By Sameena Darr
What happened to people dancing because they just felt the funk in their trunk? Shakin’ it because they meant it? Feeling the groove in their step, the soul in their heart, and the freaky in their deaky?
Music videos may be littered with emotionless butts bumping and humping to mindless beats, but Roxana Menzies, performer and choreographer of Fairy Tales of Funk recognizes the commercialized bastardization of her art form.
“People have a misconception of hip hop and what dancing is,” says Menzies. “This show is deeper than a music video. This is true funk.”
Menzies explains the essence of funk dance, “Basically finding that groove in the music. It’s that seventies funk, that soul.”
A teacher at Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and first time director, she describes the performances. “[It’s] a wild, creative show. There’s elements of hip hop, funk, contemporary, [and] African influence all kinda mixed together. It’s a show built on various stories.”
Some of the stories in Fairy Tales of Funk reflect Menzies Jamaican roots. “There is a piece called ‘Duppi Dance’ and ‘Duppi’ means ‘ghost’ in Caribbean terms, so we have this Jamaican ska music and this whole tale takes place,” she says.
Fairy Tales of Funk features a unique score including the musical stylings of Calgary hip hop crew Internal Affairs and Montreal based artist Matt Reid. “[Reid] is an amazing, talented young man [who] produces beats and music. He gave me a CD and his blessings.”
Other music in the show includes Brazilian beats, ska, spoken word, and Missy Elliot. “I’m a big fan of Missy Elliot, ” confesses Menzies, “She is someone I would love to work with.”
With such a variety of dance styles used in the production, Menzies expresses her gratitude for her fellow performers. “I’m really lucky I have a great group of dancers. I tend to choreograph very cardio pieces. They all scream about their quads quite a bit!”
Menzies company, Roxmen Productions, was spawned from the desire to produce Fairy Tales of Funk independently. And she remains emphatic about the future of her production company.
“I don’t want a dance company. I like the idea of working with new bodies and new ideas and different styles,” she says.
Fairy Tales of Funk promises to be an evening of innovation where you won’t be able to resist that natural groove. Even without that lacking of butt humping and bumping. Menzies adds with a laugh, “There’ll be some other mad shit!”