These performances served as a sampler for downtown workers and art enthusiasts to get a lunchtime cultural dessert. Dancers and musicians from the ballet, DCDC, and the philharmonic would be in the audience, supporting other members of their cultural tribe. There was a rush of adrenaline in bringing together artists from multiple backgrounds into one space to share, collaborate, and inspire. Bess was indeed a one-of-a-kind visionary artistic shaman.
Now our community has seen several iterations of artists coming together to connect and collaborate, from the Living Arts Center in the sixties and seventies to the Blue Sky Project under the direction of Peter Benkendorf and Mequitta Ahuja, and The Dayton Arts Project, created by wunderkind Dan Karasik, which leads us to The Dayton Dance Initiative of today.
The Dayton Dance Initiative began with the need for professional dancers from Dayton Ballet and DCDC to come together in their off-season time to create and collaborate. As performers, they are coming off the rigors and demands of robust professional careers during the bulk of their year. As artists, their creativity has no expiration date — the ideas and visions keep coming no matter what. They have crafted showcases and a collaborative incubator that inspires and surprises each year. They have bold choreographic ideas and are eager to forsake precious time to rest and recover in pursuit of their visions.
This year they are collaborating with artists from various disciplines, music, visual arts, and spoken word, to create what I can only describe one-of-a-kind and original work of art. This promises to be an engaging set of performances you should all attend. What I love about the Dayton Dance Initiative is that it started as a dream conceived by the dancers to answer a calling that all creatives respond to, a restless quest to manifest art into existence. As I near that bellwether age of sixty, I can speak from experience that the calls to create come with a frequency and urgency that never diminish over time. It warms my heart to see such driven young creatives deciding to craft their artistic destinies right here in Dayton, Ohio.
The Dayton Dance Initiative, in its short period of existence, has proven itself to be a vital part of the ever-evolving arts ecosystem in the Miami Valley. This beautiful and creative band of artists is forging new pathways based upon the groundbreaking work of such legendary artists like Bess Saylor Imber and Bing Davis, the energy of Peter Benkendorf and Mequita Ahuja, and the maverick efforts of Dan Karasik.
The Dayton Dance Initiative has truly lived up to the title of being a Dayton Original and worthy of our support.
Rodney Veal is the host of ThinkTV/CET Connect, an artist/choreographer and a member of the Levitt Pavilion Dayton Board of Trustees.
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