)
• North Carolina Dance Project
• Dance Association for North Carolina Educators (DANCE)

Where to Take Class:

• Samuel H Scripps ADF Studios: The American Dance Festival’s year-round studio offers professional level classes at professional dancer rates. Classes are offered in all levels of modern technique, release technique, ballet for modern dancers, Pilates, and monthly contact improvisation jams. They offer a wide range of workshops and master classes from world-renowned teaching faculty who also teach for the American Dance Festival Summer School.

• Arts Together: Located in Raleigh, Arts Together is a community school of arts for all ages and levels. They offer all levels of modern dance technique classes and ballet. Pre-registration is required for each session; drop-ins are welcome for summer session only.

• Ballet School of Chapel Hill: For over thirty years, the Ballet School has offered high quality classes for children, teens, and adults. They offer several classes for the adult professional and/or enthusiast including ballet, modern, and tap.

• Ninth Street Dance: If you want to dabble in a dance form you may have never tried before, or if you are looking to continue your training in a relaxed and fun environment, look no further. Ninth Street Dance offers a plethora of classes from ballet and modern technique, to Broadway, swing, and 90’s cardio funk. Pre-registration is required for each session.

Where to rehearse:

While there are a few studios available to rent for rehearsals, they can be pricey. The Samuel H. Scripps ADF Studios are a great option if you have a nonprofit status, as you are able to rehearse for free during the weekdays between 9:30am-3:30pm. Ninth Street Dance is the most affordable option for rehearsal space if you do not have a nonprofit status.

Other studios available for rent are Barriskill Dance Theater School, Bellan Performance Center, the Durham Arts Council, Legacy Studios, and Triangle Dance Studios.

How dancers get performing gigs:

Choreographers tend to hire dancers they have worked with before or those they meet in their classes/workshops. Some companies and presenting organizations hold performer auditions, typically posted on the DIDA DL and/or Triangle Dance Project’s websites. Because character and personality play such a major role in the creative process, the best bet is to get in class with the choreographers you want to work with and let them know you would like to be considered for an upcoming project.

 

VECTOR; photo by Tim Walter

Opportunities for emerging choreographers:

• In 2014, four members of the Durham dance community formed DIDA, The Durham Independent Dance Artists. This organization curates a season of emerging independent artists to help raise the awareness to the general public of the dance happenings taking place throughout Durham.

• PROMPTS: A multi-disciplinary artist series run by COMPANY, Prompts is an opportunity for any artist to present a work in progress to an audience and is treated as a supportive, collaborative, and safe environment for all art forms and experimentations. Participation is first come, first serve and open to the public for free.
• Tobacco Road Dance Productions: This is a unique presenting opportunity for choreographers to create a new work with mentorship through various feedback showings. Each artist is selected through a rotating adjudication process, and then presented in the Annual Concert each spring.

• EMERGENCE: This is an annual choreography showcase presented by the Triangle Dance Project that celebrates local professional choreographers. Submissions are accepted through late spring with the showcase open to the public each fall.

Festivals:

• American Dance Festival: Known throughout the world as one of the biggest dance festivals, ADF gathers hundreds of dancers from around the world to Durham every summer for 2 months. During that time, ADF presents innovative and relevant performances of contemporary dance from around the world open to the general public. They also offer community classes led by ADF faculty twice a week throughout the summer.
• North Carolina Dance Festival, presented by The Dance Project. This Festival has numerous events throughout the year, with a major highlight of a statewide tour of three cities for selected choreographers.
• SPARKcon: Raleigh’s annual “Festival of Creativity.” This is an interdisciplinary festival held every September in Raleigh, including presentations/showcases from visual artists, dancers, musicians, filmmakers, computer engineers, and circus artists, to name a few.

Venues and Presenting Organizations:

Venues:

One of the defining features of Durham dance artists is the creative use of venue space. More often than not, local choreographers will re-purpose found spaces for their presentations including old tobacco warehouses, bars, empty warehouses, and old fruit stands. Other popular venue sites are:

• Carrack Modern Art Gallery
• Global Breath Studio
• Manbites Dog Theater
• Motorco Music Hall
• Reynolds Industries Theater
• PSI Theater
• Carolina Theater
• Cordoba Center for the Arts
• Culture Mill
• Trotter Building

Presenting Organizations for Local and Out-of-Town Artists:

• American Dance Festival
• Artsplosure
• Carolina Theatre
• Carolina Performing Arts (Chapel Hill)
• Carrboro Arts Center (Carrboro)
• Culture Mill
• Duke Performances
• NC State Live

Renay Aumiller Dances; photo by Grant Halverson

Teaching Opportunities:

Durham has several opportunities for teaching dance. There are dance studios, public schools that offer dance education, private schools, university adjunct work, and community centers that offer dance classes. Check out the Triangle/Triad Dance Educators Facebook page or contact the site directly for inquiries.

Local Colleges and Universities:

North Carolina is home to nine universities who have a dance major or minor. Each program offers a unique and academically varied spin on what they have to offer students. These include:

• Duke University
• East Carolina University
• Elon University
• Meredith College
• NC State University (minor)
• Salem College
• UNC Charlotte
• UNC Greensboro
• UNC School of the Arts

Final thoughts:

Since 2010, Durham’s dance community has grown into a diverse, eclectic, and experimental aesthetic. While there is a lack of midsize venues appropriate for dance, local artists have been choosing to build their own theaters in old warehouse spaces across the city. And with the opening of the Samuel H. Scripps ADF Studios, professionals also have a space for technical development. As the motto suggests, Durham dance “Keeps it Durty.”

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Renay Aumiller is the Founder and Artistic Director of RAD | Renay Aumiller Dances, a project-based dance company located in Durham, North Carolina. She holds an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a Franklin Method® Educator, and an Assistant Professor of Dance at Elon University. renayaumillerdances.com

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 Related posts:

Thirteen City Guides for Modern Dancers

Featured Artist: Leah Cox, Dean of ADF

Artist Profile #130: Gerri Houlihan (Durham, NC)

Read More about the Faculty at ADF for Summer 2016

Artist Profile #13: Helen Simoneau (North Carolina)

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