Preview: REpurpose at Group Acorde

It’s not unusual for Roberta Paixão Cortes and Lindsey McGill, two of the four founding members of Group Acorde, to find themselves responsible for producing, directing, dancing, and even administrative duties when they mount a show, making time their greatest adversary.

“I would say that’s the biggest challenge that we encounter most,” says Paixão Cortes.

This week, when Group Acorde opens REpurpose at Houston Met Dance, an intimate evening of dance featuring first-time collaborator Jasmine Hearn’s “A cave in the moon,” it will be a duet, set to an original sound score by Group Acorde Musical Director Thomas Helton, that’s been years in the making. That’s how long Paixão Cortes and fellow Group Acorde founder Lindsey McGill have been crossing paths with Hearn at Houston Met Dance, where the interdisciplinary artist studied and danced.   

“I would see them as I’m leaving or coming in,” says Paixão Cortes. “And in Group Acorde, we are always looking for ways of collaborating with artists we have some sort of admiration for, or that we know. So, that’s how the little seed was planted.”

At the same time, Group Acorde was exploring the idea of doing something at the Houston Met Dance, with its high ceilings and multi-purpose spaces, which host classes and art installations.

“It’s a space that has a lot of potential to be like a theater,” says Paixão Cortes.

Everything came together after Paixão Cortes saw Hearn’s Memory Fleet: A Return to Matr, produced by DiverseWorks and performed at the Met.

“I actually came to see it, and I saw a transformation of this space that I have been craving to do with Group Acorde,” says Paixão Cortes.

For their first collaboration with Hearn, Paixão Cortes says they wanted to create something small and intimate. Then, an interesting question came up as they discussed creating a set.

“What about if we use recycled material?” recalls Paixão Cortes.

The use of recycled materials has long been a staple of Group Acorde’s work, with Paixão Cortes noting that visual artist Andre Amaral, a Group Acorde board member and graphic designer, has often contributed works made from recycled materials to their sets, and even uses recycled ink to paint with. For “A cave in the moon,” Paixão Cortes turned to Allison Miller, a former Houston Ballet first soloist and longtime Group Acorde collaborator.

Usually a costumer, REpurpose will mark Miller’s debut as set designer.

“We approached her with this idea, and she was game,” says Paixão Cortes. “There’s a lot of experimentation with Group Acorde, and, specifically with this piece, I think it wouldn’t work if it wasn’t someone really game.”

Materials were sourced, including from the City of Houston’s Reuse Warehouse, to develop the set.

“It was whatever she put her hands on, a lot of things that would go to the trash,” says Paixão Cortes. “And then we pitched that to [Hearn].”

As much of Hearn’s work is about not being wasteful, Paixão Cortes considers it “kind of like a coincidence, but not really that that came together.”

“They have a [costume] library in the sense that people would be able to wear them and then return them,” says Paixão Cortes. “They believe that the garments hold a lot of memory in them, and so we’re going to be wearing those garments as well.”

With the set and costumes coming together, the attention turned to movement, and Paixão Cortes says, Hearn has “a very unique voice.”

“I think they came into this project with us looking at our language, at how much we already hold the language in our bodies, even if it’s not something that is choreographed,” says Paixão Cortes. “I think that’s why they talk about melding ballet and improvisation and dances of the familiar, because a lot of their work is around memory and how our bodies hold memory, and how our movement is informed by this memory that our bodies hold.”

Not only is Hearn’s voice unique, Paixão Cortes says this work is also unique for Group Acorde.

“We’re always trying to find ways to call different people to our shows and to get involved with our company. So, I think artistically, it has never been the same. We have never done a show that felt like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re going to do this again,’” says Paixão Cortes. “We’re very proud of always trying something different.”

Following the performance, audiences are encouraged to stay for a Q&A with the artists.

“Right now, art is so important to not only entertain, but also for human connection,” says Paixão Cortes. “People will come in, and they will experience this. They’re going to be a part of this world for less than 30 minutes, and then they will be able to sit down and ask us questions, talk to us, and get a feel for how the piece was created, how the elements were created, and how they came together.”

This is especially important now, Paixão Cortes says, outside forces are “trying to push the arts away.”

“That’s because the arts do something. They make people feel. They make people experience,” says Paixão Cortes. “There’s something special about when artists come together, when art mediums come together, and what they can create and provide as an experience for people when they turn off their cell phones and take time to be with something live.

“It’s easy right now to get desensitized by all the things that we see happening in the world and then get isolated. I think art has the magical power to bring people together. Even if they come by themselves, they will experience something, and when they leave, my hope – Group Acorde’s hope – is that there’s some connection that person made to someone, something, or themselves.”

REpurpose is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday, August 29, and Saturday, August 30, and 5 p.m. Sunday, August 31, at Houston Met Dance, 4916 Main. For more information, visit groupacorde.org. $20.

Tickets will be available at the door, but advance purchase is recommended as each performance is limited to 25 seats.