By Hannah Ross

In 55-minute increments, the Capital Dance Project dancers take arabesques and pirouettes from concept to blocking — scuttling across the floor on pointe to mark movements to an electronically-infused composition by Chris Benstead. 

Every hour, a new choreographer takes the lead; a CDP member might be a dancer at 3 p.m. and direct at 4 p.m. During breaks the ensemble stretches, and works on festival logistics. 

Rehearsal is underway and there is no time to spare. Behind the Barre, CDP’s annual showcase, is just four weeks away.

In its 10th year, Capital Dance Project has solidified itself as a uniquely Sacramento arts and culture experience for its scrappiness, collaborative ethos and unique approach to traditional forms. At Behind the Barre, slated for Sept. 6 and 7 at The Red Museum, attendees can expect a multimedia multiform approach to ballet; and beer from New Helvetia and wine from Bogel Wineries, of course. 

Dancers collaborate with local visual artists to create fresh experiences that blend visuals and movement. This year, the company will debut seven original pieces and accompanying works of art. There will also be a finale featuring a score by violinist and composer Joe Kye, and a restaging of “Sympathy for Heartbreak” by founding CDP member Rex Wheeler with sculptures by Melissa and Melinda Arendt. 

In total, CDP will take nine pieces from concept to performance in under a month.

In the decade since its debut, certain quirks that date back to CDP’s origin have become celebrated parts of its tradition for participating artists; like the shortened production cycle. Originally a product of a 2015 Sacramento Ballet season cut short for financial reasons, and the CDP founding dancers’ vision to give the canceled “Beer and Ballet” show — that typically caps the Sacramento Ballet’s season — a stage, the cycle now gives an air of whirlwind urgency to the dancers’ off-seasons. The production offers dancers the opportunity to jeté from stage to stagehand, from public relations liaison to graphic designer and from choreographer to light master. 

“CDP’s identity, aside from putting on the performance, is that we’ve maintained that structure of working together as a collective of dancers and keeping the company as a uniquely dancer-run project. I think a lot of us realized quickly that we have interests in all these other areas,” said Julia Feldman, founding member of CDP, pointing to areas like development, fundraising and production management where dancers have expanded their skillsets. “Especially for dancers, our careers are really short, and we don’t always get opportunities like this to explore what we might be interested in … beyond dancing and choreographing.”

The costumes, for example, are a product of a decade of CDP-fostered sewing and design exploration for founding member Kaori Higashiyama. Higashiyama, who has danced with the Sacramento Ballet for 12 years, developed her costume design skills as the key costumer for all Behind the Barre performances. Her work with CDP has added new layers to her dance career. She has since contributed costumes to Texture Contemporary Ballet, Smuin Ballet, and Richmond Ballet, among others, and will continue costume work when she eventually retires from dance. 

“If you just dance in the ballet company, I feel like it’s always somehow under pressure, and you are stuck with one ballet. So [with CDP] it’s more possibility,” Higashiyama said. “It’s one of my favorite times of the year, just creating the show ourselves is such a rewarding experience and every year I feel like I learn so much … it keeps me growing and growing.”

In honor of the 10th anniversary, Higashiyama will be upcycling pieces from the seven boxes of stockpiled costumes she’s made during her time with CDP. 

Like the costumes, CDP has sustained many of its traditions. There are six original founding members still dancing with the company and collaboration with visual artists still drives all the pieces they present.

“We wanted to make this performance more than just a dance show, but really a showcase of Sacramento’s creative art scene,” Feldman said, citing the Art Hotel as an example of other immersive art experiences they sought to emulate through their collaborative approach to dance. “If you are not aware of the art scene in Sacramento, this event has it all in one place. The Sacramento art scene is just full of so much talent and creativity. More than anything, we just want to showcase as much of it as we can and hopefully there’s something for everyone in the show.”

Ember de Boer, a multidisciplinary sculpture artist and artist-in-residence with the City of Sacramento, is collaborating with founding CDP member Richard Smith and said she feels that opportunities like this are indicative of the collaborative and scrappy nature of Sacramento’s art scene.

“Taking opportunities to work in environments that only make you want to be better at what you do are the bread and butter of why I enjoy being an artist,” de Boer, who is in her second year as a collaborating artist, said. “[I like] when Sacramento embraces its ability to launch things like this. [CDP] was a response to a lack of opportunity that has now created 10 years of opportunity in a different direction, there’s something very Sacramento about that.”

Melissa Uroff, a fourth-year collaborator working with Mesa Burdick on a light installation, said that working in CDP’s collaborative setting is a fun challenge.

“When you find each other like that and work together, it builds your strengths. It makes you have a sense of purpose. It makes you feel good. If I was just in my studio, making art by myself all the time I’d probably be really sad,” Uroff said, “I love having community and reaching out and working together.”

Behind the Barre attendees can also expect to see new work by Franceska Gamez, Sunya Whitelight, Andrew Cunningham, Sarah Hendricks, and Shaun Burner. 

Prior to performances, and during intermission, attendees can browse a Maker’s Mart populated by local artists and peek into neighboring open artists’ studios — where a handful of participating artists work. Performances will be introduced by films by Natalie Manning that highlight the collaborative nature and fast-paced development of the pieces during the 4-week production cycle. 

CDP is not afraid to set new traditions either. Last year, they moved venues from the Crest Theater to The Red Museum, an open-air amphitheater that CDP essentially builds from scratch that offers both grass seating (attendees are encouraged to bring picnic blankets) and stadium seating.

“It’s more friendly for the audience: coming to the theater, watching ballet, being outdoors, people are having fun in the sitting grass and having beer, it’s a nice vibe,” Higashiyama said.

Though the move was a big physical undertaking, Feldman said the more experimental space drew a new crowd to the festival. “We always want to make sure that we have accessible ticket prices and that we’re building an environment for people to come and discover ballet in a way that they never maybe thought would exist, and hopefully get some more dance fans in Sacramento,” Feldman said.

CDP is also celebrating its third year partnering with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento, a community outreach program that brings students to rehearsal, offers one-on-one work with professional dancers and provides sponsored tickets for students and their families to Behind the Barre.

“I feel grateful that we kind of have a milestone to give us a chance to stop and look back, because it’s gone by really fast,” Feldman said. “When it gets to the performances, there’s this huge feeling of accomplishment. Putting a ballet together alone is an exceptional amount of work, but with this show we had our hands in every element. It just makes it that much more special and fulfilling, there’s something really beautiful about that.”

This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. Solving Sacramento is supported by funding from the James Irvine Foundation and the James B. McClatchy Foundation. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19.