Local dance company to interpret ‘7 deadly sins’

How are the seven deadly sins being interpreted these days?

The Windfall Dancers, an 11-member company, will perform their concept of them – envy, sloth, gluttony, greed, lust, pride and wrath – this weekend and next weekend at the troupe’s annual show. The content is not suitable for young children because of rough language, according to Tom Slater, the director and a choreographer for the show.  

The performance, “The Seven Deadly Sins,” will consist of eight primarily modern-style pieces and a theater arts piece each done by a different choreographer from the company, said Kay Olges, company member and choreographer. Two narrators play fictional characters, lecture between pieces and interact with the dancers at the end of the show.

The characters will give a historic background about the sins over time and how the concepts have been utilized by various leaders to try to control people, Olges said.

The theme “Seven Deadly Sins” was part of Windfall’s plans for more than a year, and was built upon the idea that the sins have evolved throughout the years, said Slater, who is also a World Exhibition Champion.

“I found that the sins have changed through political manipulation,” Slater said. “They were never in the Bible, and they are truly separate from biblical texts.”

He later added, “This allows them to change over the years, from demonic
possessions to gay pride. We are taking a non-dogmatic approach. We aren’t making a judgment about anything,” he said.

Olges said the performance feels more intimate in a location as small as the Firebay at the John Waldron Arts Center.

“It makes me feel more connected,” she said. “You lose the closeness in a big stage.”
Olges also said the choreographers shared a similar inspiration for creating their pieces.

“We discover that things are realist issues,” Olges said. “Just merely acquiring isn’t necessarily bad, but when you start acquiring things excessively, as far as greed goes, as I thought about it, they become a burden with each acquisition.”

Harmony Jankowski, company member and IU faculty member, said “America’s Next Top Model” became an inspiration for her piece about pride.

“Pride isn’t considered a sin now, but when it becomes arrogance or cultural arrogance, then it can become violent and bad,” Jankowski said.

As for her experience with the show, Jankowski found summarizing it easy.
“It’s been fun, a lot of rehearsals.”