Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance
Free, at Miller Outdoor Theatre
September 23-24, 2011
Houston, Texas – August 11, 2011 –Dance Source Houston 
<http://www.houstondance.org> presents the 17th annual Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance at Miller Outdoor Theatre <http://www.milleroutdoortheatre.com/default.asp?Mode=DirectoryDisplay&id=1&DirectoryUseAbsoluteOnSearch=True> on September 23-24, 2011 at 8 PM. Gone are the days of just dancing on a bare floor. Through doorways, on screen, and up walls, Weekend brings to life contemporary dance as an artistic expression for 21st century humanity. Framed by Texas’ top performing companies, Weekend is a mixture of athleticism, technology, and imagination rolled into one evening. This year’s program features Ad Deum Dance Company <http://www.danceaddeum.com/> , Earthen Vessels/Sandra Organ Dance Company <http://www.organdance.org/index.htm> , HIStory, Houston Metropolitan Dance Company <http://www.houstonmetdance.org/index.htm> , infinite Movement Ever Evolving (iMEE) <http://www.infinitemoves.com/> ; Psophonia Dance Company <http://www.psophonia.com/> , Vault <http://www.amyell.com/Vault/Home.html> and independent choreographer Ashley Horn.
Dance Source Houston also presents Dance Around the World, a free family matinee that juxtaposes two different dances genres on Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 11 AM at Miller Outdoor Theatre. Dance Around the World is an entertaining yet educational introduction to dance for young and old viewers alike.
For additional information and video footage from each of the companies, visit www.dancesourcehouston.org <file:///C:\Users\Toni%20Valle\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary%20Internet%20Files\Content.Outlook\IQHBZ5JY\www.dancesourcehouston.org> . For ticket information for the evening program only, directions and location of Miller Outdoor Theatre, visit www.milleroutdoortheatre.com <http://www.milleroutdoortheatre.com> or call (713) 373-3386. For dance updates, follow Dance Source Houston on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dance-Source-Houston/24260892786?ref=ts> and Twitter <http://twitter.com/dancesource> .
Ad Deum Dance Company will present Unconfined, a work inspired by Artistic Director Randall Flinn’s experiences in Communist-controlled Germany/Eastern Europe. Critic D.L. Groover commented, “This piece is heavy and sinuous, infused by tribal beats and ritualized gestures, set to the driving, raw folk sound of the Warsaw Village Band. A man struggles against conformity, manifest in a coat that he dons or removes with a visceral effect upon him, and with appropriate response from the frightened community around him.” (11/6/10, Dance Source Houston). Unconfined premiered at the Onesimo Gonzalez International Festival of Contemporary Dance in Guadalajara Mexico, 2010.
Earthen Vessels / The Sandra Organ Dance Company presents Rails, Rows, and Seasons choreographed by Sandra Organ, with projection of John Biggers’ artwork, FOUR SEASONS (2004), and set to music by Bobby McFerrin. Biggers established the art department at Texas Southern University, where he served as professor for more than 30 years. Biggers’ works feature prominently in the history of African American art and are included in private collections and museums at home and abroad. Houston audiences are probably most familiar with “The Quilting Party” which hangs today in Wortham Center, Downtown Houston. Organ’s choreography, inspired by the patterns, symbols and structures of Biggers’ work, picks up on the theme of railroad tracks, row houses and the seasons bursting forth through the gateway arches of the doorframe. The archetypal matriarch holds down the fort as she endures life on the other side of the tracks. The incessant rhythms of the music structure, swirling transitions and soaring golden hues carry the piece along. Rails, Rows, and Seasons premiered at Barnevelder Movement Arts Complex in 2011.
HIStory Dance Company will present a Houston favorite, Check It Out, featuring the collaborative choreography of Joel Rivera, Mark Chaves, Jesse Garcia, Bryan Paule and Sharon Roberts. A rousing celebration of hip hop dance, with music from Beastie Boys and Mark Ronson, Check It Out is full of energy, skills, and thrills.
