March 29, 2023
Live to dance
Around Town North County Writing and Arts Network launches book celebrating North St. Louis County. Pg. 3
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Features
Recipe, Movie & Sudoku. Pg. F-1 CLASSIFIEDS AND HOME & GARDEN. Pg. F-2 /F-3 Submitted photo Modern American Dance Company dancers rehearse for the production “Right Here, Right Now.”
In 1976, Alcine Wiltz and Ross Winter started the Mid America Dance Company with the intention of providing space for professional dancers to live and work in the Midwest while performing and providing educational opportunities to the community. Now known as the Modern American Dance Company (MADCO), it is in its 47th season, striving to stay afloat and continue providing modern dance and education to the St. Louis community. MADCO is the oldest dance company in the region and known for its combination of athleticism and artistry. “There is a physicality about the move-
ment that has become a signifying characteristic of MADCO performances,” the managing director of MADCO, Arianna Russ said. “It is also the only dance company that is founded solely on the principles of modern dance.” But even for those with MADCO’s history and credentials, securing funding has long been a challenge for many cultural arts organizations and programs. For instance, in schools, STEM programs are often prioritized before art programs, thereby decreasing the opportunities for art education and the development of professionals in the industry. But Russ believes that the cultural arts and dance is essential to our lives and well-being.
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Modern American Dance Company celebrates nearly half a century of providing modern dance and education to the St. Louis community By Wendy Todd
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“Art, and more specifically dance, has the unique ability to allow people to tap into empathy and vulnerability,” she said. “The body holds a person’s history, which includes the joys, sorrows and trauma that comes with life. Dance has the very unique power to help people release those traumas that are stored in the body. Additionally, when people watch dance, they experience something called kinesthetic empathy. In other words, watching dance allows us as viewers to mentally and emotionally put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and allows us to connect on a deeper level to those around us. Thinking of dance in this way shows how invaluable it See ‘DANCE’ page 2
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