Dance
Place
Dance
DC Festival
Folk Family Celebration
Saturday, October 2, 2004 beginning at 11:00am, with an evening
performance at 7:00pm
Dance
Place’s 2004-2005 season opening celebrates the colorful traditions
of folk dance in a day-long festival featuring master classes for
children and adults in folk dances ranging from hip-hop to Romanian
to tango; an outdoor family market place; and an evening performance
with audience participation. The performance features Carla &
Company; Step Afrika!; Ciocarlie, Ciocarli; Ashe Moyubba Folkloric
Ensemble; and Coyaba Dance Theater. Sponsored by Dance Place and
the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
El
Teatro de Danza Contemporanea de El Salvador
Solo
Por Hoy (Only For Today)
Saturday, October 9, 2004 at 8:00pm
Sunday, October 10, 2004 at 7:00pm
Celebrate
National Hispanic Heritage Month with El Salvador's first all male
dance company performing powerful, passionate and elegant contemporary
works reflective of Central America with expressive and exuberant
style. The company "gives soulful meaning to the term 'expressive
dance” (The Washington Post), "powerfully in the moment...physically
sumptuous" (The New York Times). The 10-member, internationally
acclaimed company presents a diverse repertory capturing El Salvador’s
aching beauty and reflecting the history and culture of its homeland.
Jane
Franklin Dance and VTDance
Side
by Side
Saturday,
October 16, 2004 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
October 17, 2004 at 4:00pm
Jane Franklin Dance is a delicious blend of dance, theater and humor.
Unexpected references arise through an articulate and uncanny physicality.
Offering collaborations with live music, original art and community
participation, Jane Franklin Dance celebrates the splendid, scatter-brained,
thoughtful and sublime moments of life. Featured in the program
is Side by Side, co-choreographed by Jane Franklin and Vincent E.
Thomas. VTDance will present new work from the Grandmother Project,
which includes reflections and memories of loved ones through spoken
text, movement and projected images.
LEVYdance
Saturday,
October 23, 2004 at 8:00pm
Sunday, October 24, 2004 at 7:00pm
Dance Magazine named artistic director, Benjamin Levy, one of the
“Top 25 to Watch” in 2004 and described his choreography
as “a judicious balance of athletic and lyrical, brainy and
sexy.” Ben Levy and his “five beautifully trained performers”
(Dance View West) return to Dance Place from San Francisco with
three Washington, DC premieres that “feature superb dancers
in juicy, textured choreography” (The Washington Post). Supported
in part by the Zellerbach Family Foundation and the William and
Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Havana
Select
Saturday, October 30, 2004 at 8:00pm
Havana Select, founded in 1985 and directed by Steve Bloom, offers
rare traditional Afro-Cuban music and dance. Steve Bloom has performed
and/or recorded in over a dozen countries from the Middle East to
Africa to Canada with a wide variety of artists, including Tito
Puente, King Sunny Ade’, Babatunde Olatunji, Lazaro Galarraga
and Puntilla (the Little Nail).
Jump
Rhythm Jazz Project
Friday, November 5, 2004 at 8:00pm
Saturday, November 6, 2004 at 8:00pmSunday, November 7, 2004 at
4:00pm
Jump Rhythm Jazz Project celebrates the art of jazz dancing: movement
in joyous, high-energy bursts to the syncopated sounds of swing,
blues and Latin jazz. Catchy and inventive, Billy Siegenfeld’s
dancers are like “hard little projectiles hurtling through
space” (The New York Times). For their appearance, the company
will dance the Washington, DC area premieres of Sorrows of Unison
Dancing and For Buster.
Nejla
Y. Yatkin, NY2Dance
From
Alpha to Omega: A 5-Year Retrospective
Saturday,
November 13, 2004 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
November 14, 2004 at 4:00pm
Within
her work, Nejla has constantly sought to explore the theme of transformation
- in identity, spirituality, physicality and space. The process
of becoming one thing (the unknown future) as it moves from another
(the present known) is the force that motivates her work. Thus far,
Nejla's travels have taken her from heaven, to earth, to the underworld.
The time has come to look over where we have been in order to better
understand where we are presently and where we should go in the
future. For more information visit www.ny2dance.com
Carla
& Company
Saturday,
November 20, 2004 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
November 21, 2004 at 4:00pm
Carla
& Company, Dance Place resident company, engages audiences with
contemporary dance that focuses on uplifting themes that appeal
to people of all ages. The professional company of dancers will
be joined by Carla’s adult students and the Dance Place Repertory
Class with a new work by guest artist Nejla Yatkin. Audience members
will have the opportunity to dance with the company in the “Community”
section of Carla’s premiere work, All Wrapped Up and at the
close of the evening with “Save the Last Dance For Me”
from One Day at a Time.
