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Shannon Stewart’s An Inner Place That Has No Place Photo by Adam Sekuler |
SCUBA 2013
April 26–28, 8:00 PM, Velocity Dance Center
Velocity Dance Center initiated SCUBA in 2002 to create a national platform providing precious touring opportunities to contemporary dance artists. SCUBA gives audiences a view of the breadth of choreographic invention across the country, while every year sending a Seattle artist on their first national tour. SCUBA 2013 features performances by three nationally emerging talents in contemporary dance: Seattle’s own Shannon Stewart and Philadelphia’s “laugh-out-loud funny and completely engaging” Green Chair Dance Group. New in 2013, SCUBA has also commissioned a world premiere by Seattle favorite the “riveting, mysterious, and startling” Maureen Whiting Dance Company, with a twenty foot tree, a cast of fourteen, and original music by Seattle composers Bukake, Dave Abramson, and Eyvind Kang. Velocity is also hosting a post show conversation with Maureen Whiting, Shannon Stewart, and Green Chair Dance Group with Executive/Artistic Director Tonya Lockyer after the Saturday, April 27 performance. Tickets for the performance are available here.
12 Minutes Max
April 28–29, 7:00 PM, On the Boards Studio Theater
The final 12 Minutes Max of the season presents a group of artists who are all showing their work in 12MM for the first time. A line-up peppered with dance, this edition was curated by Paul Budraitis, a director, performer, and writer; Priya Frank, the Assistant Director of Advancement, UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity; and Steven Miller, the $12 for 12MM guest curator. The dance roster includes Dylan Ward’s Ritournelle v.1, a vibrant and provoking exploration into the habit of oral fixation from childhood to adulthood; The Building of a Sphere by choreographer and dancer Stephanie Liapis as she assumes and discovers the presence of silence in our lives; Britt Karhoff’s maybe it’s quieter, which invokes honesty, humor and loss as a group of women express the weight and freedom of what it means to grow and age; and Alicia and Daniel Mullikin’s Burn, a vocal/contemporary dance and electric cello duet. Also on the program, are In Tone/Shape visual artist Julia Freeman and musician Grant Olsen, Pika-don theater artist Manuel R. Cawaling, Robert Talamantez’s Forest Field; and Nicole Merat’s Tourette Syndrome- It’s No Fucking Joke, an unedited personal account of what it’s like dealing with a diagnosis that makes her unique. Tickets are $8, and are only available at the door one hour prior to the performance.
Events/Discussions/Lectures
Ashani Dances Benefit
April 27, 7:00 PM, Dance Fremont
In preparation for Ashani Dances second season, the company is presenting excerpts from their new repertory and an opportunity to meet the dancers. This year, Ashani Dances will collaborate with two Seattle-based composers, Ben Morrow and William Hayes in the creation of two new dances. The Season Sneak Peek will feature performances by Ashani Dances and the Johnaye Kendrick & Dawn Clement Duo. The evening will include wine, hors d’oeuvres, and a silent auction to benefit the company’s upcoming season. Tickets are available here.
SCUBA Happy Hour Speakeasy Conversation
April 28, 5:30 PM, Boom Noodle
Velocity hosts this happy hour conversation under the theme Next Wave? What are the new directions in dance (aesthetic, political, digital. . .) that we see happening in Seattle and the rest of the country? Join the conversation then head over to the closing night of SCUBA. This is a free event.