A Different Drum Dance Company (AddCo) is a mainly contemporary/modern based company. We are dedicated to providing a place for dancers to sharpen and broaden their technical abilities while developing artistically as dancers and choreographers. We are committed to constantly challenging ourselves to grow and expand our boundaries. We emphasize personal growth, compassion, and love for dance for each and every one of our members. AddCo is the only dance group at Yale to offer two weekly technique classes taught by professional instructors. All our shows are choreographed and designed by company members and anyone who would like to choreograph is able to.

Technique and workshops

Regular dance classes are a vital part of pushing ourselves as dancers and maintaining our technique to keep us dancing safely. These classes expose the company to a variety of movement styles, which enhances our movement vocabulary for choreographing and dancing. Our weekly hour and a half technique class is ballet, taught by our regular teacher from the New Haven Ballet. The workshop is taught for two hours each week, and each week a different professional guest artist teaches. We try to maintain a diversity of styles to keep us constantly learning. In a given semester, a typical lineup for our second weekly technique class would include Graham, Bhangra, West African dance, Classical Indian Dance, Ailey, Limon, and contemporary contact improvisation.

Schedule

AddCo puts on two shows each year, one in the fall and one in the spring. At the beginning of each semester, choreographers pitch their pieces and dancers decide how many pieces they would like to be in. Each piece has an additional hour of rehearsal per week in addition to technique and workshop. Therefore, company members can tailor their time commitment each semester according to their needs.