More News

Tony Powell is not a butcher, baker or candlestick maker. But he has most of the creative arts bases covered – in spades. The 40-year-old Silver Spring resident is a prolific and acclaimed choreographer, composer and photographer, who also paints, sculpts, makes films and does graphic design.

Powell's professional career began at age 9 when he danced, acted and sang in a six-month European tour of the Broadway musical "Raisin." Since then, he graduated from The Juilliard School, spent a decade directing his own company, Tony Powell//Music & Movement, created more than 100 ballets for groups including The Joffrey Ballet, The Washington Ballet, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, The Maryland Youth Ballet and Ballet Theatre of Maryland, and wrote three scores for the Parsons Dance Company.

At present, Powell earns a living as a regularly contributing photographer for both Washington Life Magazine and Vogue Magazine. While that might be enough for most artists, in terms of inspiration and time, it's clearly not the case for this eminently energetic man. He is also composing his fifth string quartet – the fourth won the first-ever Metro DC Dance Award for Original Music – and planning a solo show of his photography, video and digital art set for March at Tysons Corner's Habatat Galleries.

"I'm feeling very hopeful," says Powell, "because I am working on many, many different things. All disciplines are being tapped."

But, it seems, even all that is inadequate. For January, Powell has set a pair of challenges for himself as choreographer. The first is creating "Las Mujeres" (The Women"), a new ballet for the four women of Piel Morena (Tanned Skin) Contemporary Dance in Chicago within eight four-hour rehearsals. He feels his half-Brazilian heritage helped him secure the gig for the Latina troupe. The plan was to use percussive Japanese music to express Latin themes and "exemplify my rhythmic nature." But on day six, he opted for an unprecedented complete change and substituted music by a Brazilian body percussion group. He describes Barbatuques as "a hybrid of a cappella vocal maneuverings and amplified body slapping." The world premiere of "Las Mujeres" is set for June 25 to 27 at Chicago's Vittum Theater.

Upon returning to Maryland, Powell's mission will be to create a ballet that will have its world premiere on Saturday at Baltimore Ballet's 10-year anniversary gala. The first ballet made especially for the company will be completed within just 30 hours during a six-day period. Typically, Powell has two to two-and-a-half weeks, or three times as much time, to create a new piece.

"It's my first major piece of choreography to be seen in the area since my company disbanded in 2002," Powell points out. "The piece will be premiered the day after the sixth rehearsal because the dancers are from major companies and are only ‘off' for the week."

Powell will work with four couples, including dancers Katherine Williams, Jennifer Whalen and Devon Teuscher from American Ballet Theatre. The 12-minute ballet, Powell says, "is all I think about." With so little time, he had to "think clearly, plan heavily, be more certain of what I'm going to do," with "well thought out phrases, a climax and a denouement" in place.

As such, he took advantage of technology, following in the late dancer-choreographer Merce Cunningham's footsteps. Powell used a computer program "to try things out, to see the dancers in 3-D, to watch from different perspectives, to try out complicated designs."

Powell is designing the costumes and the lighting as well as the choreography, and is using music composed by Max Richter, Joby Talbot and Paul Mottram.

This ballet, Powell says, "will be more emotional instead of relying on physicality to carry the piece. With dancers of this caliber and experience, I want to tap into their emotive side ... into a dimension that very young dancers might not yet have."

He plans to explore "the potential of partnering – how far can I go? What are the possibilities of three men partnering [with] one woman?"

About his working title "In Between Time," Powell acknowledges, "Of course, there is no such thing. For me, it's a reflection on lost love and the potential for future loves, thinking about time wasted that's not good for me, [time spent] vulnerable, worrying, desperately holding on to the notion of riding the feeling out."

The dance, he says, will convey his feeling of "optimism desperate for a venue to express [itself]." He sees his life as "a continuum," in which the "pendulum has swung toward optimism, beauty, gratitude for new friendships, learning from the time I was vulnerable, [feeling] deep gratitude for having gone through something and come out the other side."

"Figuring it out," he concludes, "will come in making the dance."

The 10 Year Anniversary Gala of the Baltimore Ballet, directed by Cem and Elysabeth Catbas, will be on stage at The Lyric Opera House, 140 West Mount Royal Ave., Baltimore, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6. For tickets, ranging from $22 to $72, call Ticketmaster, 800-745-3000. For information on the Baltimore Ballet, visit www.baltimoreballet.org.