{"id":22883,"date":"2025-04-02T12:50:58","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T18:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/20-moons-explores-unsettling-contemporary-themes\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T18:50:58","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T18:50:58","slug":"20-moons-explores-unsettling-contemporary-themes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/20-moons-explores-unsettling-contemporary-themes\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Moons explores unsettling contemporary themes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20
20 Moons dancers in rehearsal for \u201cRaven.\u201d From left: Jessica Perino, Nan Cresto, Chrissy Mosier, Anne Bartlett and Mika Inouye. (Mariah Richstone)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

In an era of political and social uncertainty, the bravest in the local creative community consider difficult themes like chaos and uncertainty.<\/p>\n

20 Moons, our resident modern dance company, will do just that when it presents \u201cHow to See in the Dark.\u201d The provocative title emerged over a yearlong process of creating an original work for our time.<\/p>\n

Five performances will be given beginning April 11 at The Light Box, Stillwater Music, 1316 Main Ave.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t been to this relatively new performance venue, its spacious setting is perfect for different audience configurations. And there\u2019s plenty of parking, always a welcome addition to any local cultural event.<\/p>\n

\n

If you go<\/h4>\n

WHAT:<\/strong> \u201cHow to see in the dark,\u201d an original work by 20 Moons Dance Theater.<\/p>\n

WHEN: <\/strong>7 p.m. April 11, 12, 13, 18 and 19.<\/p>\n

WHERE: <\/strong>Stillwater Music, 1309 East Third Ave.<\/p>\n

TICKETS: <\/strong>Adults $30, students and children $20.<\/p>\n

MORE INFORMATION: <\/strong>Visit https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/ynsmk5yy <\/a>or call 769-7515.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Few realize how unusual the creative cohort known as 20 Moons is. Durango\u2019s small size and remote location do not automatically suggest a platform for engaged, contemporary art in general. A few local arts organizations explore challenging works or themes, and 20 Moons consistently stands apart. The company, a collaborative group of dancers and musicians, devises annual programs that rise out of contemporary concerns. To say their labor-intensive process and singular results are a kind of miracle is an understatement.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s major work, \u201cFacets. A life reflected,\u201d opened the annual Bach Festival with musicians from the San Juan Symphony. It was a multilayered evening of modern dance choreographed to the high-energy music of Bach\u2019s domain.<\/p>\n

\"Anne
Anne Bartlett, left, and Jessica Perino are co-artistic directors of 20 Moons Dance Theater. (Judith Reynolds)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Last week in an interview with the company\u2019s co-artistic directors, Anne Bartlett and Jessica Perino, the company\u2019s yearlong creative process became clear. If anything, 20 Moons relishes a labor-intensive collaboration full of experimentation, open-ended questioning, deep listening, and months of working through ideas, dreams and imaginative possibilities.<\/p>\n

After the 2024 Bach performance, Bartlett said, \u201cWe debriefed \u2013 as usual. And then we asked: \u2018What\u2019s next?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Perino added: \u201cWe opened up the discussion to the company about what might be inspirational to work on in the next year. We asked: What is \u2018home?\u2019 And we meant that for ourselves and for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Company members, including musicians Jeroen van Tyne and Tamara Turner, considered the question, wrote private thoughts and discussed the meaning of \u201chome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLater that summer, Anne went on a visualization retreat and an unexpected idea emerged,\u201d Perino said.<\/p>\n

Bartlett described her experience out of which came the idea of the body as home. Then, \u201cBody-earth-home\u201d became the key for the fall performance: \u201cHabitat.\u201d And, out of that experience, \u201cHow to See in the Dark\u201d emerged. Grants from The Ballantine Foundation, Durango Friends of the Arts and the lodgers tax enabled the company to develop the full-length dance theater piece over the winter. Now it\u2019s about to open. Spring has come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe grants have helped us to create and clarify what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Perino said. \u201cIt\u2019s an interesting process and a lot of work and time are involved in shaping, letting go and polishing.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if \u201cseeing in the dark\u201d operates as a metaphor for the time we are living in, Bartlett and Perino smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re speaking to that indirectly,\u201d Perino said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the answer, but we provide the question.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re exploring current themes represented in movement, music and text,\u201d Bartlett said. \u201cThere\u2019s a subtext about finding ourselves at \u2018home\u2019 on Earth and in our bodies \u2013 what it feels like trying to see in the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

20 Moons<\/div>\n

Founded in 2012, the contemporary dance theater company crafted its mission early. The company \u201cbelieves in the power of art to guide people into profound relationship with themselves, others and the true nature of the world we live in. We explore, examine, illuminate and connect people to the depth of our shared experience as human beings \u2013 alive now, in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dancers collaborate with \u201cmusicians and other artists to shake up our perceptions of reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

company\u2019s ‘How to See in the Dark\u2019 to premiere April 11<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1060,511,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-22883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arts-entertainment","tag-dance","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22883"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=22883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}