The Sway Of BalletBy Sarah Kaufman Friday
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LUCY Bowen McCauley calls herself "a total bunhead," having studied ballet for the bulk of her youth and having danced with the Joffrey Concert Group (the student arm of the Joffrey Ballet). Yet in her career as one of Washington's most active choreographers, she has worked strictly in a contemporary dance vein. In its four years of existence, Bowen McCauley Dance has become known for the quirkiness, offbeat humor and exuberantly uncodified movement vocabulary of its energetic founder.
Until now, when she's been visited by the urge to make a classically based ballet, "I've been itching to do a pointe piece," McCauley says. "I just didn't want to pay for pointe shoes"--those pricey satin torture chambers so emblematic of ballet. Yet she gave in to her longing in her new work, "Hold Sway," created for three women. The work will be featured on Bowen McCauley Dance's upcoming program, which includes another premiere (yet to be titled), as well as two other pieces: "Rapture," accompanied by Brahms, and the comic "Foot Fetish."
"Hold Sway," set to music by the little-known baroque composer Giovanni Pandolfi, is McCauley's first piece incorporating ballet steps performed on pointe, or on the tips of the toes. At $60 for a pair of pointe shoes--with fresh pairs needed for rehearsals and performance--the added cost is not simply froufrou for the young ensemble.
But McCauley is nothing if not resourceful. The business of buying and selling choreography is a delicate one--few dance makers can hope to make money off such an ephemeral and intangible product as a pattern of steps set to music. But McCauley, who doesn't lack moxie, has been fortunate. "I've started selling works, which is cool," she says. "It's a new level for me." The Manassas Dance Company will perform one of her works, as will the Kimberly Mackin Dance Company in Baltimore and D.C.'s CityDance Ensemble.
Another financial godsend has been McCauley's work with the U.S. women's gymnastic team. Several years ago, former Olympic gymnast--and Maryland native--Dominique Dawes wandered into McCauley's stretch class at Bethesda's Maryland Youth Ballet (where McCauley teaches several times a week). Dawes was so impressed with McCauley's techniques for increasing flexibility that she spread the word among her colleagues. Not long ago, McCauley became a trainer for the Olympic team. She hopes to accompany the team to the Olympic Games in Australia this summer.
But the world of sports can be as fickle as the world of the performing arts, and McCauley is not counting on her plane ticket yet.
"The way I see it," says McCauley, "my life is pretty complete either way."
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