Dorrance Dance's ETM: Double Down — A Tap Dance Review
This paper reviews Dorrance Dance's production ETM: Double Down, performed at the Joyce Theater in 2016. Founded by MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Michelle Dorrance, the company reinvents tap dance by blending it with hip-hop, jazz improvisation, and electronic technology. The review examines the show's signature use of spontaneous movement, the incorporation of an electronic tap board designed by Nicholas Van Young, and the historical lineage of tap dance as a street art form. It also addresses a mixed New York Times critique, defends the production's deliberately pastiche aesthetic, and highlights the company's celebration of diverse body types in performance.
- Introduction to Dorrance Dance: Company overview and electronic tap board debut
- Improvisation and Naturalism in Performance: Jazz-like spontaneity and naturalistic movement style
- Tap Dance Tradition and Found Objects: Historical lineage from Robinson to electronic props
- Critical Reception and Aesthetic Defense: Mixed reviews and defense of pastiche aesthetic
- Diversity of Bodies and Styles: Eclectic body types enhance visual performance
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What makes this paper effective
- It grounds its analysis in direct quotations from both a favorable review and a mixed one, giving the argument balance and credibility.
- It situates the production within a clear historical lineage—from Bill "Bojangles" Robinson to Stomp—demonstrating strong contextual awareness.
- It engages with criticism directly, offering a reasoned rebuttal rooted in the artist's stated intentions, rather than dismissing the negative review outright.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of source integration: it quotes primary and secondary sources, then interprets and evaluates them rather than letting them stand alone. The rebuttal of the New York Times review is a strong example of critical engagement, where the writer uses the choreographer's own program notes as counter-evidence.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with an introduction to the company and its staging approach, moves into an analysis of improvisation and performance style, then contextualizes the work within tap dance history. It addresses critical reception in the fourth section before closing with observations about body diversity. Five tight paragraphs and a Works Cited page make for a compact, focused review essay suitable for an undergraduate arts writing course.
Introduction to Dorrance Dance
The Dorrance Dance Company is the brainchild of MacArthur Genius Grant winner Michelle Dorrance. Although a viewer might presume that tap dancing is a relatively traditional, even hackneyed form of American dance, Dorrance infuses it with new life and gives it a hip-hop beat. As noted in its review of the most recent Dorrance Dance production, the NY Theater Guide observed that ETM: Double Down at the Joyce Theater takes the viewer by surprise at every moment. "The dancers walked onstage in semi-darkness, dragging along the floor something that is either a crate or piece of scenery. It turns out to be a combination of both — an electronic tap board designed by musician/choreographer/dancer Nicholas Van Young" (Contino).
Improvisation and Naturalism in Performance
While most dances are rigorously choreographed — many ballets, for example, use dance steps that have existed in a particular form for more than a century — one of the signature aspects of the Dorrance Dance Company's output is the manner in which it infuses contemporary dance with jazz-like improvisation, even in the middle of a performance. "For example, Warren Craft's solo was built around falling, with the last obvious one — his foot dragging behind him — serving as a cue for the others to resume dancing" (Contino).
The dance style emphasizes highly naturalistic elements, suggesting that performers are expressing their feelings about their dancing in the moment of execution: "Another seamless sequence began as a solo, turned into a duet and then back into a solo. At times, dancers seemed to be doing different steps, but were actually executing an excitingly high level of syncopation" (Contino).
Tap Dance Tradition and Found Objects
Dorrance herself notes in the program for the production: "Tap dance was America's first street form and is deeply rooted in the foundations of Hip Hop and House dance" (Dorrance). Tap dance has also historically made use of "found" objects in performance, spanning from Bill "Bojangles" Robinson using steps to leap from place to place, to Gene Kelly performing a shuffle step in the rain, to Stomp making percussive use of garbage can lids. ETM: Double Down incorporates an electronic tap board into the repertoire of the dancers' props and can be viewed in the proud tradition of making the visuals and techniques of tap dance in performance better suited to contemporary audiences.
Works Cited
Contino, Patricia. "Dance Review: Dorrance Dance in ETM: Double Down at the Joyce." NY Theater Guide. 28 Apr. 2016. Web. 4 May 2016.
ETM: Double Down. Playbill. 1 May 2016. Print.
Seibert, B. "Review: Dorrance Dance, Where Tap and Computers Intersect." The New York Times. 27 Apr. 2016. Web. 4 May 2016.
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