Children's Dance Theatre artistic director Mary Ann Lee has a special place in her heart for a performance called "The Dancing Man." [1]
Lee found the book on which the performance is based the same year that CDT founder Virginia Tanner died."I came across the book when I was living in New Jersey," Lee said. "It was 1979. I remember being in a library and looking up. I saw this book. The title was one I just couldn't refuse. So I reached up and opened it."
The Children's Dance Theatre, in celebration of its 50th anniversary will present an all new production of "The Dancing Man," along with Jayne Luke's "Dance Journeys . . . Life Journeys," Chara Huckins' "Flight" and Jacque Lynn Bell's "Go," Thursday through Saturday, April 8-10, in the Capitol Theatre.
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One common way that people find library books is through browsing and serendipity. The Virginia Tanner dance program often uses storybooks as a way to teach children interpretative motion. The teacher reads a story and encourages children to dance out the action or the mood of the story. In this instance the book inspired the annual dance program of the Children's Dance Theatre, a professional company of child dancers. "The Dancing Man" was chosen to celbrate both the 50th and 70th Anniversaries of the company. Although Lee was probablin in the library looking for approprate
juvenile books to use for dance teaching, that's still a pretty amazing influence for a book picked up at random from a library shelf.
[1] Ruth Lercher Bornstein, "The Dancing Man," Clarion Books, 1975.
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