Hammer and Nail is the title for a new program of original works by choreographers and composers form the Indiana University Dance Theatre and the Student Composer Association.
A Mysterious Name
No one seems to remember where the title 'Hammer and Nail' originated. Choreographer Krissy Jones doesn't know. Liz Shea, the coordinator of the IU Contemporary Dance Program, says it came from the composers, but composer Mark Oliveiro believes it was come up with before he came to IU, so he's in the dark as well.
Despite the haziness of the origins of its name, Liz Shea remembers well the first Hammer and Nail performance. "We had perhaps four or five composers who thought that they'd give it a try. And when we packed the John Waldron Arts Center, a lot more took an interest. This year there are seventeen teams."
Speed-Dating To A Fulfilling Artistic Relationship
The event begins with a distinctively modern approach to team building. "We sort of speed date in a big room with all of the choreographers and composers," said Krissy Jones. "It's pretty energetic and exciting. Everyone is pretty into it; Liz Shea really has to prod us to move on. I was looking for something primitive, vital, almost tribal. Fortunately my ideas just really seemed a good fit with composer Mark Oliveiro."
"Yes," Oliveiro agrees. "My own interest in percussion, vocal and electronic music really offered a soundscape that could fit this concept. In fact, Krissy's idea has changed a bit and now the dancers are wearing business suits, but this makes the primal aspects of the piece work for a certain depth and irony."
Dancing For A Cause
This year Hammer and Nail features seventeen teams showing their work of the course of two separate programs. The evening is a benefit for the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. Any patron who brings a non-perishable food item or a cash contribution will be able to take advantage of a special deal next door at Farm Bloomington between the six-thirty and the eight-thirty shows.