Art&Seek on Think TV: Wil McKnight's Texas Dance Theatre

by Jerome Weeks 15 Sep 2009 12:50 AM

North Texas is littered with the remains of dead dance companies. Ballets, modern troupes, solo choreographers: It’s often seemed like a mass extinction happened here the past 20 years. So Wil McKnight’s new Texas Dance Theatre is a risk. It’s even riskier — and notable — for its impressive ambitions. Next week, TDT begins its first full season of 14 works — with nearly half of them world premieres.

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Texas Dance Theatre debuted in April with a gala performance and a world premiere of Fast, which featured choreography by company founder/director Wil McKnight, music by Steve Reich and paintings by Daniel Corona. In two weeks, the troupe will open its first full season at Fort Worth’s Scott Theatre — a season that features a premiere by celebrated choreographer Bruce Wood (a veteran of his own Fort Worth-based-but-now-sadly-defunct company) as well as works with music by jazz-tango master Astor Piazzolla and Oscar-winner Ryuichi Sakamoto (formerly of Yellow Magic Orchestra).

Needless to say, for a brand-new company that proudly bills itself as a classically-trained ballet, this is staking out some impressive territory. So we asked Wil McKnight to come in and talk about what in the world he’s up to.

Wil McKnight’s Fast with music by Steve Reich, paintings by Daniel Corona: Confugium (“to take refuge”), choreographed by Emily Hunter to music by Antonio Vivaldi: