Ballet benefit's long run

Fifteen years ago, after AIDS invaded the dance world, a group of Pennsylvania Ballet dancers wanted to use their talents to help out - but how?

They talked and talked, until one of them suggested they just "shut up and dance."

Which they did, in the form of a benefit performance, Shut Up and Dance, but with a twist: The dancers produced the show, and did all the choreography, something most had not done before.

The money raised went to Manna, an organization begun two years earlier to provide meals to people who were suffering from HIV and AIDS.

Today, Manna has expanded its reach to feed people with many life-threatening illnesses, including cancer and advanced heart disease.

And Shut Up and Dance is still going strong. The 15th annual performance will be Saturday night at the Forrest Theatre.

Two weeks before show time, three of the nine dancer/choreographers sat in a conference room at Pennsylvania Ballet headquarters, nervously discussing all they had yet to do.

"This year's show seems a little more down to the wire, as far as schedules," said Tara Keating, the soloist who is producing the show for a second year. "Everyone has been so busy with the premiere of Carmina [Burana] and Serenade that it's been hard for people to fit in rehearsals and get everybody organized."

Hawley Rowe, a corps de ballet dancer who is choreographing for the second time, said she often considered giving it a go before raising her hand last year.

"Every year I didn't, and I was getting bitter and jealous," she said. She would think, "I would like to do that. Why can't I do that?"

But, as wonderful as she felt last year on performance day, Rowe almost chickened out again this time. Keating talked her down.

"I said, 'Do it for the cause,' " Keating said. "It's not about you, it's about Manna."

With that in mind, Rowe gave herself a break. "Mine's a fluff piece," she said. "I'm just using Eartha Kitt music, 'I Want to Be Evil.' Last year I made my piece longer; I wanted to say something. This year I decided I wanted to have fun with it."

This year's Shut Up and Dance is expected to bring in $130,000 to $150,000, said Richard Keaveney, Manna's executive director. "That's roughly about 30,000 meals. And we're serving about 400,000-plus meals a year right now."

Pennsylvania Ballet apprentice Ian Hussey said he was enjoying his first attempt, fitting a contemporary piece to classical music, even if it was a bit of a trial by fire. "I've had people keep coming in and dropping out and coming in and dropping out. I'm pretty sure I have a set cast now."

He said he might like to choreograph more in the future, "if I'm good at it. If I stink, no."

Corps dancer Jermel Johnson is very interested in choreography. He got a jump-start this year, choosing his music and dancers in November.

"I can't stop moving," he said. "So I thought it would be fun to see what it actually looks like on people."

Johnson described his piece as "a little bit of everything. It's basically a little contemporary-modern work. There's going to be some ballet, and there's also some street dancing. And there's a little bit of ballroom-type dancing."

At six minutes long and featuring seven dancers, Johnson's work is ambitious. Rowe and Hussey chose music just over three minutes long and have two and three dancers, respectively.

"If it's really bad, the audience has to sit through seven minutes of bad choreography," Rowe said, only half kidding about why she chose shorter music this year. "If it's bad and it's only three minutes - "

But Shut Up and Dance has had many successes, most prominently opening the door for Matthew Neenan, Pennsylvania Ballet's de facto resident choreographer. The first piece he ever made was for this show 10 years ago.

Besides, Keating said, this is a safe opportunity to try something new. "The good thing about the night is that everyone loves everything," she said. "One thing that inspires people to choreograph is that everything is so well-received; there's such a high energy that you can do no wrong."

Keaveney agrees. "Shut Up and Dance is our first signature event of this season, and it's my favorite. It really is a fun, fun night. It just moves me spiritually."