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Joel Hall: 30 Years of Dance and Style
by Andrew Davis
2004-12-01

This article shared 5573 times since Wed Dec 1, 2004
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Pictured #1 Joel Hall. #2 Joel Hall Dancers Angel Abcede as the Gingerbread Man, Jacquelyn Sanders as Fifi La Chatte, and Chip Payos as a Marionnette puppet. Photo by Jennifer Girard Photography & Chris Harrington Design. #3 Joel Hall dancing at a community benefit. Photo by WCT. Makeda Crayton as SugarRum Cherry from Nuts & Bolts. Photo by Jennifer Girard Photography & Chris Harrington Design

Nuts & Bolts, a visual mosaic that weaves together aspects of hip-hop, jazz, and classical music and dance, will fittingly take place Dec. 9-10 at the Harris Theatre for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph, in Millennium Park. The 10th incarnation of the terpsichorean extravaganza will be all-new in some ways; this production will be the first to incorporate several elements, including an orchestra, a gospel choir—and kids, 60 to be exact. The show will also mark the 30th anniversary of the Joel Hall Dance Company ( JHDC ) .

Joel Hall, the architect of Nuts & Bolts, is the artistic director and principal choreographer of the JHDC as well as the director and chief instructor for his training studio. Hall co-founded the Chicago City Theatre Company in 1972; this organization includes the Chicago City Theatre and the JHDC, which was founded in 1974 and is currently located in Andersonville.

Over three decades, Hall has trained countless dancers and garnered more than his share of awards. He has choreographed films; taught dancers in cities ranging from Detroit to Belfast; and created ballets. The JHDC has received many honors, including the Katherine Dunham Humanitarian Award and the first-ever On-Target Award for Marketing from the Arts & Business Council of Chicago. Hall himself has been named the YMCA Community Achiever of the Year and, in 1993, was inducted into the Chicago Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame.

Hall recently took a few moments to talk to Windy City Times. During the course of the interview, he proved to be far more intriguing and nuanced than any sequence he could choreograph.

Windy City Times: Thirty years ... how does it feel?

Joel Hall: It feels like I guess it should feel after 30 years. It feels like I've certainly put in the time and effort. It feels great and wonderful to still be with an organization that's headed by an African-American gay man, which is an unusual feat anywhere.

I [ also ] feel very blessed to still be able to do what I do and to direct young minds. There are now people one and two generations under me who are learning this craft—and directing them to that next level of expertise and professionalism is just a wonderful experience.

We've moved quite a bit. We were at the Fine Arts Building ( 410 S. Michigan ) and have moved about five or six times during our 30-year period. This is our sixth year here at this space—so it's been an interesting journey. Every day is more interesting than the last. I can't wait to get here and I don't like to leave at the end of the day. What's good is that everyone else—including the directors and the students—feels the same way.

WCT: You co-founded the school with Joseph Ehrenberg. What was he like?

JH: He was 20 years older than myself. When I met him, I was in my 20s and he was in his 40s; he was this gorgeous man with gray hair who I thought was very attractive. We ended up spending 23 years together before he passed away in 1994.

Joseph was very jovial. He was also articulate, educated, and very well-versed regarding the world. He was one of the city's greatest directors during that period of theater [ the 1970s ] . He was very giving and didn't ask for much from people outside of loyalty. He was a class act. It's rare now to find someone so old-school.

He was the theater aspect of the organization and I was the dance aspect. It was and is still called the Chicago City Theatre Company. Joseph would direct classically oriented plays—written by William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw, for example—and we would audition Black and Hispanic actors from all over the city for our productions. At that time ( 1975 ) , African-Americans were not on very many stages in Chicago; we were setting a precedent in terms of Blacks and performances.

WCT: What's the biggest difference in dance that you've noticed between the time you started the center and now?

JH: Well, the biggest overall difference that I've noticed is that there seems to be a lot more of it—although, in the past, there was more attention to it. Now, since there's so much of it, only a few groups get the attention.

Keep in mind that I'm talking about the South Side and the West Side groups. Everyone's heard of Joffrey Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance; hopefully, people have heard of Joel Hall. However, there are other people, like Julian Swain and the teachers at Najwa [ Dance Corps at Malcolm X College ] who have set precedents in dance for people of color—and they are the reasons that I'm able to do what I do.

