Alchemy Arts Collective presents Soul Skin Dance for a show entitled “Beauty” at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center this Friday and Saturday (June 6 and 7) at 7:00 p.m. After the show’s recent sold-out success in New York City, dancer Barbara Koch and her crew have re-staged this 45-minute ballet for the contrasted expanse of Joshua Tree.
With emphasis on warmth, power, and a “very human” experience, Barbara Koch lends the intensity of Soul Skin Dance show to her and her eight co-dancers “willingness to go there.”
“We push ourselves to go inside ourselves to pull out what is real and what is human.”
Koch cites German choreographer Pina Bausch as a personal inspiration for her role in the show and sees a similar approach from the show’s choreographer Adriana Thompson.
“She would hire dancers who had the ability to delve into themselves and pull that and magic out whatever that magic would be: if it’s dark, if it’s light, if it’s beautiful, if it’s painful––I think all of that is within this piece.”
Koch says the show’s grand theme of “Beauty” might be a luxury concept given the “chaotic” state of our current world, but she reminds us that is part of the point.
“We are all human and we are searching for something that is silent in us, something that’s real in us, something that’s human in us, and I think that is the experience that you will be pulled into because the sound score, the visuals, the dancers… it will pull you into a visceral experience.”
Soul Skin Dance’s “Beauty” will show Friday and Saturday night at Joshua Tree Retreat Center’s Sanctuary. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show begins at 7:00. For more information, including ticket link, visit www.soulskindance.org
