Dancers from Xclaim Dance Company will be performing “Tilt and Turn” this weekend. Courtesy: Mariah Layne French
Xclaim Dance Company is presenting their production “Tilt & Turn” at the Columbus Dance Theatre this weekend.
Xclaim is a local “contemporary dance ensemble that uses performance as a vehicle of expression, bringing art and vitality to the forefront of popular culture through the creation of meaningful innovative dance and effective community outreach,” according to its website.
“Tilt & Turn” is a “diverse program with several different styles of dance and some spoken words to go along with it,” Mariah Layne French, director of Xclaim, said.
The production will combine spoken word with diverse dance movements in four sections to celebrate the idea of changes in nature being parallel with the changes in life.
“It is a collage of dance and spoken words, there is a script and we have also pulled in some classic literature like Shakespeare and Robert Frost,” French said.
French said her dance company made sure to keep the choreography for the show as diverse as possible.
“It is a very diverse group of dancers with experience in all different types of dance — hip-hop, ballet and jazz,” French said. “We mix all of these styles together in the moves we create. It is going to feel like a taste of each season.”
According to French, summer feels like the time of your life, and winter feels like stillness. But in the dance, winter is displayed with hip-hop movements.
She said that she has been thinking about doing a production like “Tilt & Turn” for quite some time.
“I have been trying to figure out the parts of life, and how fun it is to describe them,” French said. “There’s a lot of good things about each season and each part of life.”
The show will feature choreography from local dancers and Xclaim veterans J. Shannon Filmore and Rachel Hunter. Special guest artists also include Jacki Morris, Cossette Chamberlain, Grace Waters and David Jon Krohn.
Student tickets are $15 and general admission is $20. On Friday and Saturday the show begins at 8 p.m., and begins at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
