Dorrance Dance's SOUNDspace playfully explores the sonic potential of feet against floors
Show had its origins in a 200-year-old church, where acclaimed company couldn’t always use metal tap shoes
Dorrance Dance’s SOUNDscape. Photo by Matthew Murray
Michelle Dorrance. Photo by Matthew Murray
DanceHouse and Vancouver Tap Dance Society present Dorrance Dance’s SOUNDspace at the Vancouver Playhouse on April 19 and 20 at 8 pm
THE ROOTS OF TAP DANCE reach back centuries into the history of America, but the shoes we associate with the form—with aluminum taps—didn’t appear on the scene till the 1920s.
In SOUNDspace, New York City–based choreographer Michelle Dorrance wants to pay tribute to that history, while simultaneously pushing the form into new territory.
The dance production makes intricate play of leather resonating against wood, of socks sliding across the floor, and of the subtle differences between the ball and the heel of the foot landing on a surface.
It’s a world away from the thrillingly complex Myelination—the last of her Dorrance Dance shows brought to Vancouver by DanceHouse in 2018: whereas that was a nonstop, sprawling interplay of tap with live jazz music, punctuated by flashes of hip-hop movement, SOUNDspace gets closer to the essence of tap. It reveals the form’s simple power as embodied music. And in a world overwhelmed with noise pollution, it retunes our ears to the wonder of natural sound and rhythms.
“A foot falling on the floor: everyone can create those sounds,” the energized tap master tells Stir over the phone from her Brooklyn home. “You don't need a tap shoe to make those sounds. You don't need to go buy a shoe. You could literally not own shoes and you would still be able to create the sounds! And that, to me, feels very human, and the nature of it is at the core of who we are.”
SOUNDspace dates back to 2013 and the early days of Dorrance Dance. It was originally created as a site-specific piece that explored the unique acoustics of St. Marks Church in New York City—one of the oldest churches in the city that still hosts religious services. Dorrance’s company members had a residency to explore the space, and the sounds they could make there—with some limitations. Metal taps would take too much of a toll on the 200-year-old wooden floors and could not be used. But, in a way, that allowed the dancers to explore even more possibilities.
“We had time to play; it was a sonic playground. We went from corner to corner and into the balcony on the second floor, creating different sounds in different parts of the space,” Dorrance recalls. “There was wood throughout, and then there were some carpeted areas that had wood underneath it. But that muted wood was also very intriguing. We would wear wooden taps that we handmade whenever we were on the wooden surface, or leather soles, which you'll also hear in this work—and they have a drastically different tone. It's really beautiful and rich and not so bright. And then, of course, we also explore bare feet in the very beginning of the work.”
SOUNDspace has evolved from that site-specific show into a virtuosic exploration of rhythm that can be adapted to almost any space—as it will be for the Vancouver Playhouse when the critically acclaimed troupe returns this month.
“What's important to me is that folks have the same feeling that we felt in the church,” Dorrance explains. “What we do is explore how to give the audience a unique sonic experience, using the way the room resonates—and doing that is a collaboration with our audio engineer, Christopher Marc.”
As ever, Dorrance lets each of her dancers bring their own improvisational spice and stylistic background to the choreography. In one standout body-percussion sequence, for instance, star Leonardo Sandoval infuses complex leg slaps and chest drumming with his own Brazilian rhythms.
Photo by Stephanie Berger
Dorrance is one of the most awarded tap dancers in North America, with honours including a Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, a Princess Grace Award, two Bessie Awards, and a prestigious 2015 MacArthur Fellowship. But as she blazes her own path forward, her work displays a deep reverence for tap’s forefathers. SOUNDspace frequently pays homage to legends like Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and John W. Bubbles. Both did work on leather and wooden soles, and both are clearly referenced in the show’s sand-dancing sequence—a technique that plays with the sound of sand sliding on the floor. It appeared in classic films like Robinson’s Stormy Weather, but traces its roots back to the 19th century and minstrel shows, later carried on by African American artists into the 20th century.
Dorrance playfully admits that she and her crew are “tap nerds”—and aficionados here should get an equal kick out of the depth of the artist’s touchstones in this show, copresented by the Vancouver Tap Dance Society.
But Dorrance’s productions appeal to a much wider audience. Going back to the original creation of SOUNDspace in the church, Dorrance knew the show wouldn’t just be reaching tap fanatics. She says she wanted to invite viewers into her art form. And one way she does that is in the sections where only her dancers’ legs and feet are illuminated in the darkness.
“If I were to say, ‘What does it sound like to do a hard-toe or drop a heel or drop a scuff?’, not every audience member could understand the tone of those different parts of the foot, right?” she says. “So there's even a section where I invite the audience to understand those tones, and then those tones and counterpoint, and then those tones with dynamic approach.
“I actually love the idea that folks there will get to delve into this after having seen Myelination,” she adds, “because it takes us down to the essence of what tap is. And while that essence is accessible, it can still be unbelievably sophisticated. And it just reminds me why tap is one of the most cutting-edge things on the planet, and the possibilities are endless.” 
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