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<\/a>Two years later, after numerous interviews with veterans, Brodie unveils \u201cEvery Soldier Has A Story,\u201d Saturday at the So Cal Dance Invitational<\/a> at Cal State Long Beach\u2019s Martha Knoebel Theater.<\/p>\n In bringing the story to the stage, Brodie also pays tribute and honor in a very personal way. Her husband, veteran John Brodie, passed away in August and Charles Wilson, a central figure in the piece who appears via a video interview, died in 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cIt adds even more emotional resonance,\u201d Brodie said, noting that she was glad that her late husband was able to see iterations of the piece before his death. Wilson passed away in 2017 just months after his interviews with Brodie.<\/p>\n While admitting that the memories of her husband and Wilson \u201cadd depth to the story,\u201d she said, \u201cit\u2019s really about honoring all veterans, regardless of how you feel about the military. They\u2019re not honored enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Brodie, who taught dance at Golden West College for 43 years and chaired the department, has choreographed at least 75 dances over the years and directed countless more student productions. But \u201dEvery Soldier\u201d is a different piece, telling a much larger story and deeply personal as well.<\/p>\n At 28 minutes, the piece is an expansive dance narrative. With choreography help from colleagues and dancers Stephanie Maxim and Erica Villalpongo, it fills the stage with a dozen dancers clad in olive-green and camouflage, with flags and banners and music and video interviews of veterans. Collectively the piece tells a story of veteran service; opening with induction, the dance proceeds through basic training, deployment, battle and the aftermath of \u201chaving served\u201d and concludes with a video interview of Wilson, a Long Beach veteran.<\/p>\n Wilson was something of a muse for Brodie as she worked on the piece, as was her husband whom Nannette accompanied to the Long Beach VA where both volunteered.<\/p>\n One of the dancers with a special connection is Dennyl Green, 21, the youngest of Brodie\u2019s dancers and grandson of Wilson.<\/p>\n \u201cHe came from a sharecropper family,\u201d Green said of his grandfather. \u201cI appreciate that his story is being told.\u201d<\/p>\n That Green gets to be a part of the stories and \u201cto live them through dancing,\u201d is a bonus.<\/p>\n Fellow dancer Evyn Davis seeing and hearing the words of Wilson and the others helped add to the authenticity of the work.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes it nice to feel you have a real, raw, emotional thing that you can get out to the audience,\u201d said dancer Jennie Suslaita,<\/p>\n Maxim, who choreographed a duet in the show, said it is important for those who watch the dance to realize that it is not meant to represent all military experience.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know there are way more experiences, we\u2019re just showing one,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery Soldier\u201d is divided into six segments.<\/p>\n It opens with the pledge all military take to enter the service, then on to processing, where the recruits shuffle papers and experience the \u201churry up and wait\u201d aspect of joining until they bust loose. From there it is on to basic training and boot camp.<\/p>\n In \u201cDepart to Base at 06:00,\u201d the story explores getting ready for deployment to the Middle East, including clips of an interview with an Egyptian-American veteran. It also includes a dramatic duet between a married couple dealing with the emotions of forced separation. The piece goes through conflict and death and ends with a segment called \u201cReflection,\u201d about the aftermath of service, including PTSD, and concludes with the Wilson interview.<\/p>\n Brodie said Wilson struck the right chord for her as a coda to an occasionally wrenching story.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was so positive,\u201d Brodie said. \u201cSome of the interviews were very dark.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a lot of Jesus in his heart,\u201d Green added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea is that even though we have all this craziness, there is still a brotherhood,\u201d Brodie said.<\/p>\n So, what may have started as a curiosity became so much more to Brodie.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would never have thought I\u2019d go in this direction,\u201d Brodie said of the work. \u201cIt\u2019s so emotional and so interesting to put into my movement vocabulary.\u201d<\/p>\n So Cal\u00a0Dance Invitational happens Saturday, March 23, 8 p.m., at Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater, 6200 Atherton St.<\/em><\/p>\n Tickets are $20 – $25. For more information click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>