The Moxie Performance Art Festival was part of the third annual Art in April with Champagne, which was sponsored by the Hammond Downtown Development District. On Friday, April 20 the shops and restaurants of Downtown Hammond played host to a celebration of culture and arts.

Members of the Moxie Dance Project showed patrons and pedestrians a version of modern performance art. The routine was choreographed by instructor Dana Brewer-Plazinac, Allison Orr of Forklift Danceworks, Inc. and students in the group. Through their dance, they were telling a story.

“Some was tango, some was instrumental music that I use for class. I try to find pieces of music that are unfamiliar, and I try to use instrumental music so that the dancers actually covey the message of the music through their dance,” said Brewer-Plazinic.  

This was the groups’ first performance at Art in April, but they have danced at numerous other festivals including Hot August Night and Art and All That Jazz.

“We are the performance art component of the art that is showcased tonight.  The downtown businesses are exhibiting local art to foster art appreciation,” said Brewer-Plazinic. “We will be dancing among the patrons and pedestrians.”

The dancers started out at the Columbia Theatre. The dancing was focused on sharp movements, improvisational poses and also interacting with the audience. They then danced across the street to the Hammond Regional Arts Center, and then down the way to Red, White and Brew. The group finished the night dancing through Mariner’s and around the block to Brady’s, and stopped in front of La Carreta’s Mexican restaurant.

“I thought it was weird at first, but when they got further into it, I started to enjoy it,” said Amy Daniels, a Ponchatoula resident.

“The type of dance is called modern performance dance art,” Brewer-Plazinic said. “We’ve been practicing for weeks; first we did dancing in the studio to choreograph the routine, and then about a week ago, we started coming to practice on location for a couple of hours each night.”

The audience took the dancing well in some areas, and not so well in others.

“I think it went well. Some people were surprised that we were there, and they didn’t know what was going on. Some people thought it was unusual, and some people thought it was really interesting and enjoyed it. We got mixed opinions depending on where we were. The art gallery was probably the best reception that we got, and it was the best location because the audience was really receptive to something like that,” Brewer-Plazinic said.

The Moxie Dance Project costs $5 dollars for dues for the semester, and will be holding auditions this week on Wednesday and Thursday. If you are interested in finding out more about auditioning for the project, contact Dana Brewer-Plazinic at [email protected], or visit their Facebook page by typing in “Moxie Dance” in your Facebook search bar.