Rap
Tap Hip-Hop Step
Friday,
December 3, 2004 at 8:00pm
Saturday,
December 4, 2004 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
December 5, 2004 at 4:00pm
Enjoy
the foot-stomping and pulse pounding rhythms of percussive dance
with performances by Step Aside Tap Company, Tappers With Attitude,
Brandon “Peace” Albright’s Illstyle & Peace
Productions and other artists to be announced.
Laura
Schandelmeier
Saturday,
December 11, 2004 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
December 12, 2004 at 4:00pm
Laura
Schandelmeier presents Rappaccini’s Daughter, inspired by
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s gothic love tale. Created in collaboration
with visual artist Eleanor Rufty and dance artist Stephen Clapp
and performed to Toby Twining’s Chrysalid Requiem, this evening
length work brings to light Hawthorne’s "contemporary
creation myth" pondering life and death, good and evil and
ultimate omnipotence. This work contains full nudity, and may not
be appropriate for young audiences.
Fieldwork
Showing
Saturday,
December 18, 2004 at 8:00pm
The
Field Laboratory showcases multidisciplinary works by regional artists.
The performance concludes a 10-week workshop facilitated by Laura
Schandelmeier.
Kwanza
Celebration with Coyaba Dance Theater
Sunday,
December 19, 2004 at 4:00pm
Celebrate
Kwanza with a holiday concert by Coyaba Dance Theater, featuring
the students of Dance Place’s adult and children’s African
dance classes, storytelling and more.
CrossCurrents
Dance Company
Saturday,
January 8, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
January 9, 2005 at 4:00pm
Seeking
to frame and capture the intricate web of shared experiences that
connect people to one another and to their communities, CrossCurrents
fulfills its mission to reveal the strength of human stories through
the language of dance. Characterized by “finely etched dancing
and dramatically cogent choreography,” audiences “enjoy
the strength and sweep of company director Debra Kanter’s
choreography and the force and passion of co-director Helen Hayes”
(The Washington Post).
KanKouran
West African Dance Company
DIAMONO
Saturday,
January 15, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
January 16, 2005 at 4:00pm
Led
by artistic director Assane Konte and musical director MeDoune Yacine
Gueye, KanKouran West African Dance Company presents DIAMONO –
celebrating 21 years of community building, community service and
community involvement. This exciting performance will feature KanKouran’s
senior company dancers and drummers and will breathtakingly demonstrate
traditional dances and rhythms from Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Gambia.
Shawn
McConneloug and Her Orchestra
Stand
on Your Man
Saturday,
January 22, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
January 23, 2005 at 4:00pm
With
gender-bending performances featuring yodeling, dancing lassos,
buckin’ broncos and country and western vocals, Shawn McConneloug
and Her Orchestra’s Stand On Your Man sends up just the right
amount of campy entertainment. Accompanied by three musicians, eight
singer/dancers perform a variety of country and western standards,
including Tammy Wynette’s signature anthem, “Stand By
Your Man” - deconstructed for this gender-bending work. Dances
are inspired by traditional country and western dances like the
Triple Two-Step, the Cowboy Cha-Cha and Cotton-Eyed Joe. Interspersed
throughout the evening are films that include gorgeous footage of
the frontier, roaming horses, new-born colts, western fight footage
and kitschy Hollywood dancing cowgirls and boys!
Tommy
Parlon Dance Projects
Saturday,
January 29, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
January 30, 2005 at 4:00pm
Tommy
Parlon Dance Projects is a collection of dancers and friends whose
unique styles and strong personalities meld to support the athletic,
yet released choreography of Tommy Parlon. While exploring the limits
of movement potential and physical possibility, the work of Tommy
Parlon lays bare the intrinsic nature of human interaction. This
season will mark the Washington, DC premiere of Parlon’s signature
solo, Pale, which the Arizona Republic described as “raw …
screams animal virility.” Supported in part by the Maryland
State Arts Council.
Alvin
Mayes
Paradise
Project
Saturday,
February 5, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
February 6, 2005 at 4:00pm
Inspired
by a fascination with the Adam and Eve story, which began when Alvin
first viewed Jose Limon’s Exiles, Paradise Project is a collection
of duets that recreate Adam and Eve’s story through multiple
points of view. Alvin is an instructor of dance at the University
of Maryland and also teaches at Maryland Youth Ballet and other
local studios.
