Stimulus package

Brian Brooks Moving Company delivers

When business magazines list the most competitive professions, choreographer regularly sits near the top. So when a dancemaker scores a major residency—as Brian Brooks recently did, with Chicago’s Harris Theatre granting him $600,000 over three years to make and produce new works—the art world breathes a sigh of admiration (with maybe just a tinge of envy).

Brooks, 40, has quietly built a portfolio of mesmerizing creations with his troupe, the Brian Brooks Moving Company, based in New York. The company makes its Tulsa debut on August 6 as the closer of Choregus Productions’ second annual Summer Heat International Dance Festival.

Brooks—who performed in Tulsa with Wendy Whelan in 2015—has a sexy, minimalist aesthetic with repetitive tasks and unfussy lines that thrillingly complements what the New York Times described as “controlled violence.” His newest dance, “Wilderness,” is a 70-minute drive through this duality with live, onstage music by Sandbox Percussion. Like so many atoms released in a particle accelerator, “Wilderness” launches eight dancers into motion within a simple white box of a set.

Preceding the one-night-only performance of “Wilderness,” dancers and dancemakers from across the region have a very rare chance to study with Brooks (without having to travel to do it) during a weeklong intensive, July 31–August 4. For less than the cost of a plane ticket ($500, to be exact), dance artists can take three two-hour classes per day (technique, partnering, and choreography) with Brooks and members of his company. For your comparison: a local adult dancer is lucky to take one class a week, and usually it’s ballet.

The price for the intensive also includes tickets to every Summer Heat performance, featuring some of the very best of international contemporary dance. (This is to the dancing on television what an Antoinette’s dessert is to a pixie stick.)

Featured choreographers include Christopher Wheeldon, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Manuel Vignouelle, Lila York, and the American legend Paul Taylor. Though, you don’t have to take a class to attend a show; tickets start at $20.

Tulsa’s internationally respected ballet company is richly infused with contemporary dance. But we always crave more: more variety, more challenging work, more unfamiliar flavors. Foundations’ support of writers, theater folks, and visual artists continues to grow, but apart from Tulsa Ballet, dance has struggled to find a foothold here. The people at Choregus do yeoman’s work to fill the gap, giving local audiences a look at major companies from around the world and delivering expert training to the independent dancers and choreographers who might one day draw the world’s attention this direction. 

Dancers can register for the Brian Brooks Intensive at 918-688-6112, and tickets for festival performances are available at choregus.org.

For more from Alicia, read her article on the 2017 Tulsa Awards for Theatre Excellence.