Dear Friend,
Recently, choreographer Randy James announced the dissolution of his company 10 Hairy Legs, a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic. This week, we’re honoring Randy and his work by featuring a story we produced in 2014 that explores the mission of his all-male repertory company.
The first voice you hear in the story is Randy saying: “I wanted to show a range of what a male dancer can do. And not even that it’s a male dancer, it’s more like human.” His goal was to widen the emotional and expressive scope of dance for men. As you’ll hear in the story, this is exactly why many of his dancers were drawn to 10 Hairy Legs.
Our State of the Arts story will be archived at the Library of Congress, which is preserving materials relating to 10 Hairy Legs in their dance collection. As Susan Vita at the Library of Congress put it, “The 10 Hairy Legs dance company collection provides the Library of Congress with choreography that is truly 21st century in form and content.”
10 Hairy Legs performed new and classic works since 2012. The all-male company toured nationally and internationally, and was an integral part of New Jersey’s art community. We wish Randy James and his dancers the best as they continue their journeys, and we thank them for adding to the richness of dance in New Jersey and beyond.