Washington
Reflections Dance Company
Saturday,
February 12, 2005 at 8:00pm
Friday,
February 13, 2005 at 4:00pm
Now
in its second season, the Washington Reflections Dance Company brings
a new artistic voice to the dance community, one that mirrors beauty
and diversity. Led by founder and artisitc director, Fabian Barnes,
Washington Reflections Dance Company has impressed audiences and
critics alike with its athletic and passionate contemporary ballet
performances. Its repertoire encompasses classical ballet and modern
influences. The company performs works by nationally and internationally
recognized choreographers including Ray Tadio, Alfred Gallman, Billy
Wilson, Thaddeus Davis and famed choreographer and three-time Tony
Award winner, Hinton Battle.
Coyaba
Dance Theater
Saturday,
February 19, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
February 20, 2005 at 4:00pm
Friday,
February 25, 2005 at 8:00pm
Saturday,
February 26, 2005 at 8:00pmSunday
February 27, 2005 at 4:00pm
Known
as a “community” as much as a dance company (The Washington
Post), Coyaba Dance Theater, a Dance Place resident company, intrigues
with pure, electrifying and theatrical portrayals of traditional
rituals in West African Dance. Specializing in dance and music from
the Mali Empire (Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and
Burkina Faso), Coyaba has a unique energy and stage presence that
fills the audience with the spirit, color, texture and perseverance
of the Motherland.
Sharon
Mansur/mansurdance
Saturday,
March 5, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
March 6, 2005 at 4:00pm
Mansurdance,
“...strangely affecting for [its] visceral way of moving..."
(The Washington Post) performs works that are contemporary for their
multilayered content, integrating and bluring the boundaries of
improvisation and choreography. Sharon Mansur develops work that
examines the relationship between personal awareness and the process
of finding a physical language for expressing it, thus, the dynamic
interplay between the public and private individual becomes a primary
focus. Featured this season is Off White, a sensual and nuanced
reflection of Mansur’s Lebanese heritage and sense of being
not quite white; (Un)Identified examines the complex nature of identity,
in collaboration with Naoko Maeshiba, Gesel Mason, Ed Tyler and
Boris Willis; and Depth of Perception, performed by Sharon Mansur
and Boris Willis, choreographed by David Dorfman.
Cathy
Paine, Heidi Henderson & Naoko Maeshiba
Architecture
of the Spirit
Saturday,
March 12, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
March 13, 2005 at 4:00pm
Three
critically acclaimed, award-winning choreographers, Heidi Henderson
(Providence, RI), Naoko Maeshiba (Baltimore, MD) and Cathy Paine
(Baltimore, MD) offer an intriguing and unusual program of new,
recent and improvised works. Henderson premieres Curious Song and
Dance, a soft, intimate quartet with weighted partnering and original
music by Richard Schenk. Maeshiba mixes an exhilarating blend of
dancers and musicians from DC and Baltimore in a new work commissioned
by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Commissioning
Project, while veteran dance improviser Cathy Paine provides her
unique combination of humor and quicksilver moves “defying
what we think of as bones and joints” (DanceView Times). The
concert culminates in an open improvisation featuring dancers and
musicians from all three companies performing together for the first
time.
The
Shelley Oliver Tap Dancers with David Leonhardt Jazz Group
Saturday,
March 19, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
March 20, 2005 at 4:00pm
The
Shelley Oliver Tap Dancers is a high caliber ensemble of dynamic
rhythm tap dancers. Performing choreography by Miss Oliver and joined
by David Leonhardt Jazz Group, they draw raves for their “lightening-speed
footwork,” “rapid-fire taps,” and “entertaining
extended improvisations.” Oliver’s latest work, Metal
on Wood is an intense, rhythmically driven journey as three dancers
create and interweave rhythms perched on wooden boxes. Shell’s
Vamp is an improvisation that evolves through onstage interaction
between dancer and musician. Bedrock is a high-speed dance that
delights in the tradition of tap dancing while sitting in chairs.
Combined
Forces
Saturday,
March 26, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
March 27, 2005 at 4:00pm
Combined
Forces presents fresh, new choreography by DC based artists. Artists
featured include Sharon Witting and Andrea Chastant of Arachne Aerial
Arts, Helanius Wilkins, Boris Willis, Reggie Glass, Jessica Marchant,
Emily Crews and Daniel Burkholder.
