Letter to the Editor: Island Inspiration All-Stars Shine at the Seaview

— from Pat Littlewood, updated at 9 p.m.–

Once again Anthony the Dancer has produced a splendid dance concert with his All-Star cast of professionally trained dancers, Hailey Averna, Gail Bulletset, Charles Dalton, Jessica Kruger, Tiffany Loney, Aristotle Luna, Samantha Martin, Stephanie Moss and Anwyn Thompson.

They were joined by the upcoming younger group, prepared by Tiffany Loney, called “The Shooting Stars”: Gray Gailey Seffa and Solianna Halabisky, Mira and Sylvia Johnson, Cienna Richardson, and Ellis Wright. Two back-to-back performances took place on the afternoon of Sunday, November 5th, at the Sea View Theatre in Eastsound and were well-attended by an enthusiastic audience that showed their appreciation with frequent clapping and sounds of pleasure at what they saw on stage.

The program included a wide variety of styles, opening with a classic waltz piece
danced in period costume to the music of J.S. Bach. The second piece included the talented younger Shooting Stars joining their older colleagues in a celebration of “Urchins of the Sea”.

This was followed by a stunning solo performed by Aristotle Luna, who seemed capable of gracefully winding and coiling his frame into rhythmic spirals and vertical flips with unbelievable flexibility, echoing the feeling of the piece, titled “Growing Pains.” More group pieces followed in the program, with lively music and featuring the talented All Star dancers and including the Shooting Stars in several of the dances.

Another solo piece featured the exquisitely graceful Tiffany Loney in a piece called “Soul for Solace”, set to music by Angelique Kidjo of West African origin. The concert finale, titled “Anthonym”, included all the cast interacting and revolving in and out, echoing the pulsating rhythms of the African-based dance and music forms.

In addition to training the young “Shooting Stars”, Tiffany also employs her reativity as the Costume Designer for the company. All the choreography in the program was composed by Anthony and reflected his creative energy and wide-ranging talents that emerge in the dynamic movements of his troupe of dancers.

We are fortunate on Orcas Island to have such a dedicated and inspired group of artists in our midst, and for more information visit their web site: www.orcas.dance. There you will find Anthony the Dancer’s motivation: “The Island Inspiration All-Stars and the Shooting Stars present a cross cultural-intergenerational display of dancing designed to bring energy, joy and light to the Orcas audience . . . With African dance as our base, bipedal movement is re-explored and cross-pollinated with Eurocentric dance forms in addition to those of the Americas with the concept that ‘We move as one people’.”