Staring into the blank eye of the lens, while white words scrolled up on the TelePrompTer, a loud rumble started to shake the studio. There was no thunder clap. It was more like a rolling wave. The grumble lasted what seemed an eternity, but realistically five seconds. The KOLO 8 News Now studios shook. The summer sky opened up.
As the black storm clouds hovered over western Nevada, some were safe indoors from the soaking rain. Like those of us in the studio. But dozens of others braved the silver sheets dropping from the sky in order to dance. Rehearsals continued in the amphitheater of Wingfield Park.
Tonight would be the first night of Dancing in the Park for Artown, the month-long festival in Reno, Nevada celebrating the arts.
Dozens of dancers rehearsing before the 8 p.m. curtain call
Friends were writing me on Facebook, “Will the performance still happen, since it’s raining?” In my seven years of emceeing these events, Dancing in the Park has never been canceled. The show must go on!
What young dancer hasn’t watched 1983’s Flashdance and imagined once of being able to shake the water from their hair? Or dreamt of doing a Grand Jeté while water flies off their pointe?
Alas, that wasn’t meant to be tonight. In typical fashion for Truckee Meadows weather, the thunderstorms rolled through the community and dried up before the 8 p.m. ‘curtain call.’
And the crowds weren’t fazed. The park was filled with spectators wanting to see the Northern Nevada Dance Coalition.
A great crowd showed up in Wingfield Park for the first Dancing in the Park
Taken from stage left before the first Dancing in the Park
Tonight was the first night NNDC performed in Artown’s Dancing in the Park. The troupe, a collage of performers from a number of Reno dance studios including: The Loft Dance Theater Arts, Nevada Dance Academy, SURVE Dance Complex, Damonte High School PAC Program, InnerRhythms, Fairy Tale Ballet, Spiral Ballet and the Galena High School Dance Team.
All local dancers. Performers of various shapes and sizes. From toddlers, to mature women. Sharing their love of movement. The art of expressing emotions with limbs.
Dancing in the Park will be held every Tuesday in July. I will continue to blog about each performance, so please revisit this page.
Next week’s show will be the Sierra Nevada Ballet, including international tap superstar (and a man I truly get giddy around) Sam Weber; Cami Thompson; and former Joffrey principal, Domingo Rubio.
