So You Think You Can Just Choose One?
Bare Bait Dance opens its eighth season in Missoula with an exercise in reality programming
Every week, more than 3 million people tune into So You Think You Can Dance, a reality television program in which dancers from across the country compete for votes in order to win a season-long, mixed-genre dance competition. It’s long been one of the most popular shows on network television, making it a rare and odd moment for dance and choreography, which aren’t often consumed by mainstream Americans.
Choose One is, in part, a response to that phenomenon. The modern dance show was created by professional dancers Lauren Beale and Brooke McNamara as part of their master’s theses at the University of Colorado–Boulder. They wanted to explore the concepts of choice, participation and competition, and share that experience along with their nightly audience. And once Bare Bait Dance director Joy French saw the production, she was determined to bring it to Missoula.
“This is a show I’ve had my eyes on for years,” French says. “I love how it plays into trends in popular dance today, into the idea of how you judge performances and people.”
“We see this all the time in reality television — someone gets sent home in the limo,” French says.
During the performance, Beale and McNamara simultaneously engage in a competition and a duet, showing off their best moves, one-upping each other, working off of one another’s ideas and sometimes even collaborating. Through it all, they try to win the audience’s favor, because before long, the audience must vote for and elect their favorite dancer. After that? You’ll have to attend the show to see what happens next.
“We see this all the time in reality television — someone gets sent home in the limo,” French says. “In this case, by voting, you’re directly impacting a human in front of you. It’s powerful and it’s really emotional or uncomfortable to choose — some even refuse to vote. It’s asking the audience not to be passive viewers, to engage in the experience and effect the outcome of the performance.”
Choose One is a strategic choice to kick off Bare Bait’s eighth season. For one thing, it delivers, right off the bat, the kind of creative, genre-bending dance fare for which the company is known. And because it’s performed by guest artists, it allows the local Bare Bait dancers a chance to rehearse for November’s showcase, Springboard, which will feature the company’s five dancers and two apprentices, plus two guests. At the same time, it allows the company and local audiences to get inspired.
“Inviting artists brings new energy to the company and helps us feel revitalized,” French says. “Bringing in a new show also helps remind the audience that there’s other things happening in dance around the country and around the world. It also introduces professional dancers to Missoula and Western Montana.”
And, finally, it invites audiences to experience a “reality dance show” in actual reality — which means watching two dancers teeter between cooperation and competition, and then making a value judgement about their art. It’s an experience both fabricated and real, designed to elicit an emotional reaction that resonates beyond the superficial sheen of television entertainment.
Bare Bait Dance presents Choose One at the Open Space Theatre (PARTV Room 005) Fri., Sept. 14, at 8 PM, Sat., Sept. 15, at 2 PM and 8 PM, and Sun., Sept. 16, at 6 PM. $22/$18 advance.
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