The members of Molodi are feeling "pretty ambitious"-- at least that's how Juan Carlos Bagnell, one of the step dance group's founding members, describes the group's first full-length show at the Tricklock Theatre.
Imagine, an hour or hour and a half in which most of the rhythms, music and energy are generated entirely by only six dancers bodies. A couple of pieces will have music, just to let the dancers catch their breath.
Highly percussive, step dance is an evolution of a form of dance from South Africa that was stylized through miner and slave culture. It then melded with genres like blues and soft-shoe tap, and was adopted by fraternities and Baptist churches as a form of worship. With the popularity of groups like Stomp and more recently, Step Africa, there has been a resurgence of interest in the step dance form.
Step is not your typical dance style and Molodi is not your typical troupe. Bagnell describes Molodi as the "Grand Step Experiment," pointing to the group's break with tradition -- Molodi is co-ed, multi-racial and not affiliated with any fraternities.
"Molodi" is a word the troupe members invented to capture the inclusive and experimental principals embodied in their mission.
"It's a new word, so it embodies what we are," Bagnell said.
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For years Molodi, which is a spin-off of UNM's Rhythm Cartel, had been performing at a variety of venues, or "any place with enough floor space," as Bagnell put it. Molodi went through a couple of incarnations before it became what it is today. What began as duet appearances in Rhythm Cartel performances became an effort to take step to another level.
"Molodi is like varsity Rhythm Cartel," Bagnell said.
Bagnell was studying tap and flamenco dance and UNM when he just kind of stumbled onto the Rhythm Cartel three years ago. To this day, anyone can stop by the Rhythm Cartel, which is sponsored by BSU, and try it out.
Molodi's performance is comprised of chunks of orchestrated sequences, broken up by variations, solos and improvisation. Not everyone has to be doing the same thing, and because of the improvisational aspect of the dance, the dancers promise a spontaneous performance.
"You're pretty much guaranteed never to see the same show twice," Bagnell said.
The dancers want the audience's response and participation from a good night.
"The idea is really to create a music our audience can participate in, more than showing off your technical ability," Bagnell said. "We get our audience to perform almost as much as we do and that's a good show for us. It's all inclusive."
Molodi will be performing at the Tricklock Theatre at 112 Washington Blvd Dec. 5-15. Show times are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for students and seniors.
