Missouri Contemporary Ballet celebrates newness

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The play button is pushed, and the powerful beat of John Powell's "The Bourne Supremacy" score bounces off the walls of the Missouri Contemporary Ballet's new downtown rehearsal space.

Heavy string rhythms slam against drum percussion to light the fuse for the six MCB dancers who fly off their marks while guest choreographer Eric Bean Jr., of the Koresh Dance Company of Philadelphia, snaps off vocal directions. Arms sway and muscles tense.

"Legs high as possible," he directs as the music rattles the 30-foot-by-45-foot studio, already thick with the heat steaming off the dancers.

In a spy-themed piece, a brown briefcase speedily shifts ownership as the dancers grab, sway, run, leap and collapse. The only male dancer, Christopher Benjamin, is symbolically tripped. He deftly dives and lands like a tomcat, his stomach hugging the floor.

"Man down," someone yelps, and laughter lightens the serious work. The dancers take a few seconds to rest, sucking in oxygen with hands on hips ... but not for long.

The play button is pushed again, and the dancers perform seven complex, tight movements in a space of roughly 55 seconds.

Bodies flash by.

Music thunders.

And Bean's nine-minute creation titled "The Final Hour" -- part of an October performance for Columbia audiences -- takes form.

It's another rehearsal for the sweat-drenched members of Columbia's professional dance company, and a new day, even a metaphorical renewal for MCB, which came on the scene only two years ago in July 2006. Now, the company celebrates a new home, a new dance troupe and a new season.

"We are in a stage of much newness," said Artistic Director Karen Mareck Grundy with a laugh as she sat in her mostly bare office with a window overlooking the white-walled rehearsal space. "We have all new dancers for the season; both performances for major shows we are doing for fall and spring are all new works, and we're bringing in choreographers; and we're trying to build our repertoire a little bit more."

One of the biggest successes happened this month when they moved into a permanent rehearsal space. It's a big step up from competing for borrowed space or driving 40 miles to Mexico, Mo., for rehearsals. Utilitarian but efficient, the space, leased for $2,200 a month, includes the studio with a floating wooden floor covered by a smooth "Marley" surface, an office and two changing rooms.

"It takes a big load off," Grundy said. "This is our space, we don't have to worry about scheduling conflicts -- it's our time. We don't have to be gypsies anymore."

And, she adds: "It feels really good."

Financially, Grundy said the not-for-profit company has raised capital through fundraisers, donations, and grants from the city's Office of Cultural Affairs and the Missouri Arts Council.

"We applied for a big MAC grant, and we were approved for 91 percent of that grant," she said about the $27,450 grant. "And we were just approved for a grant from the Office of Cultural Affairs" for $6,294.

It's all promising, but there is always more money to raise. The company must bring in $145,000 this fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2009.

"Is it always going to be somewhat of a struggle? Yes," Grundy said. "Do I still want to pay my dancers more? Absolutely."

Next to a coffee shop and hair salon, the space includes large windows so passers-by can grab a glimpse of the performing artists. It's all part of an effort to raise the company's visibility within the community.

"As this part of the downtown grows and as we get more and more foot traffic, that's why the windows are there," she said. "We wanted to make sure people could see what was going on and witness a live rehearsal because it's really exciting.

"It's hard to sell dance if they don't see dance," Grundy said.

Helping achieve that vision are new dancers, five women and one man. They came together as a troupe the last day of August.

"I think they are really dedicated and talented and strong, and they want to be here and they just want to dance," she said. "That's what we needed we needed to go into this new year full force and with great energy, so I think we are doing great."

The feeling of camaraderie is high, and Grundy said the dancers are "happy because they are doing brand-new stuff."

One of those dancers is Noelle Lelakus, who turned her life upside down to join the company.

"I was actually three days away from starting graduate school when I got the call," Lelakus said, referring to her earlier goal to pursue a degree in arts management at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa. "So I flew to Columbia on a whim."

The 22-year-old blond-haired dancer, who started dancing when she was 3, is having no second thoughts.

"When I walked in the first day here, I knew that I had found the right fit before anyone started to move," she said. "I could just tell there was a reason I was supposed to be here."

She also is enamored of the personality of the city.

"It felt very much like a home to me, and after I left my mice-infested apartment building in Pittsburgh, I really appreciate what Columbia has," Lelakus said with a laugh. "I like that it has a small-town feeling, that they really support the institutions that are here, that are established or are on the rise."

Typical of the depth of MCB's dancers is Claire Nicole Magee, 20, who returns to the company after spending a year at The Juilliard School in New York studying modern dance and ballet, as well as music, the humanities and more. A hometown native and Hickman High School graduate, Magee said the experience at Juilliard was artistically expanding and helped her to discover "where movement comes from and originates rather than just trying to mimic" what she sees from a teacher.

As a dancer, she's a professional, disciplined athlete, and Magee is happily accustomed to long rehearsals and sore muscles, while also working second jobs on weekends and nights.

"We're not trying to really prove a point, we're just trying to dance," said Magee. "When you have that out there, you have your whole heart in it, and that's really going to cause a revolution."