Vanessa Long Dance Company To Premier New Work For 2018-2019 Season

The Vanessa Long Dance Company will be premiering their latest new work "It's Like Anything Else" at their seasons Gala Dec 1st 2018. The Vanessa Long Dance Company combines theatre and dance to create work about social and political issues we face in everyday life.

The hope is that through their work they can encourage conversations about the issues we all face. They believe that in order to see change in our world, we need to encourage conversations. The VLDC's pieces are highly theatrical and all tell a story that illustrates the problem set before us. They aim to create entertaining pieces that engage their audience and motivates them to challenge the status quo.

"It's Like Anything Else" explores the the decline of factory jobs in rural America and the effects on those who's jobs had been lost. The piece focuses on the Reading, PA DANA Corporation plant closure by following one man and his team through their highs and lows.

Audio recording of a once DANA employee shows the camaraderie workers had with each other and the strife experienced once the plant closed. Movement explores literal interpretation mixed with mechanical contemporary movements. Focus is placed on emotion and storytelling throughout the piece. Through this piece's creation the VLDC hopes to shed light and understanding for those individuals who's jobs were lost and the struggle that ensued. The goal is to help others understand that once these rural factory jobs left, there was no longer any place to work.