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| photo by Todd Newcomer |
I am drawn to talented people who are willing to take the
risk and turn their passion into a profitable career. And
for myself, I’m always thinking of ways that someday
I can do the same. However, I wrestle with the idea of art
being a business. Financial success in the artistic world
often is not dependant upon talent but more about how well
one can market herself. It is worth noting that most art starts
as a hobby done “for the love of the game,” but
then there’s a possible turning point when cash can
be had. As desirable and lucky as that is, I enjoy watching
art purists who are still in it because they love what they
do, like the 60-year-old man still playing open mic night
every Monday. Of course if one is looking for money from the
arts, Durango is usually not the place. There are many artists
in this town disguised as waitresses simply because the town
is too small for variety of options. However, the annual mid-mud-season
Dance Co-Motion is one event that seems to have the art purist
at heart.
My first audition was last year. Unprepared and knowing nothing
about how to dance, I showed up Saturday morning out of boredom
to create a new hobby for myself. While Dance Co-Motion is
a Fort Lewis College club, its branches include the entire
town. A 60-plus person production, there is range of talent,
choreographers, dancers and crew, from high school seniors,
to adults with careers.
Dance
Co-Motion is directed by students but choreographed and performed
by community members. Its very name was developed to emphasize
the college and community blend, and has been a successful
union for many years. What’s sometimes baffling is the
amount of hidden talent that Dance Co-Motion drags out from
Durango’s dusty closets. Anyone can try out. That does
not mean you will necessarily make the cut, but the door has
a welcome sign for everyone willing to commit the time. The
venue is not just showcasing dancers either. There is talent
behind the lights, the art work of the posters, even the costume
design. The inner workings of putting on a show takes a lot
of time, but it also takes right-brain creativity and the
pooling of artistic ability that somehow is always present
with those involved in Dance Co-Motion each year. There is
always a painter, a lighting genius, a seamstress, a connection
here, someone to help there. Durango being a college town
can sometimes isolate the local flavor from the college scene
up on the plateau. Dance Co-Motion has a way of joining the
two during our sleepiest time, once a year.
And for what? We aren’t paid dancers, most things we
pay for ourselves. There are only three nights of gratification
for more than two months of hard work and time. The incredible
thing is that we’re all there solely because it’s
fun. That is the greatest thing about this show. It truly
is fun. It’s like going back in time to when you were
a small kid drawing a picture to fill up your day. You weren’t
building a resume, you were not marketing yourself or going
to sell the piece of art, you were just enjoying yourself.
Everyone would want to have a career doing what they love
and make money doing it. But it’s a special thing when
art is being done only for the joy of creation and the business
can be put aside. It is an addictive feeling to walk off stage
with the buzz of performance art running through the veins.
Dance Co-Motion does not have another goal other than that
buzz and a good, three-night show. Individuals might, but
the show itself does not. And whether the audience is conscious
of it or not, whether you like watching a dance performance
or not, the mood that such a pure form of community art creates
is what makes this particular dance so special each year.
The Dance Co-Motion experience is designed in the moment to
be only about what this year’s title describes, just
dance.
– Ann Svilar
