Ballet BC dancer Michael Garcia in Bedroom Folk by Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar.
(Photo by Michael Slobodian)
Ballet BC dancer gets their moment on the big stage here at home
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
rich@dallasvoice.com
From Booker T. to Ballet BC, dancer Michael Garcia will bring their passion for dancing back home this Friday, June 9, when TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND presents the Vancouver-based company at the Winspear Opera House. And for Garcia, it is a full circle moment.
Back in the day, when they were a Booker T. Washington dance student, the Winspear was THE place to perform (before Moody Performance Hall became a dance destination). Now, Garcia, 24, gets to dance on that coveted Winspear stage.
“To feel the support from my best friends and family and mentors in the audience, to get everyone to come under one roof will be exciting,” Garcia said. “But another thing is I get to do it with my best friend, who is also from Dallas, and, as soon as we found out this was happening, it really got us through the year.”
Their friend is also a Booker T. alum — Kaylin Sturtevant from Plano. Originally from MacAllen, Garcia lived in Coppell before making their way to Chicago and then, ultimately, to Vancouver to join Ballet BC. You might say Garcia manifested that outcome.
“I was in the audience for them in 2017,” they said of Ballet BC. “I was a senior, and I had known about them, so I was super excited to see them,” they said. “I remember that I wanted to dance with them, and that became a goal when I went to college.”
Now Garcia will soon be wrapping up their first season with their dream company, and they get to have a homecoming to boot.
Not only is Garcia with their ideal dance company, but they are also with an affirming one. That’s only enhanced their experience as a professional dancer. Without feeling the pressure of always giving into gender norms, Garcia feels they can express themselves authentically with Ballet BC.
Ballet BC dancer Michael Garcia
“Maybe some of those gender roles led me away from pursuing a more classical ballet career or traditional dance path. I’m so glad to be in a progressive, forward thinking company that is interested in new works,” they said. “There is so much value in repertory, but with creation comes the acceptance of different gender roles.”
They talked about rehearsing with their director for a specific male-female duet until Garcia was also asked to do the female part. According to Garcia, that opened the eyes of the choreographer/director. They said that challenged them, but Garcia challenged the director simply by being in that role.
“It can be very reciprocal, but it just takes the time and comfort and challenge to find these new ways to be accepted and represented in the company,” Garcia said.
Garcia said that even as a child, they had felt their gender identity was different — not in a confusing way, but rather in a competitive way.
“I was such an ambitious and serious kid. I wanted to be the best dancer — not the best boy or girl dancer. I started to dance anything that would be asked of me,” they said. “I think it was then I started relinquishing any gender norms.”
What they didn’t relinquish was some good ol’ Dallas throwbacks: Garcia and the company arrived in Dallas the night before this interview, and the first thing Garcia did, they said, was hit the food.
“I got to Torchy’s immediately,” they said. “I had been wanting their queso and sauces. We are here through Friday, but I’m staying until Monday just to take advantage of the time and spend it with family and friends.”
Ballet BC will perform three pieces on Friday, which Garcia says are all disparate yet connected.
“It’s like a good three-course meal. There is a longstanding relationship with the pieces in the company, and it feels like different parts of our identity,” they said.
After their performance, then it’s even more dancing.
“I’m gonna go to S4, check out the Round-Up and show off Oak Lawn to my new friends,” they said. “I love me some Kelexis Davenport, so I hope to see her. And I just want to be surrounded by this sense of exciting nostalgia.”
For tickets to Ballet BC presented by TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND, visit ATTPAC.org.
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Two world premieres featured in ‘Grace’ by Bruce Wood Dance
Bruce Wood Dance will present Grace, with two performances at Moody Performance Hall on Saturday and Sunday, June 10-11. The set will feature world premiers by BWD Artistic Director Joy Bollinger as well as by Emmy-winning choreographer Ben Needham-Wood. The show will also include the return of Bruce Wood’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Curtain chats with the creators and the dancers will follow each performance.
Bollinger’s new work, “And Heaven and Nature” is set to the music of Dustin O’Halloran and Hannah Peel.
Needham-Wood will present “Ghost” with music by Ludovico Einaudi.
Rounding out the program is “Rhapsody in Blue” which premiered in Fort Worth in the summer of 1999 with music by George Gershwin.
Visit BruceWoodDance.org for tickets.
— Rich Lopez