Deborah
Riley Dance Projects
Ordinary
Landscapes
Saturday,
April 2, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
April 3, 2005 at 7:00pm
A
mainstay of local dance, Dance Place’s co-director Deborah
Riley creates powerfully seductive works infused with painterly
images for Deborah Riley Dance Projects, a Dance Place resident
company. The gentility and precise energy which have become hallmarks
of her work illuminate a contemplative approach to this woman’s
world. Her voice sure and her style distinct, Riley’s work
is known for its “relaxed, grace-conscious modern movement
style, usual precise distancing between abstraction and narrative
and the ineffable femininity that pervades all of her work like
a floral scent” (The Washington Post). Riley premieres an
evening length work, Ordinary Landscapes, which celebrates and illuminates
everyday occurrences in our lives. The performance features her
company members and community guest artists.
Cleo
Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble
Saturday,
April 9, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
April 10, 2005 at 7:00pm
Cleo
Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble has transformed the stage into a
sanctuary of healing art by entertaining, elevating and educating
for more than thirty years. Guided by the pioneering vision of Cleo
Parker Robinson, the Ensemble continues to uplift and excite audiences
worldwide through an explosive body of works inspired by the African
American experience and rooted in Black dance traditions. Legendary
and emerging artists alike are unequivocally communicating the complexity
of the human condition. Experience the power, beauty and passion
of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble.
Marc
Bamuthi Joseph
Word
Becomes Flesh
Saturday,
April 16, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
April 17, 2005 at 7:00pm
Multi-talented
performance artist and National Poetry Slam Champion Marc Bamuthi
Joseph turns rap, tap, jazz, West African dance, hip-hop and storytelling
into theater pieces that defy definition. In his evening-length
work, Word Becomes Flesh, Bamuthi presents a series of letters to
his unborn son using poetry, dance, live music and visual art to
document nine months of pregnancy from a young single father’s
perspective.
ClancyWorks
Dance Company
Saturday,
April 23, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
April 24, 2005 at 7:00pm
Adrienne
Clancy’s choreography is not only kinetically charged and
emotionally driven, but also visually stimulating and politically
empowering, “an endless pas de deux, trois, quatre, cinq and
six conjured up in mists and shadows by [a] wizard of invention”
(The Washington Post). Clancy’s use of dynamic partnering
creates a metaphor for the building of an environment where women
lift men with a similar strength and ease. She presents an accumulation
of empowering images with which an audience comprised of an array
of ages, races and classes can feel at ease.
Youth
Dance Festival
Saturday,
April 30, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
May 1, 2005 at 4:00pm
Dance
Place’s Youth Dance Festival is a showcase for some of DC’s
most gifted young performers in a diversity of dance styles from
African dance to ballet. Annually, Dance Place showcases some of
the region’s most gifted youth and our commitment to the development
and training of these budding artists is featured in this celebration
of DC’s brightest future of dance.
CityDance
Ensemble, FilmWORKS
Saturday,
May 7, 2005 at 8:00pm
Founded
in 1996, CityDance Ensemble has quickly established itself as "the
preeminent modern dance company in Washington" (Washington
Times), using the most experienced and respected choreographers
from this region, as well as gifted newcomers and celebrated visionaries
from around the world. This year will mark the second year that
CityDance brings dance on camera, a merging of the arts of film
and dance, to DC audiences.
Gesel
Mason & Tania Isaac
Saturday,
May 14, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
May 15, 2004 at 7:00pm
Acclaimed
female dance artists Tania Isaac and Gesel Mason team up to bring
their eclectic and visionary works to Dance Place. Tania Isaac is
a dancer, choreographer and video artist based in Philadelphia,
PA. Originally from St. Lucia, West Indies, she is a Caribbean artist
who brings a blend of the traditional, contemporary and post-modern
dance to the stage.
Merián
Soto
La Máquina del Tiempo
Saturday, May 21, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday, May 22, 2005 at 7:00pm
The
critically acclaimed La Máquina del Tiempo (The Time Machine)
investigates popular dance and music forms as "time machines,"
or conduits rich in historical and cultural references, crossing
several decades. Choreographed and directed by Merián Soto,
La Máquina del Tiempo features video by Irene Sosa, musical
direction and lighting design by Elio Villafranca, set by Roger
Hanna and costumes by Christine Darch. The cast of three dancers
and two musicians includes Pablo Amores, Noemí Segarra, Marion
Ramírez, and Yunior Terry on bass and Mr. Villafranca on
piano.
