Bummershoot

That's no typo in the title, I've got a bit of a bone to pick with the annual Seattle music and arts extravaganza known as Bumbershoot. Plenty of folks have bemoaned the soaring cost of tickets (I've lived in Seattle long enough to remember when it cost $8 a day to get in - EIGHT DOLLARS! damn!), and of course there's the plethora of people to maneuver around etc, but my gripe is based on my discipline: where the hell did all the dance go?

This isn't to take anything away from this year's dance offerings- Spectrum Dance Theater, Whim W'Him, and the Boise-based Trey McIntyre project will be performing and if you go to Bumbershoot please go see them - but three dance acts in an entire weekend is, quite frankly, lame.

Bumbershoot used to be be a great opportunity for local choreographers - it was kind of the grand finale to the season, or perhaps the jump start to the next one. You might get only one performance, you might get put in a mixed bill show, the pay wasn't great and presenting modern dance to an audience that wants first and foremost to be entertained can be a challenge, but the collision of Seattle's vivid independent dance community and an audience that isn't afraid to walk out if it's not their cup of tea made for some memorable moments. I've been fortunate to have performed in Bumbershoot twice - with choreographer Laura Curry (whose work would never be described as "accessible") in 1996 and with the Keiko Hamaguchi Dance Company in 2000 (in an exchange project put together by KT Niehoff and Velocity Dance Center), and both experiences were incredible. As an audience member, my favorite Bumbershoot moment was seeing the amazing women of D-9 perform the majority of Bebe Miller's The Hendrix Project in silence, as the rights to Jimi Hendrix's music (granted for previous performances) were rescinded within days of the festival. The opportunity to get your work in front of hundreds of people who might never otherwise see your show, or even hear your name, was a huge thrill, and getting to see peers make the most of their spot in the sun - well, it felt like the whole community got a bit of the spotlight, even if you weren't up on stage.

So what happened? I'm sure it all comes down to the bottom line. Bumbershoot is no longer the scrappy festival that focuses on the locals. The headliners are bigger names, the ticket prices are way higher, and they've cut a full day from its schedule. I'm guessing there's less room to take a chance on something too esoteric for the masses, or a group that has only performed in 150 seat theaters before. But it's too bad. Everyone loves saying what a vibrant dance community Seattle has...it would be great to make sure we show it off as often as possible.

Bumbershoot dance schedule - I love that a Kristin Hersh reading shows up under the dance listing!