Cangelosi tour has music for everyone

• By ROBIN MILLER
• Arts writer
• Published: Jun 26, 2009

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Alex better be careful what he labels old, especially when it comes to music.

The warning is issued by one of his fellow dancers, maybe two of them. Identities aren’t so clear now, because faces are somehow blurred by a flurry of giggles.

Heck, it’s understandable. Everyone here falls between the ages of 14 and 24, so disco naturally will sound like an ancient subject.

So, Alex Cotton — he’s the sole male dancer in Cangelosi Dance Project’s summer tour cast — what genre of music do you consider old?

Would it be the 1940s swing music to which you’ll be dancing at the libraries or 1950s rock ’n’ roll? Or would it be the Mamas and the Papas hits of the 1960s?

Or would it, indeed, be disco?

Cotton smiles. Sure, his fellow dancers have warned him to be careful in forming his answer, but the truth is, he’s well-versed with all the music incorporated into the Cangelosi Dance Project’s City OUTreach Community Summer Tour 2009.

The tour begins Wednesday, July 1, and continues through Thursday, July 16, in libraries throughout East Baton Rouge Parish. The dance company also will offer two Community Performances, the first on July 18 at The Red Shoes and the second on July 19 at Baton Rouge Gallery.

The latter two performances will include works from the company’s 2008-09 season, including the Kris Cangelosi-choreographed piece Breathe With Us, which will be performed on July 22 at the Harris Theatre Jazz Dance World Congress in Chicago.

And speaking of Kris Cangelosi, she’s founder, owner and director of this dance company, one of 20 from throughout the world invited to perform at the World Congress. So, it’s imperative that dancers rehearse on this particular Sunday afternoon. Which is what they were doing before the break, when Cotton began speculating about which music he classifies as old.

“Actually, I’ve been listening to all of the music we’re dancing to all my life,” Cotton said. “I already knew the swing music from my grandmother, and my cousin’s always been into music from the ’70s and ’80s. So none of it is old to me.”

Good answer.

“No, really,” he said. “It’s not old to me.”