By Loni Lawrence
Kinnect Dance Company will present a night of interpretive dance at the Museum of Art.
Tonight''s performance is a version of the groups signature 'informances'--interpretive dance performances that educate on chosen issues--performed at elementary and middle schools around the state. However, this performance, said Herman Dutoit, head of audience education at the MOA, is an interpretation of specific art works in the museum. Each performance will be in front of the art work it interprets.
Three years ago Marilyn Berrett, Kinnect Dance Company''s artistic director, approached the museum with the interpretive dance night idea. The performance has been an annual event ever since.
'It aligns very well with our mandate which is to make significant art accessible to our campus audience,' Dutoit said.
He said the performance broadens the expression of and explores greater meaning in the art works.
The museum''s artistic atmosphere is also attractive to the group, he said.
'They like the museum because we have a constantly changing program of exhibitions,' Dutoit said. 'And it gives them the opportunity to interpret a wide range of content that emanates from the art works.'
Because of the company''s experience with children, the performance makes an ideal family home evening activity -- the reason the event was scheduled on a Monday night, he said.
In past years, the event has drawn between 500 and 1,500 viewers. The high attendance prompted development of interpretive stations scattered through out the museum, allowing audience members to have a more intimate experience with the performances while accommodating the large crowd.
The show begins at 7:00 pm and lasts until 8:30 pm, culminating with a finale piece by the Kinnect Company. This performance is free and open to the public.