Dinkytown Group Has Ability, Determination, Minneapolis Star
Dublin Core
Title
Dinkytown Group Has Ability, Determination, Minneapolis Star
Description
This dance review highlights the “Pas Contemporains” performance of the Contemporary Dance Playhouse and their determination as a small, but expanding company. This article is indicative of the local recognition and attention Loyce Houlton’s company and choreography received.
Minnesota Dance Theatre Records
Performing Arts Archives
Minnesota Dance Theatre Records
Performing Arts Archives
Date
circa 1962
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
DANCE REVIEW
Dinkytown Group Has Ability, Determination
By PETER ALTMAN
Minneapolis Star Staff Writer
Of all the performing arts, dance has been the slowest to develop in the Twin Cities. We have ensembles active in opera, theater and instrumental music. These local groups are supplemented by touring organizations like the Metropolitan Opera, Theater Guild, and University Artists Course performers.
Despite the demonstrated hunger of at least a limited local audience for ballet and modern dance, however, Minnesota efforts and visiting performers remain few. When the Royal Danish Ballet or the Martha Graham troupe appear in Northrop, seats sell fast. The efforts of the Andahazy Ballet Borealis last spring drew a large house. But the initiative to expand dance offerings remains missing.
Sunday night I dropped in on “Pas Contemporains,” a workshop performance at the Contemporary Dance Playhouse, in Dinkytown, whose players have the ability and determination to provide the nucleus of a local dance company of stature, should the community express the desire for such a troupe.
The Contemporary Dancers have managed to stay together for several years now, offering classes in their loft above a drycleaning establishment and occasionally performing with the Symphony at Northrop. Loyce Houlton, director, stresses an approach blending modern Graham techniques with traditional ballet steps. She emphasizes that the dancer today must be a complete performer, not merely master of acrobatics or ballet or modern movements.
Sunday’s program consisted of a model contemporary class, exhibiting the exercises of the dancers at the bar, on the floor, and at stage center, followed by snippets of the company’s repertory.
The exercises demonstrated that the dancer’s regimen is one of building up callouses and dripping down sweat. Working to music composed by company principal David Voss, Miss Houlton’s charges showed considerably more than amateur proficiency, and admirable range of style.
Glimpses into the company’s eclectic choreography were provided by two traditional ballets set to movements of Bach’s first Brandenburg Concerto, and a modern, humorous composition, “Dialogues.”
The Bach piece, designed as a joyous, formal celebration, was the evening’s only occasion for the dancers to wear toe slippers. The choreography was conventional, but the dancing was crisp, assured, and exuberant.
The modern piece, to more original music by Voss, was more lively. It commented on contemporary alienation by showing lack of communication among a group of isolated dancers, each pursuing his own single or double pattern. Humor was augmented by canny use of feather boas and umbrellas as props. Abandon and zip were infectious.
The Contemporary Dance Playhouse is a shoestring operation, but it is on the right track. It deserves recognition and expanded support.
Dinkytown Group Has Ability, Determination
By PETER ALTMAN
Minneapolis Star Staff Writer
Of all the performing arts, dance has been the slowest to develop in the Twin Cities. We have ensembles active in opera, theater and instrumental music. These local groups are supplemented by touring organizations like the Metropolitan Opera, Theater Guild, and University Artists Course performers.
Despite the demonstrated hunger of at least a limited local audience for ballet and modern dance, however, Minnesota efforts and visiting performers remain few. When the Royal Danish Ballet or the Martha Graham troupe appear in Northrop, seats sell fast. The efforts of the Andahazy Ballet Borealis last spring drew a large house. But the initiative to expand dance offerings remains missing.
Sunday night I dropped in on “Pas Contemporains,” a workshop performance at the Contemporary Dance Playhouse, in Dinkytown, whose players have the ability and determination to provide the nucleus of a local dance company of stature, should the community express the desire for such a troupe.
The Contemporary Dancers have managed to stay together for several years now, offering classes in their loft above a drycleaning establishment and occasionally performing with the Symphony at Northrop. Loyce Houlton, director, stresses an approach blending modern Graham techniques with traditional ballet steps. She emphasizes that the dancer today must be a complete performer, not merely master of acrobatics or ballet or modern movements.
Sunday’s program consisted of a model contemporary class, exhibiting the exercises of the dancers at the bar, on the floor, and at stage center, followed by snippets of the company’s repertory.
The exercises demonstrated that the dancer’s regimen is one of building up callouses and dripping down sweat. Working to music composed by company principal David Voss, Miss Houlton’s charges showed considerably more than amateur proficiency, and admirable range of style.
Glimpses into the company’s eclectic choreography were provided by two traditional ballets set to movements of Bach’s first Brandenburg Concerto, and a modern, humorous composition, “Dialogues.”
The Bach piece, designed as a joyous, formal celebration, was the evening’s only occasion for the dancers to wear toe slippers. The choreography was conventional, but the dancing was crisp, assured, and exuberant.
The modern piece, to more original music by Voss, was more lively. It commented on contemporary alienation by showing lack of communication among a group of isolated dancers, each pursuing his own single or double pattern. Humor was augmented by canny use of feather boas and umbrellas as props. Abandon and zip were infectious.
The Contemporary Dance Playhouse is a shoestring operation, but it is on the right track. It deserves recognition and expanded support.
Collection
Citation
“Dinkytown Group Has Ability, Determination, Minneapolis Star,” Gallery, accessed November 8, 2026, https://gallerytemp.reclaim.hosting/items/show/457.