Oklahoma City nonprofit dance studio RACE Dance Collective opens its inaugural Cure-8 showcase Thursday at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center.
Cure-8 is a collection of dances by five choreographers from Oklahoma that touch on social issues such as immigration and reproductive rights.
RACE Dance Collective founder Hui Cha Poos.
RACE Dance Collective, founded in 2009 by Korean American immigrant Hui Cha Poos, is a dance studio designed to be inclusive and accessible for all skill levels. Poos moved from Oklahoma to Los Angeles to work as a professional dancer but returned to the state to teach dance.
“After five or 10 years, I realized if kids weren't moving away and they were (in Oklahoma), there wasn't really an outlet for them to do commercial dance,” Poos said.
Over 15 years, RACE has provided over 35 multi-genre performance experiences, youth training programs and nearly 350 annual community classes. RACE also partners with dozens of organizations to bring dance education and mentorships to underserved populations. Poos said the company aims to change the standard dance mold and show that there is technique in every dance style.
“We really want to question the notion of technique only being ballet technique or jazz technique,” Poos said. “That's one way that we've been able to (change the dance mold), and it has definitely been the right decision because we see the genuine happiness and connection that we have in our community.”
Mentorship is a large part of RACE and very important to Poos. Cure-8 was created to offer the mentorship Poos said she has had throughout her life.
Cure-8 is an eight week process from auditions to closing night. Beyond creating and teaching choreography, each choreographer was paired with a local community partner and a national professional dance mentor to help conceptualize routines and provide resources during and after the eight week process.
“They're doing so much more than just choreographing a dance,” Poos said. “They're thinking about it deeply, they're perseverating on it, day in day out, changing things, listening to their dancers.”
The Cure-8 choreographers were selected by a national panel. Nathaniel Tylor, Natasha Abu-Fadel and Jessica Cajina are University of Central Oklahoma graduates. Each choreographer’s piece explores social issues relating to their own experiences using styles ranging from contemporary to hip-hop.
Natasha Abu-Fadel, Harper Harris, Nathaniel Tylor, Jessica Cajina and Alex Schooling during the first Cure-8 Choreographer cohort meeting.
Since graduating from UCO, Lebanese choreographer Abu-Fadel has performed in shows such as the Painted Sky Opera production of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and with Perpetual Motion Dance for REWIND at Factory Obscura. Her piece in Cure-8 will explore the immigrant experience in Oklahoma and the journey of displacement.
“Once they are displaced, then what are the things that they have to focus on to move forward but also stay rooted in their homeland,” Abu-Fadel said in an interview on RACE’s Instagram.
Cajina's professional performances include work in New York City with Bare Dance Company and in Los Angeles with “Flip the Switch.” She has done choreography for pom team performances, national competitions and more. Cajina’s hip hop routine seeks to raise awareness about bipolar disorder and discuss the stigma surrounding it.
Harper Harris recently returned to Oklahoma after graduating from the American Musical Dramatic Academy and has taught at various studios and danced for companies like Adidas. Harris’s piece is focused on increasing non-binary awareness, sharing their experience.
“I think there's a way to deliver things that are hard topics through dance that you can receive that is less straight-on,” Poos said. “It's about just receiving information and then taking it with you later, thinking about it and then hopefully finding some common ground, or empathizing a little bit deeply, more than you would if you hadn't received it in that way.”
Alex Schooling, a Corps De Ballet dancer for Oklahoma City Ballet, trained at Lancaster School of Ballet and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and earned her bachelor’s of fine arts in dance performance at Butler University. Her piece covers themes of bodily autonomy and reproductive justice.
“This is a really important time to be having these kinds of discussions,” Poos said. “Without discussions, it's just 'hey, here's a lovely dance' and thoughtfully procured to be expressing what she's going through in that subject.”
OKC-based choreographer Nathaniel Tylor teaches multiple styles and some of his choreography has made the stage at two collegiate conferences. Tylor’s piece will explore systematic factors that perpetuate intergenerational cycles of disadvantage and poor health.
“He's actually taken a whole journey, but he's starting with the lack of resources for his community, and in particular things regarding health,” Poos said. “He talks about what that evolves into and how do you support each other and help raise each other up when you don't have those resources.”
More in-depth interviews from each choreographer can be found on RACE Dance Collective’s Instagram.
“There's something about showing audiences here in Oklahoma that dance doesn't have to be just performative, but that it can be a performance art,” Poos said. “You can feel things with it; you can go to a different place cognitively. Dance can be more than just a two dimensional that’s over in one night. I want people to think about it weeks after.”
Cure-8 is funded in part by OK Let’s Dance, an initiative of the Kirkpatrick Family Fund.
Cure-8 performances will take place Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. An opening night party immediately follows Thursday’s performance at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center. Following Friday’s show is a choreographer talk back and meet the artists. Saturday’s show wraps up with the closing night party. Tickets can be purchased online.
This story was edited by Shelby Emery and Peggy Dodd. Natalie Armour and Avery Avery copy edited this story.
