Ballet Austin dancers will trade pointe-shoe precision for clogging steps and square-dance patterns this weekend as Performa/Dance brings its original work Bluegrass Junction to the AustinVentures StudioTheater. The show pairs contemporary choreography with a live bluegrass band, and it runs for three performances beginning Friday at 7:30 p.m., continuing Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and closing Saturday at 7:30 p.m., all at 501 W. 3rd St. in downtown Austin.
The production comes from choreographer Jennifer Hart, who serves as artistic director of Performa/Dance and created Bluegrass Junction during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to KEYE. Hart adapted bluegrass dance influences into a contemporary dance piece, and the work now features primarily Ballet Austin dancers performing alongside live musicians. “It's really this intersection of dance and music,” Hart said, per the station's report.
The piece traces its roots to bluegrass music's origins in the American string band tradition, with the station noting that pioneers like Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys performed the genre in the late 1940s, followed by Flatt and Scruggs in the 1950s — attributions that came from musician John Lundbom in the same report. That history of fast tempos, energetic playing and high, keening vocals threads through the live score backing the dancers on stage.
Live Bluegrass Band Takes the Stage With the Dancers
Backing the performance is Austin-based ensemble Wayside Bluegrass, which the station's report says Hart selected specifically for the project along with guest soloist Tim Eriksen. The group includes John Lundbom, Bo Taylor on guitar and vocals, Everett Wren on fiddle, and Kyle Kline on bass, and the band plays traditional bluegrass music live throughout the show, per the same account.
Eriksen, who lives in Massachusetts, contributed recorded music to the original production and will perform solo work with the Wayside Bluegrass ensemble during the current run, according to the report. Beyond his role in Bluegrass Junction, Eriksen is an ethnomusicologist and the former frontman of the folk-punk band Cordelia's Dad, and he served as a performer and consultant on the soundtrack for the 2003 film Cold Mountain, according to Wikipedia.
Clogging, Square Dancing and a Competitive Dance-Off
The choreography itself draws on a mix of American folk forms. The station's report describes influences from bug dancing, clogging, flat-footing and square dancing woven into the contemporary movement vocabulary, and the show includes a dance-off section in which performers compete on speed and syncopation. That blending of ballet technique with traditional folk steps — including square dancing, buck-and-wing, clogging, jigs and reels drawing on European, African and Native American traditions — is detailed further by Dance Informa Magazine.
Behind the scenes, Erin Slamming serves as lighting director at Ballet Austin, and Brittany Burton is creating an intimate set designed to feel like a backyard or home setting, according to the KEYE report. Hart said she hopes audiences experience a sense of togetherness and community while watching the piece unfold in that stripped-down, homespun atmosphere.
From an Outdoor Farm Premiere to a Downtown Theater Run
Bluegrass Junction did not begin its life indoors. The work originally premiered in October 2021 as an outdoor performance at Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farms in North Austin, accompanied by live music from the Greenlawn Rangers, according to CTX Live Theatre. Its move into the 287-seat AustinVentures StudioTheater, located inside Ballet Austin's Butler Dance Education Center, marks a more formal staging of a piece that started as an open-air, pandemic-era gathering.
Performa/Dance was founded in Austin in 2014 by Hart and Ballet Austin company dancer Edward Carr to present original, exploratory contemporary dance works, according to Performa/Dance. Hart has since received four Austin Critics Table awards for her work with the company, including honors for Best Short Work, Best Choreographer and Best Dance Concert. The organization operates with a mission to highlight exploratory dance works created by women, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ choreographers working alongside artists across multiple disciplines, and its local stage productions receive public grant assistance administered through the City of Austin's Economic Development Department and Cultural Arts Division.
Accessibility Options Available for Saturday Shows
Saturday's performances include accessibility services organized with Art Spark Texas: an ASL-interpreted show at 4:30 p.m. and an Audio Description show at 7:30 p.m. Tickets and additional information are available at performadance.org.
