West Kentucky Community & Technical College

« Back to Recent News

Contemporary Dance Company Completes Season at WKCTC's Clemens Fine Arts Center April 5

Paducah, KY (03/29/2019) — Stuff. Everyone has stuff, some that may have special meaning and some that may be of little or no value to them. It is this relationship between people and their "stuff" that will be explored by ODC Dance, who will complete the 2018-19 Arts In Focus season at West Kentucky Community and Technical College's Clemens Fine Arts Center April 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Founded in 1971 by Artistic Director Brenda Way, ODC Dance, noted for its fusion of classical and modern techniques, was one of the first American companies to incorporate a post-modern sensibility (an appreciation for pedestrian movement) into a virtuosic contemporary dance technique and to commit major resources to interdisciplinary collaboration and musical commissions for the repertory.

The company with ten outstanding dancers performs its imaginative repertory for more than 50,000 people annually. Over the past four decades, ODC Dance has performed for more than a million people in 32 states and 11 countries, and has been widely recognized for its rigorous technique and for its numerous groundbreaking collaborations with top professional dancers, composers and writers, singer and actors.

While at the Clemens Center (CFAC), ODC Dance will be performing two recent works - "What we carry What we keep" and "Triangulating Euclid'.

Inspiration for Triangulating Euclid came from a rare 1648 edition of Euclid's Elements of Geometry, perhaps the most influential work in the history of mathematics. A collaboration brought together choreographers Brenda Way, KT Nelson, and Kate Weare, who created the piece that moves from the formal elegance of geometry to its human implication: from triangles to threesomes, from lines to connections, from the page to the heart.

Brenda Way's "What we carry What we keep," a piece inspired by the New York Times review of The Keeper, an exhibition at the New Museum dedicated to the act of preserving objects, memorabilia, and images, and to the passions that inspire this understanding. Responses from a questionnaire from Way to research what people around her keep and collect triggered phrases and movement vocabulary that formed the architecture of the dance.

"The opportunity to see the dynamic ODC Dance company up close and to experience their exciting range of choreographic styles and expressive dances will move the audience in so many ways - pun intended," said Todd Birdsong, CFAC director. "You can't experience dance like this in any other venue in the area! This is the perfect show to close our season while we are preparing to announce our 2019-20 Arts In Focus shows."

Tickets are $30 for adults; $15 for students and children. Tickets can be purchased online at artsinfocus.org or by calling Julie at (270) 534-3212.

Media Attachments

Copyright © 2025 Merit Pages, Inc. • All Rights Reserved. • Terms of Service • Privacy Policy • Opt Out