OSU alumni helping dancers make dance

Samantha Hollingshead
Wed, 14 Oct 2015 03:07:01 +0000
Arts & Life, Christian Broomhall, Christina Kirk, columbus dance theatre, Dancers Making Dance, Tim Veach

Columbus Dance Theater Founder and Artistic Director Tim Veach. Credit: Courtesy of Wes Kroninger

Tim Veach, an OSU alumnus, has a lot on his plate at the moment. He’s putting together six performance shows through his company, the Columbus Dance Theatre, not just as a dancer but as a choreographer, teacher and director.

CDT, where Veach is the artistic director and founder, is well underway in preparations for a wide variety of shows. CDT is set for opening night of its first show, “Dancers Making Dance,” a piece that allows dancers to choreograph individual performances for other dancers. The show will be performed Oct. 23 and 24.

Veach brought about this idea as another way to foster the art form of dancing and for people, including CDT dancers, to recognize that there can be many choreographers — many he hopes will be continuing this in the future.

“The way you get to being a good choreographer is by making dances, you do it, you go through the act of doing,” Veach said.

Veach grew up dancing, eventually making his way around the world in various performances. After years of being in front of the spotlight, Veach found a passion for choreographing and decided to educate himself at OSU after receiving a fellowship. Veach founded CDT in 1998 with interest in pursuing his own work with his own professional company.

“It was born out of a desire to sort of follow my dream of being a choreographer and also my deep interest in fostering the art form forward into the future,” Veach said.

Veach is no stranger to trying new things. Since the beginning of his career, he has gone against the common flow of society.

Boys did not participate in ballet where I grew up, Veach said, referring to his home state of Illinois.

One of Veach’s most anticipated upcoming performances will be that of “Hamlet Prism,” set to take place in April. The performance, which will tell the famous Shakespeare story of “Hamlet” through music, dance and spoken word, was organized by Veach, his wife and actress Christina Kirk.

“All of the characters will be done through dance … with us speaking their lines,” Veach said.

Veach said he has become very interested in this type of performance, a merge of theater and dance. One of Veach’s previous productions, “Claudel,” touched along some of the same lines because the performance involved dancers in the role of artist Camille Claudel as well as Kirk acting out the monologue. Veach mentioned that his work consists of moving his audience through an idea that takes on a sort of narrative structure.

Dancers Christian Broomhall and Kerri Riccardi for the upcoming performance “Hamlet Prism.” Credit: Courtesy of Wes Kroninger

Christian Broomhall, a dancer and teacher at CDT, met Veach while Veach was getting his masters at OSU. Broomhall, who grew up in Columbus, said CDT is a nice place to work because of the tools it provides with having a rehearsal space and having a theater in the back studio of the building.

“I enjoy the closeness of everything here,” he said.

When asked how Broomhall felt about working with Veach, he said his attitude is something he really enjoys.

“It’s great, he’s really positive … he loves what he’s doing, and loves what we’re doing,” he said. “He’s very open and wanting us to explore … a great facilitator for us to grow and explore, do different things.”

Veach and the rest of the CDT company is also working on another upcoming show for this year, “Matchgirl.” He added that the performance will feature a cast of 95 performers, a full choir and an orchestra. The show is set to take place this December at the Lincoln Theater.

Shows like “Romeo and Juliet,” “V2” and the Columbus Dancers Fellowship Concert are also set to take place in the spring of next year.

“I think dance is the revealing of the human spirit through expected and unexpected movement. I think that it is poetry of the body,” Veach said. “It takes us to places that we can’t get to any other way but through our own bodies movements.”

Editor’s note: The article was updated on Oct. 20 to correct that Columbus Dance Theatre will show “Matchgirl,” a performance that will feature a cast of 95 performers, a full choir and an orchestra.