The graceful movements of dancers across the stage to a variety of melodies tell stories of looking skyward. “Cosmos: A Contemporary Dance Show,” opens Friday at the Manhattan Arts Center. As the name implies, the MAC’s second run at a contemporary dance performance follows the theme of space.
“The theme is helpful to unify the choreographers, make it something cohesive,” Chaz Coberly, the show’s artistic producer, said. “This year, it’s cosmos because I like space, thinking about stars, planets, asteroids.”
Chaz Coberly and his wife Megan brought the contemporary dance tradition to Manhattan from Salina.
“The philosophy of the show, the most important crux of the show is anyone can be a dancer,” Chaz Coberly said. “We encourage everyone of 15-plus to come audition, even if you don’t consider yourself a dancer.”
There are 18 dancers from the MAC and seven choreographers. Megan Coberly also choreographed a few dances and performed.
“It’s a beautiful compilation of a lot of area choreographers’ visions and it all comes together centered around one thing,” Megan Coberly said.
She choreographed the opening and closing dances, as well as one of the middle numbers.
“The opener and closer is all about the galaxy and stars and the opener is kind of like how chaotic and dark space can be but the closer brings it back,” Megan Coberly said. “My other piece that I did inside the show is about taking care of the earth.”
There are interludes between the dances with recordings of scientists talking about time and space. The stage goes dark between dances, except for some twinkling lights that resemble distant stars.
“This is a bit artsier than our normal productions, that blend of arts and science,” Chaz Coberly said. “I don’t think this is for hardcore dancers who are going to nitpick stuff, this is more storytelling through choreography.”
Each choreographer directed their set of dancers and with opening night approaching, they all will join together as one show. Dancers from K-State will also be involved with their own choreographed pieces.
“I always look forward to collaborating with other people in a creative form,” dancer Megan Hartford said.
The simple dance floor is illuminated by differently colored spotlights for each choreography.
“Each dance has its own story,” Coberly said. “As with a painting, I would leave that up to the viewer to interpret that.”
The audience can use their imaginations to connect the movements of the dancers to objects such as solar flares and comets or interpret themes, such as taking time out of the mundane to look up at the stars.
“I’m excited for it,” Chaz Coberly said. “We put a lot of effort into this and each one of these is special. It feels like it’s the same formula each time but it’s always a different group of people, a different kind of vibe and extremely lovely people to work with.”
“Cosmos” runs for one weekend only, Oct. 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 26 at 2 p.m.