Past Works

Poor Man's Boogie
2007



Poor Man’s Boogie is a work that confronts the confinement of the lower class across the rural and urban landscapes of America. Hardship and struggle mingle with and motivate desperate schemes to climb the social ladder. Dependency and lack of social support are frictions exploding in outbursts of resentment and abuse. Wilkins’ treatment of poverty is unashamedly irreverent, showing a milieu of recognizable characters on the edge of extreme situations incurred from a relentless cycle of hunger, powerlessness, and violence. Using a multi-media approach to immerse its audience in this world, the work samples from music that has been the creative fruit of such struggles throughout American history, such as jazz, blues, and hip-hop. It also incorporates footage of the New York subway and rural homesteads of Eastern Washington to assist this compelling story.

Out of the Dust
2005-2006



Out of the Dust played numerous engagements in 2005 and 2006 including premieres in New York at Diane von Furstenberg - The Theater and Baryshnikov Arts Center and in the Seattle area at the Edmonds Center for the Arts and Velocity MainSpace Theater. The work featured the athletic choreography of Daniel Wilkins, stunning costumes personally designed by Diane von Furstenberg, a driving original score by composer Joseph Fraioli aka Datach’i and a projected visual arts installation by Northwest Mysticism pioneer James Martin.

Out of the Dust was aimed at teen literacy and presented in conjunction with the National Education Association’s Read Across America program.

Set in an attic brought to life by the intensely imaginative art of James Martin, the characters (dancers) play abstract figures caught in the recesses of a young persons psyche. Relationships and expressions of angst and love play out in a whirlwind of athletic movement. The characters stumble across books and begin to experience ideas found in the pages, the sense of isolation disappears and community develops.

DASS has an on-going educational program resulting from this work. Please see contact page to enquire further.

Religilistic
2004

Religilistic presents the conflict and beauty of divine worship. The work is set against the background of ceremonial music from Africa to the South Pacific. Choreographer, Daniel Wilkins uses his All-Terrain style of movement to explore world cultures, exposing today's increasing interdependence.

forward pushes us to the edge of the inconceivable physical and creative prowess. forward reveals psychology without narrative, presenting a relentlessly future pushing momentum. Scientific studies are broken down into sections representing swell, trajectory, right & left brain, draft, and others. A pulsating lighting sculpture by Jeff Sugg and computer-generated music is the backdrop that drives the energy of the work.

Love Forever Now is a dance adapted soap opera with lavish characters from Von Constant to Dotty Flowers portraying love affairs, scandals, and cliff hangers. The script includes outrageous twists and turns, psychic readers, jewel thieves, mountain climbers, and star crossed lovers. It is your typical day-time drama portrayed through Daniel's All-Terrain dance vocabulary to create a narrative format.

Haunted House begins with memories of childhood projected in the style of the silent film era. Their natural behavior is reflected on by the narrator (Edgar Oliver), who reveals aspects of the children's lives which threaten to destroy or corrupt their innocence.

In the next scene, the now adult characters are set in a bar. As a jukebox plays, the characters attempt to free themselves from the pressure and tensions that plague them. All characters are marked by their innate sensitivity, as one character is consumed by his drug-induced alternative reality. Finally, an overdose leaves all shocked and grief-stricken. In the light of the dawn, the characters reconnect with their original strengths. They embrace a new simplicity, which reacquaints them with their childhood innocence. The dance evokes images of tribal ceremonies and ancient mythological traditions. The piece shows the physical exhilaration that can be achieved when we celebrate the triumph of self-expression over insecurity.