Code f.a.d. Company has participated in some manner in SPARKcon (downtown Raleigh’s annual all-things creative festival) since we began in 2008. SPARKcon 2008 was actually our very first performance… though we sometimes like to forget about that one. Don’t get us wrong, we love SPARKcon, but that first year was a little rough. I came into the festival planning-process rather late, not knowing what SPARKcon was or what ot expect and basically got handed “danceSPARK” to organize. We managed to get Code f.a.d. (and some break-dancers) performing on the main stage – in Moore Square at this point in time – and we had a pretty decent crowd to see our performance of FALLING: Man v. Monster following the poetrySPARK Slam. (And the stage even stayed standing for our show, which is more than can be said for the break-dancers who performed later in the festival…)
It is now four years later. I am still in charge of danceSPARK, and I’ve learned a lot. SPARKcon has grown and changed a lot, too. For one, the festival moved to Fayetteville St., and is now contemplating a move to the Warehouse District (but will still remain on Fayetteville St at least one more year for 2012). Code f.a.d. has done main stage performances, outdoor workshops in the park, informal indoor performances, classes on the main stage, and I’ve helped several other companies and dance groups get involved in the festival, as well. This year, we have even more planned!
We will be performing as part of the first ever SPARKcon Opening Ceremony, to be held on Thursday, Sept 13 at the Raleigh downtown amphitheater. Wow! We are expecting several thousand spectators for the event – short of one day doing the halftime show at a football game, probably the largest crowd we could expect for modern dance. It was an easy decision as to what to perform: Indulge. We love that piece from 2009, and the fact that it heavily involves fashion – and we are performing after the fashionSPARK runway show – it just makes so much sense.
However, that means we need more dancers. Indulge uses our “core” six dancers (all still dancing with Code f.a.d. – how awesome!) and 3-4 additional guest dancers – who we call the “adjustors” because they tend to mess with our core dancers’ environment throughout the piece. Luckily, we already had Kristina Loflin (a new dancer as of last season) who could fill the role of one adjustor, but we’d still need a few more.
Welcome William and Kim to join Code f.a.d. as guest dancers for our SPARKcon Indulge performance!
William Commander (who we call Bill) is a 2011 graduate of Elon University, and he just recently came back to the triangle area after spending the last year dancing in Washington, D. C. He is quite busy these days, dancing with Kearns Dance Project, Gaspard & Dancers, and Renay Aumiller Dances, and he teaches around the local area. Find out more about Bill by visiting his website. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Kim Canada is originally from upstate New York. She attended Meredith College and holds a B.A. in dance, concentration: Private Studio Teaching. Currently, Kim teaches Zumba and Ballet Fitness at Pure Body Studios in Cary, and works as a children’s dance instructor at Arts Together in Raleigh.
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We are excited to welcome both Bill and Kim to Code f.a.d. for this special performance! Come see them (and the rest of our dancers) at the Raleigh amphitheater on Thursday, Sept 13. (We perform around 9pm, but festivities start at 6pm. FREE)
-Autumn
(Code f.a.d. Artistic Director)
