The first piece a choreographer creates will always hold a special place in their memory, and Cassandra Hartman still remembers the feeling of putting together her first routine with her dance partner, Debbie, sometime around the year 2000. Wondering if she had something, Hartman invited her mother over to watch and the two performed the number, set to a recording of Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. singing “Me and My Shadow,” in the garage. “I said, ‘What do you think of this—do you think this is any good?’ ” Hartman remembers. “And she nods her head.”
It should probably be mentioned that Debbie was a golden retriever (named for Debbie Reynolds, of course) and that this was Hartman’s first foray not into human choreography but musical canine freestyle, otherwise known as dog dancing. Musical freestyle is a very real dog sport, albeit one that’s still gaining ground in the U.S.
While dog lovers may be familiar with more common sports like obedience, agility or tracking, freestyle is unique in that it asks dog-and-handler teams to perform routines of behaviors and tricks set to music—in other words, to perform dances.
Read the full story at Dance Magazine.
Photo by Henk Benting, via Dance Magazine
