Gretchen Ackerman Reflects on the Creation of Joshua L. Peugh's BUD

Pools of light warm our feet as we stand in a circle facing one another. The sun is always high in the sky by this time. It comes together like setting mosaic tiles into a window sill. The tiles are pretty themselves, but it is where they are placed and where they face which produces the magnificence. We each share our own tiles. We add tiles of books, events, ideas, questions, discoveries... They are thrown together, mix & matched, broken down, reversed, and scattered about. We glue and re-glue. How will the image appear? How will the image be understood? As dancers, we must be masters of communication. Our bodies must act as servants to the dictations of the mind for information to be absorbed and interpreted eloquently.

Josh’s creation process pushes us to explore levels of embodiment which we do not previously conceive. What is a duet missing one person? What is a solo with two people? What is a broken expectation, and how is it explicated? How do we inhabit multiple perceptions of reality so we can understand how someone else understands? Each rehearsal is spent turning questions like these inside out and backwards, chewed up and spit out. In our most recent work, ​BUD, ​we are exploring questions surrounding sexuality in our world today. What effect does one’s coming out experience have on years passed? How do homo/heterosexual people view the word gay? What role do the generalizations and archetypes of homosexuality play in how we view ourselves and others?

The company with NY based multimedia artist Brian Kenny in rehearsal for Bud.

I appreciate the work for the manner in which it forms. Pieces are placed and moved and removed until the result is a snug fit. It is eclectic and tumultuous. The room for question and discovery pushes us to steer from habit and demand ferocious curiosity. There is no “this is how it should be, how it will be.” Everything is explored in order to find the clearest message. We erupt around the studio to Brandon Carson’s original drum score. We let the light produce little drops on our foreheads and spill to the floor.

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Reserve your seats for Bud as well as guest choreographer Eoghan Dillon’s Boys Are and Mark Caserta & Mikey Morado’s Dregs.

Performances will run January 24 – 27, 2019 at Addison Theatre Centre.

For tickets, CLICK HERE.

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Fresh Moves: Dark Circles Presents New Work in a New Space for the New Year

FORT WORTH, TX — For its Winter Series, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance (DCCD) will unveil YOU AND ME, a world premiere by Founder and Artistic Director Joshua L. Peugh, as well as Critics of the Morning Song, whichrecently premiered in New York at The Ailey Citigroup Theater. The company has also commissioned a new work by internationally renowned choreographer James Gregg with original music by Austin-based musician Jordan Moser. Winter Series will take place January 29-31, 2015 at the Erma Lowe Hall, Studio Theatre on the TCU campus at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $12-20.

Recently selected as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” for 2015, Dark Circles’ Founder and Artistic Director Joshua L. Peugh has had a remarkable year. He has created four new works for his own company as well as world premieres for Philadelphia’s BalletX, L.A.’s BODYTRAFFIC, and Washington D.C.’s Company E.Despite the constant traveling, Peugh has continued to drive his young company forward. For their Winter Series, they have moved to a larger performance space on the campus of Texas Christian University. “I’m very excited to start building a relationship with the TCU community and the students in the School for Classical & Contemporary Dance,” says Peugh.

The recently renovated Erma Lowe Hall, Studio Theatre seats 141, so it is still an intimate venue. “It’s important to me that the audience be physically close to the dancers,” Peugh explains. “The intimate nature of smaller spaces allows for a more electric shared experience between the viewers and the performers; it also makes it easier to get lost in the fantasies we are trying to create.” 

Aside from the new venue, the program itself provides exciting new things. The company has commissioned Montreal-based choreographer James Gregg to create a new work. Quickly emerging as a choreographer in high demand, Gregg has danced with Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, RUBBERBANDance, and Azure Barton and Artists. His work, described as “hard-hitting” and “compelling” (Portland Montly), has been set on BalletX, Northwest Dance Project, and Springboard Danse Project, among others. His new work for DCCD features original music by Austin-based musician Jordan Moser (it is worth noting, Moser is a company dancer with Ballet Austin).

Peugh’s new creation for the Winter Series, YOU AND ME, includes a minimal techno soundtrack, vintage arcade sounds, and features DCCD’s newest dancer and recent graduate of University of Missouri, Kansas City, Conservatory of Music and Dance, David Cross. Cross, who began his training as a b-boy, complements the company’s imaginative movement quality and adds a fresh voice to the mix. 

The icing on the cake is Peugh’s Critics of the Morning Song, whichpremiered in October in New York City at The Ailey Citigroup Theater. The piece—commissioned for The Dance Gallery Festival’s esteemed Level UP program—is a duet between Peugh and dancer Alex Karigan Farrior who joined the company last spring. The piece showcases Peugh’s sense of humor and delicacy, which has become the company’s signature.

“We have to keep growing and pushing our boundaries,” Peugh says. “I want to keep things light-hearted but a bit uncomfortable too; that’s the way I’ve been able to keep creating what I hope is thought-provoking material that speaks truthfully to real human beings.”  

Performance Dates:

Winter Series: January 29-31, 2014 at 8:00 PM

Venue Information:

Erma Lowe Hall, Studio Theatre

Texas Christian University

3000 S. University Dr.

Fort Worth, TX 76129