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Pilobolus (performing at Edmonds Center for the Arts February 16) Photo by John Kane |
Cornish BFA Dance Concerts
February 14–23, Broadway Performance Hall
Cornish College of the Arts presents the 2013 BFA Dance Concerts showcasing the choreography and performance work of Cornish Dance Department’s class of 2013.
An eclectic array of dance styles and viewpoints will be represented, ranging from modern dance to contemporary ballet, jazz, and performance art, with some dances performed to live music. The concert series will also include performances of works commissioned from professional guest choreographers, including Kelly Ann Barton, Elissa Eskridge, Iyun Harrison, Kristen Legg, Sarah Lofgren, Brenna Monroe-Cook, Franco Nieto, Alia Swersky, Kate Wallich, and Olivier Wevers. The events are free and open to the public, but tickets are required for admission. Ticket reservations can be made here.
Fountain by Jeremy Wade
February 15–16, 8:00 PM, Velocity Dance Center
The award-winning American choreographer and performer Jeremy Wade is known for his excessive performances, which provoke borderline experiences in interaction with his audience. Fountain is a solo from Wade that has evolved from experiments and performances staged since 2010. The work circumvents traditional audience-performer dynamics and facilitates a generous group experience that evolves into a sensual engine. An more in-depth article about Wade’s upcoming performance can be found here. Tickets and more information can be found here.
Chop Shop: Bodies of Work
February 16 at 7:30 PM, and February 17 at 3:00 PM, Meydenbauer Theater, Bellevue
Now celebrating its sixth year, Chop Shop: Bodies of Work is the only annual contemporary dance festival held specifically for the Eastside. Chop Shop presents a unique and prolific sampling of contemporary dance from leading national and international award-winning dance makers from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. This year’s line-up includes Spectrum Dance Theater (Seattle), Joshua Beamish (New York), Shayla Bott & Company (Utah), The Stone Dance Collective (Bellevue), Kiyon Gaines (Seattle), Bennyroyce Dance Productions (New York), Andrew Bartee (Seattle), Heather Dotto (Vancouver, B.C.), Vincent Lopez (Seattle), Mid-Columbia Ballet (Richland). Tickets and more information available here.
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Mid-Columbia Ballet (performing at Chop Shop February 16-17) Photo by CJ Kane. |
Pilobolus
February 16, 7:30 PM, Edmonds Center for the Arts
Famed modern dance company Pilobolus performs for one night only at the Edmonds Center for the Arts. Known for their shape shifting choreography and distinctively delightful visuals, they have created a compelling canon that continually draws in dance lovers and newcomers alike. Tickets are available here.
Coming Up Next
Black Grace
February 21–23, 8:00 PM, Meany Hall
New Zealand’s leading contemporary dance company, Black Grace, has electrified audiences around the globe. Led by choreographer Neil Ieremia, the company has earned critical and audience acclaim for its unique fusion of Pacific Islander and contemporary dance. Dynamic in form, their work is both eloquent and elemental, athletic and spiritual. “Black Grace performs exciting, high-octane dance that is bruising and punishing in its physicality—an explosive combination of Samoan ritual, martial arts, and daredevil risk-taking,” raves Toronto’s Globe and Mail. The performance includes a retrospective of their shorter works spanning the last 17 years and the Seattle premiere of a new piece, Vaka. Tickets are available here.
The Cabiri: Gods of the Night
February 21–23, 7:30 PM, Shorecrest Performing Arts Center
The Cabiri performance troupe will present its 2008 repertory work Gods of the Night, a full-length production featuring theatrical, aerial dance depictions of ancient tales from Babylonian celestial lore. From the powerful, majestic Marduk (Jupiter), to the terrifying god of pestilence and destruction Nergal (Mars), to the delicate beauty of Ishtar (Venus), these ancient celestial tales are brought to life via aerial artistry, contemporary dance, and storytelling. Gods of the Night will also feature guest artist Derek Broussard on cyr wheel as Sagus (Saturn) and Tanya Burka (silks aerialist in Cirque du Soliel’s “Quidam”) on an invented aerial apparatus. Tickets are available here.
Khambatta Dance
February 22, 7:30 PM, Kirkland Performing Center
Led by Artistic Director Cyrus Khambatta, this five person troupe utilizes modern dance partnering and athleticism to explore emotionally rich concepts. The company will perform three pieces in this one-night-only show: A Moment Repeated, Ashutosh, and the world-premiere of Truth & Betrayal. Tickets are available here.
HOT MESS: Modern Dance Mayhem
February 22–23, 8:00 PM, Velocity Dance Center
Rachel Grant, Kaitlin McCarthy, and Jenny Peterson will present an evening of new modern dance works in Velocity Dance Center’s Founders Theater. Hot Mess incorporates a series of increasingly messy dances (both literally and metaphorically). Kaitlin McCarthy presents a tribute to the great Patsy Cline as well as a theatrical dance piece that stands at the intersection of humor, creepiness, beauty, and human frailty. Rachel Grant’s The Marshmallow Test is the synthesis of her work in early childhood education and her interest in brain development, focusing on how adults are influenced by that time in our lives that occurred before we have tangible memories. And Jenny Peterson makes her Seattle choreographic debut with Twinsies, a duet examining the intensities between two girls who have developed a shared identity through their friendship. Tickets are available here.
NET//WORKS
February 23, 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM, The Fremont Abbey
The Fremont Abbey presents three Abbey Artists in Residence in an evening of collaborative works. Tara Dyberg (choreographer), Jesse French (sound artist), and Kristin DiClemente (visual artist) each explore the nature of connections both organic and synthetic. Dyberg utilizes her recent experience of immigration as a platform for investigating isolation and boundaries within a network. Her choreography explores the rules we place on ourselves and onto each other in our attempts to demonstrate both relativity and individuality. A highly experiential performance, the visual and dance portions of the program are woven together with comedy provided by Seattle’s ComedySportz Team. Tickets are available here.