UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The entire stage is an instrument in “ETM: Double Down,” an evening-length dance work by Dorrance Dance. The tap troupe will bridge the gap between technology and organic movement in the production at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27, in Eisenhower Auditorium.
“ETM: Double Down” is a collaboration between troupe artistic director and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Michelle Dorrance and longtime company dancer and choreographer Nicholas Van Young. The program celebrates the origins of tap dance, in a contemporary context, by using electronic tap trigger boards. The effect of the dancer eliciting sound corresponding to each footstep is similar to the scene in the 1988 Tom Hanks film “Big,” in which his character dances on an oversized keyboard on the floor.