Vertical dance team rocks in Wyoming

Performers dangle from safety gear on wall of granite

Aaron Ontiveroz, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle

Friday, July 28, 2006

CHEYENNE - To the soothing rhythm of an acoustic guitar playing through a black speaker box, Eileen Skidmore floats seamlessly as her feet softly touch the sweltering Sherman granite wall that she dangles from in a harness attached to the end of a bulky climbing rope.

For nearly 10 minutes, Skidmore, a junior theater and dance major, along with her two performance partners, Anna Keller and Katrina Fisher, arabesques with great finesse across the rough and rocky south face of the corroded mountain range at Vedauwoo, outside Laramie.

The rough surface is in significant contrast to the refined splendor of the dance.

The sight of the dancers plieing 40 feet above ground, while attached to specially designed climbing gear, is uncommon in almost every location in the world; but for a group of University of Wyoming players, it is a way of life.

For the past six years, the UW theater and dance department has been pushing the limits of traditional dance and rock climbing to help innovate in their rare form of performance art.

Headed by the team of Margaret Wilson, assistant professor of theater and dance, and Neil Humphrey, professor of geology and geophysics, the UW team is among only a handful of outdoor vertical dance companies in the nation - as well as being the lone university production.

One reason for the lack of outdoor vertical dance companies at universities elsewhere is a pure and simple fact - the dancers involved are undoubtedly at risk if not properly prepared.

During the past 10 years, Humphrey, in connection with the UW machine shop, has made strides in developing the equipment used in his art, while incorporating various devices from other fields such as logging.

Humphrey, still in harness and performance attire, displays a carabiner originally used for hauling logs and explains its significance in comparison to the typical model used by climbers.

"To the unknowing person, these don't look different, but this one," he said, holding the larger of the two, "can actually lift an 18-wheeler off the ground.

"We used to use mostly climbing gear, but we've upgraded to forestry gear because it is much stronger. Safety is an issue, and that is why we've gone to the stronger stuff."

Though the performers of UW know the dangers involved in such activities, many others are unaware of the ample precautions that must be taken for productions to run smoothly.

Since the inception of the UW vertical dance team, dance departments at several universities have expressed interest to Wilson and Humphrey, to which they are given a positive response, but not without warning.

"Most people see it and think, 'Oh wow, we can do that.' We support it, but it has to be the right combination of circumstances," said Humphrey.

"The best example I can think of is Margaret when she is on the phone with these people and she asks, 'Are you willing to have a student die?' It sounds bad, but it has to be a fail-safe."

Each of the performers involved must dance at a level worthy of being among the elite group.

According to Wilson, the selection process is very discerning for reasons related to the desire of wanting her company to work as a top-notch team of performance artists.

"We are pretty selective. They need to have the dancing ability. If you don't know about your body, it is hard to look elegant up there."

Though many factors play in to putting on the three-show set during the summer months when weather conditions are ideal, Skidmore quickly notes that she performs because of her decade-and-a- half love for dance and an interest of experimentation involved with doing something very few people will ever be able to act out.

"I love it - it's fantastic. It is tiring though, but I've never been unhappy with it," Skidmore said.

"It's completely different because you're not working on a traditional surface," she said. "You experience what your body can do on another plane."

"If I have the opportunity, I would do it for a long time," she added. "There is no limit to what you can try out up here."