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Modern American Dance Company To Premiere 'Liquid Roads'

courtesy MADCO

On Friday, April 11 the Modern American Dance Company (MADCO) will premiere “Liquid Roads” at the Touhill. Choreographed by Gina Patterson to music directed by Brian Casserly, the 90 minute work is a celebration of St. Louis as a crossroads of music.

“St. Louis has a tradition of being a crossroads, with the river and also the railroads coming from east and west coming into St. Louis. And all of that brought people, and the people brought their music,” said Casserly.

“Liquid Roads” is the culmination of efforts to develop a work to take on a national tour, said MADCO artistic and executive director Stacy West. The hope is that the piece can become the company’s signature work, akin to Alvin Ailey’s “Revelations.”

Choreographer Gina Patterson said she developed a storyboard for the work after researching Union Station and taking a ride on a river boat.

“I can’t emphasize how much I’ve learned about my own city through this project,” said Stacy, who accompanied Patterson for much of the research. “There were clubs and speakeasies across the street from Union Station…people would get off the train and go to clubs.”

Despite the historical inspiration for “Liquid Roads,” the work is not a period piece.

“We are contemporary artists, but we are influenced by what has come before us, and that’s really the approach that we took in putting the show together,” said Stacy.

“And especially the music too,” said Casserly. “Just taking little pieces of different things and applying them to an idea, a new idea.”

Related Event

MADCO Presents "Liquid Roads"
April 11 and 12, 2014
8:00 p.m.
UMSL's Touhill Performing Arts Center
For more information, call 314-516-4949 or visit the Touhill Performing Arts Center website.

Cityscape is produced by Mary Edwards and Alex Heuer, hosted bySteve Potter and funded in part by the the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, the Regional Arts Commission and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.