Last May, Lisa Conlin, an emerging choreographer and member of Ballet of the Dolls presented the inaugural “Renovate” at the Ritz Theater, an alternative to the Walker Art Center’s annual Choreographers’ Evening.
As Conlin told MinnPost last year, she decided to create another opportunity for choreographers like herself after not being accepted into the Walker program. The Ritz, she decided, would be a terrific venue and give dance goers another showcase to look forward to each year.
She was right. Last year’s show had tremendous stylistic variety, with the new dance works ranging from sophisticated to amateur, loads of fun to simply dull. As is the nature of showcases, the works were all fairly short.
The second-annual “Renovate” includes dance-community mainstay Jim Lieberthal, who makes sweet modern dances; the provocative Jaime Carrera, whose dance-theater works on identity politics aim to shock; Marciano Silva dos Santos, a lanky luscious dancer with TU Dance; Cathy Wright, who’s always unpredictable; and Zenon Dance Company member Stephen Schroeder in a choreographic debut.
“Renovate,” 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday (March 13-14); 7 p.m. Sunday, March 15; Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. NE, Minneapolis, ($12-$18) 612-623-7660.