I came up in the period when there were only three prominent Black males in the city: Joseph Holmes, Alyo Tolbert, and myself. [ The late Tolbert was the founder and artistic director of Muntu Dance Theatre and has a children's dance group named after him. Holmes founded Joseph Holmes Dance and died of AIDS complications in the mid 1980s. ] We would hang out together and went to places like New York City.

WCT: Has your sociology degree [ from Northeastern Illinois University ] helped you?

JH: I think any degree helps a person because I think that the whole idea of getting a degree is becoming informed. To that extent, it's helped because [ the courses ] opened whole areas of the world that I would not have noticed otherwise.

It also opened up other areas of culture. I'm a child of Cabrini-Green, so I'm out of the ghetto. However, I actually went to integrated schools; there was a mixture of Black and white students in the 1950s. [ For instance, ] I went to a school called Sexton in which there were Black, white, and even Gypsy students. Therefore, to assimilate outside of my neighborhood culture was pretty easy. So my degree in sociology was a result of my experience with life. I felt like I wanted to concentrate my efforts toward the study of society. I also did some graduate work in social science; however, just before my thesis, I started Chicago City Theater Company. The company then became the most important thing.

WCT: Some people assume that it's easy being gay in the world of dance. Is it?

JH: Well ... that's an excellent question because most people assume that most dancers are gay; a lot of the men are not. So, gayness has never been a problem within dance companies; however, it's been other people's problem outside of the companies. I've always looked at gayness as a very natural part of my life; I always knew—I didn't have to 'discover' anything.

I've never been able to relate with people who've struggled with the dilemma of being gay—but I sympathize with them.

Now I do think that there's a discrepancy between Blacks and whites in terms of opportunities and jobs. There's a problem for minorities in terms of what clients want to see.

WCT: So, with Swan Lake ...

JH: If you see a black swan, she's in a black costume, OK? I think that reflects how we've been trained to see culture. However, when you break those rules, somehow you become an oddity and you're on the outskirts of society. I don't mind [ being on the edge ] because it motivates me. I train young minds about how the world is and what we have to do so we can create dance schools, dance companies, and businesses that service dance. The whole situation is an opportunity, not a negative.

If you look at this organization from the top to the bottom, you would see a Benetton ad. You would see America.

WCT: How did AIDS impact the dance community in the 1980s and how does it affect it today?

JH: Well, AIDS will affect the dance community for generations. In the 1980s, our culture lost a whole generation of artists, so the repercussions expand beyond the current generation. That's why it's important the artists who are still here pass on information accurately, because art does lead culture.

A vast amount of people were lost, including a whole segment of the dance community —including artists whose work you'll never see. People don't really realize the impact that AIDS has had on our culture and the world community at large. If people aren't around to perpetuate information, then there's a dearth of it.

Right now, you can see [ the effects of AIDS ] in terms of men being attracted to dance. Back in the '70s and '80s, I had 20 men in class along with 20 women. Now, having boys in class is rare. You have to hang on to them and hope that they stay around long enough to stay. It's a difficult situation for men—and especially gay men.

WCT: What choreographers have influenced you?

JH: Of course, there's Alvin Ailey. Some other people would be Ulysses Dove, Alonzo King, Paul Sanasardo ( one of my mentors ) , Talley Beatty, John Cranko, Martha Graham ( certainly ) , Lester Horton, and Sir Kenneth MacMillan. You'll notice that most of those people are men because the dance world is choreographed and run primarily by men.

WCT: How would you define dance?

JH: I define dance as the heartbeat and the rhythm. Dance is life. It continues to evolve and will be here after we leave. Dance crosses all cultural barriers; I can't speak Chinese but I can take my dance company [ to China ] and get a standing ovation.

I look at dance as a social science. I see sociology and choreography as almost being synonymous. I still consider myself a social scientist even though I'm a choreographer.

WCT: Is there anything you want to say in conclusion?

JH: Thank you for letting me have a voice. Also, I would like all of the children to support us. It's important that the gay and lesbian community support its own.

The Joel Hall Dance Center is located at 1511 W. Berwyn, ( 773 ) 293-0900.

Nuts & Bolts is scheduled to run Dec. 9-10. For more information or tickets, call the Harris Theatre box office at ( 312 ) 334-7777 or visit www.madtchi.com .


This article shared 5573 times since Wed Dec 1, 2004
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