Over the past few years, Tennessee Ballet Theater (TBT) has brought to life the histories of Earnestine & Hazel’s, the Annesdale Mansion, and the Jack Robinson Gallery through dance. This May, as part of the site-specific series of performances, the company will tackle its next location: the Medicine Factory, once a pharmaceutical company and now home to artists’ studios.
Though TBT’s previous site-specific performances have explored that particular site’s history, this production will diverge from the format by exploring stories throughout Memphis, hence the title 901 Stories. “The pieces in the show are all stories plucked from or inspired by nuggets of Memphis history,” says TBT’s artistic director Erin Walter, “things that we know in Memphis, things that maybe are related to Memphis that we haven’t explored in depth.”
As such, the ultimate product is a range of stories told through dance, from the romance of novelist William Faulkner and Joan Williams, his muse and a novelist in her own right, to the legend of Pink Lizzie, Memphis’ most famous ghost. Walter even choreographed one piece to tell the story of Mrs. W.C. Stewart, who ran her husband’s potato chip and mayonnaise business in the Medicine Factory after he died. “Every article I read [about her] just referred to her as Mrs. W.C. Stewart,” Walter says. “I couldn’t actually find her first name or given name anywhere. … And so I was really interested in that idea of, back in the ’40s, the rarity of a woman running a $1 million business, and yet we don’t even know what her first name is.”
These stories, among others being told in 901 Stories, are worth remembering, Walter says. “We’re calling it a love letter to Memphis,” she adds. “And it’s really exciting to me — the idea of making history come to life through dance, through a sort of unexpected medium. You’re going to remember it.”
In the past, audience members have compared TBT’s site-specific productions to “therapy,” Walter says. “One person said, ‘I literally feel better about my city. I feel inspired by [these stories]. I feel proud that this happened in Memphis,’ and she said, ‘We really need that.’” And that’s what Walter hopes to convey in this show, too. “It’s about mending, healing, coming together to celebrate something that is positive, not negative, in our city,” she says.
The event itself promises to feel like an intimate “party,” with guests enjoying performances throughout the building. “The audience will have opportunities to get a drink, socialize, see art, and see aerial work or see a tap dance in an elevator [and so on],” Walter says. “You’ll be moving and you’ll be seated as well.” Plus, visual artists will showcase their work in a “living gallery,” where dancers will respond to the pieces on sale with improvisational movements. Jordan Occasionally will emcee, and Morgan McKinney will mix cocktails. Tickets can be purchased at tbt.ticketleap.com.
901 Stories, Medicine Factory, Friday-Saturday, May 12-May 13, performances at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m., $30.