Nooks is a dance-for-film piece created by choreographer Ashley Horn, developed from the idea that the architecture of homes creates unique narratives that can be explored through movement and imagery. In collaboration with videographer and artist Aisen Caro Chacin, Nooks tells the story of a man who misses the magic of the home he has created. Nooks premiered at the Big Range Dance Festival in 2009 and since has been shown at the Third Coast Dance on Film Festival (2010).
The Houston Metropolitan Dance Company presents Kate Skarpetowska’s Consumed, a work with music by Meredith Monk and Richie Hawthine. Consumed deals with the stresses that modern society puts on an individual. In the initial solo we see a man trapped in the proverbial cage, the constraints of which drive him to take a dramatic leap. What follows is the portrayal of a “swallowing machine” and the unraveling of an individual psyche in the face of that force. Skarpetowska was a member of The Parsons Dance Company, The Battleworks Dance Company, and The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. Her choreography has been performed by various universities, Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, Hubbard Street 2 and the Parsons Dance Company. Consumed premiered on the JCC Triple Focus stage in 2010 and is a signature piece of the Houston Met Dance Company.
Infinite Movement Ever Evolving (iMEE) presents the startling duet, Ivonice, a piece in remembrance of the awe-inspiring dancer and choreographic genius of Brazilian choreographer Ivonice Satie, who lost her battle with cancer in 2008. iMEE Artistic Director, Andrea Dawn Shelly remarks, “She left an indelible mark upon my heart, my dancing and my choreographic voice. Experiencing her work, her tutelage, her spirit, helped define who I am as an artist. I was inspired to create this work while driving across the West and viewing the grandeur of the Grand Canyon. I had just learned of Satie’s passing and was saddened by the world’s loss. Sadness turned to joy with the realization of how much she had touched me.” Ivonice premiered in Santa Barbara, California in 2009 and has been seen in California, Florida and Texas.
Psophonia Dance Company brings the stirring portrayal of one woman’s emotional journey in The Long Hallway. Changed forever by an unexpected trauma, a young woman confronts a juncture in her life symbolized by two opposing doors. Realizing she can no longer be the person she once was, she must decide whether to hold onto the memory of her old self or let go and move on. Set to an original composition by Pelayo Parlade, The Long Hallway awakens the spirit to change.
Aerial dance company Vault presents an excerpt from Amy Ell’s Torn, which will premiere in its entirety at DiverseWorks at the end of September. This excerpt, previously performed at the aerial dance festival in La Baule, France, is danced by three women suspended on the face of a wall. Trained extensively as a dancer, Ell acknowledges she has an obsession with finding new ways to use all of the space within a performance arena – not only the ground, but also the air.
Dance Source Houston presents Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance at Miller Outdoor Theatre on September 23 and 24, 2011 at 8 PM. Dance Source Houston also presents Dance Around the World, a free family matinee, on Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 11 AM at Miller Outdoor Theatre. The dance festival is sponsored in part by the City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board, Inc. KUHF-FM Houston Public Radio <http://www.kuhf.org> is the official media sponsor.
For ticket information, directions and location of Miller Outdoor Theatre visit www.milleroutdoortheatre.com <http://www.milleroutdoortheatre.com> or call (713) 373-3386. For dance updates, follow www.dancesourcehouston.org <http://www.dancesourcehouston.org> , Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dance-Source-Houston/24260892786?ref=ts> and Twitter <http://twitter.com/dancesource> .
Dance Source Houston is a service organization supporting the creation and presentation of contemporary dance in Houston. Other Dance Source Houston projects include: The Dance Card, a bi-monthly calendar of area dance events; The Dance Table, sharing dance community information at area performances; the Dance Source Weekly Newsletter, an e-newsletter; Dance Writings, a platform to foster discussions in the community, and the website www.dancesourcehouston.org <http://www.dancesourcehouston.org> for upcoming performance information; previews and reviews. These activities are funded in part by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance. Dance Source Houston is a participant in the MODE Arts Incubator Program supported by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.
