The leader of the Evolution Dance Company calls herself a mother hen but seems more like a hawk as she gazes over her dancers’ quest for perfection at a recent afternoon rehearsal.
“We take dancing very seriously in the Evolution Dance Company,” said Diane Vargas, artistic director of the company formerly known as VAMPS. “We bear down hard on technique and detail. We try to be as professional as we can.”
And there is no doubt about who runs the show.
“This business is about totalitarian rule,” Vargas said. “That’s the way it has to be and that’s the way it works.”
Leading a dance company means there is room for only one at the top. And for Evolution, it’s Vargas. She may be stern, but she also has a soft heart, especially for dancers. During the rehearsal at Saddlebrook Recreation Center, she stood near the center of the room in the soft glare of chandelier lights and wall-length mirrors, watching every move of about two-dozen dancers.
Vargas was wearing snug black tights with a black tank top with the words “Evolution Dance Company” on it. Her blonde hair was tightly pulled back in a bun and she looked far younger than her 60 years. Vargas is 5-3 and weighs 102 pounds and seems to be a clone of her younger self when she was prima ballerina with a national ballet company in Mexico.
Vargas is angular and willowy, and can still make majestic ballet moves, including a split on the floor.
But for her and the rest of the dance company, the biggest change came off the floor this year when VAMPS changed its name to Evolution. It was the first name change since the company was formed a decade ago.
You can see a clip of the dancers at the Villages-News.com Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheVillagesNews
In some ways, it was a guy thing. There are about a half-dozen men in the company of about 22 performers.
“It’s kind of weird when you’re a guy and people ask you what you do, and you say you’re a VAMP,” Phip Fuller said. “I didn’t want to be known as a VAMP.”
Fuller and his twin brother, Chip were professional dancers with Ballet West and the Pittsburgh Ballet. They met Vargas a few years ago when they came to The Villages to take care of their parents, who were seriously ill.
The Fullers and Vargas joined VAMPS and have been together ever since.
Now, in addition to changing its name, the company is also changing its style. Vargas wants to implement more lifts and ballroom dance moves into the shows. More like “Dancing with the Stars,” she said. The money raised will still go to charity.
VAMPS originally stood for Villages Allstar Master Productions. The group has done good work for the past decade, raising money for Operation Helping Hand, which provides support for injured soldiers.
But the name just seemed outmoded.
“We just couldn’t get any traction with the name VAMPS,” Vargas said. “People didn’t know what the letters stood for and people were asking why do VAMPS dance. VAMPS can have a naughty connotation and make women feel uncomfortable. Then we started getting more men in the group and the guys didn’t like the name. So we changed it.”
Evolution seemed to be the perfect tag for older dancers adjusting to changes in their lives.
“We are all evolving especially at this stage of our lives,” Vargas said. Despite her youthful appearance and athletic skill, she must, like all dancers cope with aging.
“For a professional dancer, your body feels a certain way when you execute a movement,” she said. “As you get older, it starts to hurt more and feels different. It’s a constant battle. I work hard, stretch and exercise every day but it gets harder on your joints and your body.
“Until I came to The Villages (in 2009 with her husband Rafael)) I hadn’t danced in about 25 years; I didn’t think my body could take it anymore.”
After leaving the ballet in Mexico City, she worked at a childcare business in Midland, TX, and then retired here.
Like so many others, Vargas found a second chance in The Villages. “Living here brought me back to dancing. I took a ballet class, met Chip and Phip Fuller, and then I got involved in VAMPS.”
The Evolution Dance Company will present its major show on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2016. The Company’s dancers will also make appearances in The Villages throughout the year. Those interested can contact Vargas at diane.vargas26@gmail.com.
Dancing again has given Vargas new life.“It’s very satisfying,” she said. “It’s a creative feeling inside you that never goes away.“The Fuller brothers add to the professional atmosphere.
“Diane is a real leader and this is a good group of people who can dance,” Chip Fuller said. “I think this is the most challenging dance group here. We expect a lot from the dancers and ourselves.”
Working with dancers, many in their 60s and 70s, is far different than being in a much younger professional company.
“It’s the same attitude with different expectations – and that goes for all of us,” Chip said. “In the real world, I wouldn’t be dancing at my age but this isn’t the real world –this is The Villages. And in The Villages your age can’t stop you from dancing.”In a sense, “we’ve come full circle,” Phip said. “You start out as a dancer and you want to keep doing it, but you have to retire. Then, you retire and come to The Villages and you start dancing again. I want to keep doing it as long as my body holds out.”
