Dissonance Dance Theatre Returns After The COVID-19 Pandemic
Image: Dancers auditioning for Dissonance Dance Theatre at Joy Of Motion Dance Center
April 4, 2023 – Washington, DC
DC’s Dissonance Dance Theatre holds local dancer auditions for its first season post-COVID-19 pandemic
Contact:
Shawn Short, Director
202-540-8338
sshort@ngcfddt.org
Dissonance Dance Theatre conducts its first auditions for company members after the COVID-19 pandemic. Dissonance Dance Theatre (DDT) is Ngoma Center for Dance’s official contemporary ballet company. Dissonance Dance Theatre is the only nationally recognized, Black-managed ballet company on the East Coast.
Professional dance companies in the Washington, DC, area are few. The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t help. According to the report Dance in the DC Metropolitan Area: A Needs Assessment, there were more than 186 dance-making entities (John Munger, 2003). That is not the case today. The Greater Washington, DC area experienced an exodus of dancers, choreographers, companies, and directors – many retired, moved to dance capitals (LA and NYC), or unfortunately…passed away.
Dissonance Dance Theatre held auditions at Joy of Motion Dance Center at 1333 H St NE. Dancers from as high as New England to as low as Virginia attended the auditions.
” During 2020 – 2022, I would have thoughts that DDT was coming back. I was constantly reminded that DDT, and Ngoma, still had stories to tell and impact to serve. I do it for the people. “
– Shawn Short, MFA Founding Director
DDT Soloist Phillip Fobbs greeted dancers and led them through warm-ups, exercises, and combinations. Dancers represented local college graduates, freelance dancers, and students from nationally-ranked institutions. Shawn Short, DDT’s founder, gave dancers wisdom in technique and expression. “You have to be present. I look for dancers who wear pointe shoes like sneakers”, said Short from his chair.
Image: DDT Founder Shawn Short advising
Many dancers in attendance were aspiring dancers seeking their first professional dancer. Dissonance Dance Theatre was founded in 2007. It became a program of the Ngoma Center for Dance in 2012. The company seeking to hire between 8 to 15 dancers. This will be season 16.
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Ngoma Center for Dance is the home of Dissonance Dance Theatre (founded in 2007) and its award-winning programs based in the Washington, DC area. DDT is named “one of the 11 small-but-mighty dance companies outside of LA and NYC” by Dance Spirit Magazine. Evoking emotional experiences in the audiences we touch, is the only East Coast, nationally recognized, Black-managed contemporary ballet company between NYC and ATL. For more information, visit www.ngcfddt.org