There is a bit of alchemy in the way Teresa Tomb turns music into dance.
The March Madness Marching Band Minister of the Moves has breathed life into beatnik toy soldiers, dystopian circus performers, and even steampunk Southern belles — all part of a vast body of work created for the MMMB color guard by Tomb and co-lead choreographer Melissa McCartt Smyth over the years.
“As moving ministers, we help guide the artistic and creative scope of what the band presents,” says Tomb, an original member of MMMB and owner of Lexington’s Rakadu Dance Theatre and Mecca Live Studio and Gallery, which was MMMB’s home base until the band moved to a city-owned space three years ago. A respected dancer and choreographer, Tomb channels decades of experience in music and choreography into her work with MMMB and her many collaborative projects.
“My life,” Tomb says, “is all about dance and creating community-inclusive events,” including the annual Lexington Thriller Parade and Showcase, a partnership between Mecca and other community creatives that is now entering its 19th year. MMMB is a fan favorite in both the showcase and the city’s Halloween parade that leads off the yearly Thriller performance.
Then there’s 1001 Nights – a collaborative series under Tomb’s direction that has featured both MMMB dancers and musicians since its 2012 launch. Tomb says MMMB’s involvement with the series’ 2013 “Thief of Baghdad” and 2015 “El Duende” shows are among her favorite MMMB memories, though it was a performance of MMMB’s arrangement of “Bolero” during the 2015 show that really captured her heart.
“We had dancers with big Spanish mantons and a flamenco dancer in a bata de cola skirt,” she says nostalgically, adding “I love collaborations that get the band working outside of, or expanding on, the realm or notion of what a marching band can do.”
It’s that spirit which leads Tomb to continually find ways for the MMMB color guard to illustrate the band’s music, whether it be a holiday song brought to life by dancing toy soldiers in a city Christmas parade, an elaborate stage show, or tunes that strike a serene chord. She says she’s especially fond of the breezy MMMB arrangement of “Flutes of Chi” – the basis for one of her favorite MMMB routines featuring the guard swinging on hula hoops in a land of make-believe.
Should Tomb ever come across a crystal ball that reveals her future, she’s likely to see a vision of her working in some capacity with animals (“I’m a big animal lover,” she says). For now, though, she remains content taking photos of her beloved cats, cooking good food, and conjuring up new ways to get Lexington moving.