Ten choreographers will have a chance to perform dance pieces — with only 16 square feet to do so. 
The Manship Theatre is presenting “Ten Tiny Dances” tonight at the Hartley/Vey Studio Theatre. 
“Ten Tiny Dances” is the creation of Mike Barber, a Portland dancer and choreographer. The pieces challenge choreographers and dancers to create pieces confined to a 4-by-4 foot stage.  
Mina Estrada, education and outreach coordinator at the Manship Theatre, is co-curating the event with fellow dancer and choreographer CoCo Loupe. The two decided to bring the event to the Manship Theatre after Loupe
introduced the idea to Estrada. 
Loupe, a dance teacher at the University of Southern Mississippi, met Barber in 2007 in Scotland while working on another project. 
After discovering Barber had this “Ten Tiny Dances” format, Loupe became intrigued by the idea. Barber allows the format to be used all over the world, as long as the choreographers contact him, ask permission and build their own stage. Loupe then brought the idea to Estrada, as the two wanted to hold a concert but didn’t have the time or resources to put together a full stage event.
“I said, ‘Why don’t we try a “Ten Tiny Dances” concert and see what this community thinks of it and whether or not artists are interested in doing it,’” Loupe said. “So, we did one in September, and it was amazing. We had a great turnout.” 
Now, the pair are holding another “Tiny Dance,” at the request of Manship Theatre executive director Renee Chatelain.
Estrada said she continues to produce and participate in “Ten Tiny Dances” because it provides choreographers an opportunity to do something
innovative and difficult.  
“I love the idea of new structures and different challenges for artists,” Estrada said. “It’s a fun game. You get to have a tiny stage, and you get to figure out how to deal with that tiny stage, how many people do you want to put on that tiny stage.”
Loupe and Estrada will be choreographing their own pieces, in addition to being featured in some of the other eight choreographers’ pieces. 
For Loupe’s piece, she will attempt to fit eight people on the 4-by-4 foot stage, including herself, as part of her storyline. The piece is about adding people to her dance and is titled “more than one.”
“For this Tiny Dance, I’m exploring the idea of always being alone in life and that getting reflected in my work as a solo,” Loupe said. “It goes from being a solo, to a duet, to a trio, to a quartet, until we have as many people jammed on the stage as possible to help me not be lonely.”
Loupe has made four Tiny Dances and said her process is different for each one, but what is similar in each is her consideration of the “tiny” aspect of the dance.
In Loupe’s Tiny Dances, all but the first of them have been solos she’s performed herself. The first was a dance she choreographed for a trio of
women. 
“What is common for all of my approaches for each dance is that I’m considering the restrictions of the stage and either really celebrating the restrictions or trying to subvert them in some way,” Loupe said.  
She comes up with a structure in her mind or a tone, look or mood that she wants to set and then explores the edges of the space and what her body can do inside a 4-by-4 foot space. 
Loupe said these performances change the perception of dance. People are so used to seeing dance on big stages in a formal way. She said she believes the expectations of dance are set in place already, but “Ten Tiny Dances” jumbles expectations and tips them over.  
“People think they’re going to be small and boring, but no, they’re small and exciting,” Loupe said. “Everything is condensed and concentrated. It highlights the body and the movement a lot, and it’s really remarkable.”
The limitations of the stage actually make for a broader range of ideas and imagination for the choreographers and the audience, which Loupe said she believes is the complete opposite of what many would think. 
Estrada calls the event, at its core, an exercise in problem-solving for both the dancers and the audience. 
Estrada said choreographers are problem-solving as they are creating the piece. The problem-solving process is ongoing because then the performers are on a tiny stage, so the audience will get to witness problem-solving through artistic process.
“There’s going to be beautiful artists who have challenged themselves to work inside of a very strict structure,” Estrada said. “It’s drawing in a diverse collective to showcase something bizarre and wonderful.”
“Ten Tiny Dances” opens at the Manship Theatre tonight at 7:30 p.m. The event is $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
You can reach Kayla Randall on Twitter @kay_ran21.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Javier Fernández

Co-Curator of Ten Tiny Dances CoCo Loupe and Mina Estrada alongside Head of Dance at LSU give dirctions to performers Anna Schawab, and LSU sophomore in Apparel Design Jillian Keiffer during practice on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015 at the Manship Theatre.