Nancy
Havlik’s Dance Performance Group
Saturday,
June 4, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
June 5, 2005 at 7:00pm
Nancy
Havlik's Dance Performance Group is a dynamic dance/theater company
of versatile, highly physical performers. Choreographer Havlik collaborates
with her dancers and other artists introducing text, song, sculpture,
live music, video and dance in works that explore human attempts
to connect, most recently in the evening -length work "Pursuit
of Happiness."
DanceAfrica,
DC 2005
Monday,
June 6 – Sunday, June 12, 2005
DC’s
18th annual festival celebrates the dances and music of the African
Diaspora and honors traditional heritage and its transformation
into contemporary forms. The vitality and richness of African culture
is experienced through dance, music, visual arts, food, clothing
and crafts.
DanceAfrica,
DC Schedule
·
Master Class Week for Adults & Children
Monday,
June 6-Thursday, June 9
·
In-reach Performance for DC Schools
Friday,
June 10 at 11:00am
·
African Marketplace
Saturday,
June 11-Sunday, June 12
·
Indoor & Outdoor Performances
Saturday,
June 11-Sunday, June 12
Ellis
Wood Dance
Saturday,
June 25, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
June 26, 2005 at 7:00pm
“Beautiful,
rhythmically loaded pictures… there is a simple reason why
Wood’s work inspires audiences. It is honest and free of inhibition,”
Dresden News, Germany. Formed in 1996 by artistic director Ellis
Wood, Ellis Wood Dance performs an eclectic array of works. Catch
a glimpse into a bizarre, red female phantasm; spend the day with
an egg-obsessed, small town witness, and feel the wind and smell
the earth as it flies into your lap. With pure physical abandon
complimented by an unabashed, sensual edge, the vibrant women of
Ellis Wood Dance perform Timeless Red, A Spirit Serves a Small Breakfast,
and Hurricane Flora, as well as other current repertory. Wood is
joined by remarkable collaborators composer Daniel Bernard Roumain,
costume designer Naoko Nagata and set designer Ed Rawlings.
New
Releases Choreographers Showcase
Saturday,
July 9, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
July 10, 2005 at 7:00pm
Dance
Place’s annual showcase of new adjudicated works by established
and emerging choreographers from throughout the DC, MD and VA region.
Momentum
Dance Theatre
Saturday,
July 16, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
July 17, 2005 at 7:00pm
Momentum
Dance Theatre is known for its wit, theatricality, energy and versatility.
“Momentum has style as well as substance,” (Washington
Post). Momentum’s multicultural, multigenerational performers
reflect Washington’s diverse community and bring influences
from hip-hop, musical theater, modern, Latin dance, Flamenco and
ballet to its dynamic performances. This season, Momentum inaugurates
its Jazz Masters Series to showcase and recognize jazz choreographers
and introduce Washington audiences to jazz masters throughout the
US. Also featured is a hip-hop piece by company member Rajiv Weliwitigoda,
a Latin jazz suite by artistic director Roberta Rothstein and a
new theater work. Artist co-presentation.
K2
Dance Company
Saturday,
July 30, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday,
July 31, 2005 at 7:00pm
K2
Dance Company is quickly moving into the dance scene as one of Washington’s
most up-and-coming dance troupes. Artistic Director Katrina Toews
has created a company of passionate, vibrant and intelligent performers.
The choreography of Toews and guest artists, such as Meisha Bosma,
allow the dancers to shine. Toews’ work illuminates brief
encounters of intimate connection, dancers flying with exhilarating
force and moments of solo reflection. Artist co-presentation.
Lesole
Z. Maine
Saturday, August 6, 2005 at 8:00pm
Sunday, August 7, 2005 at 7:00pm
Lesole Z. Maine was born in Sebokeng, South Africa. In 1995 he was
awarded a scholarship to study with the Johannesburg-based Moving
Into Dance Company and joined the company in 1997. For the past
five years, he has performed as a principal soloist and has worked
with internationally acclaimed choreographers and companies including
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; South Africans Vincent Mansoe,
Sylvia Glasser, Gregory Maqoma and Jackie Semela; Michel Kelemis
from France; and Canadian Joe Laughlin.
Energizers
Camp Talent Show
Friday,
August 12, 2005 at 7:00pm
Youth
participants in Dance Place’s summer arts camp showcase works
in West African dance, African drumming, Afro-Cuban drumming, theater,
hip-hop, singing and more.
|