Comments (1) Best Contemporary Dance Company - 2009
Scorpius Dance Theatre
Lisa Starry gets it.
The artistic director/choreographer for Phoenix's 10-year-old, 20-member-strong Scorpius collective understands that the terms "modern dance" and "interpretive dance" are buzz-kills in a society with a crippled economy and a stunted attention span. That's why Starry gives hesitant Gen Xers and Yers — the folks with the disposable incomes — what they want. And that's a little pop-culture sugar to help the medicine, er, contemporary dance go down.
One of Starry's core influences is Cirque du Soleil. A Vampire Tale, her annual "Nutcracker of Halloween," predated Twilight mania. In general, Starry says her inspiration comes from the movies rather than other choreographers (and those who've seen A Vampire Tale know it's much closer in spirit to Interview with the Vampire than Bella Swan).
"My dream was always to entertain, and that's what is working for Scorpius," she says. We're glad.
