Dance Theater Workshop–where dance is made and staged, where
it is digitized in its technology lab, argued about in the DTW café,
presented on video and exhibited in photographs in the theater’s
gallery–opens its 2004 fall season on September 8. For the
next four months, this 39-year-old beehive of creative and performance
buzz will be home to 12 dance companies–from the known to
the about-to-be-known–most presenting DTW-commissioned premieres
to original music. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“I like to think of DTW as a ‘21st century workshop’
for contemporary dance and movement-based theater,” said DTW
Executive Director Marion Koltun Dienstag. “With the expanded
facilities the new building offers both artists and audiences, we
provide even greater possibilities for those who thrive on the creation
and presentation of the kind of risky, provocative dance that’s
part of the fall line-up.”
This year’s crop of artists incorporates movement, theater
and spoken word to explore new possibilities for choreography and
physical theater while integrating a range of dance styles, forms
and techniques in radical and unexpected ways. The 12 companies
to perform in the 200-seat Bessie Schönberg Theater are: 33
Fainting Spells (September 8–11), Gabri Christa DanzAisa,
(September 15–18), Big Dance Theater (September 23–October
9), Everett Dance Theatre (October 14–16), Merián Soto
Dance and Performance (October 20–30) and Marc Bamuthi Joseph
(November 4–6). There will be shows by Risa Jaroslow &
Dancers (November 10–13), Ellis Wood Dance (November 17–20),
a shared program between Sam Kim and Luciana Achugar (December 1–4),
Maria Hassabi (December 9–11) and David Parker and The Bang
Group (December 15–22). Fresh Tracks takes place November
26--–27. The artists for the fall season were selected by
DTW’s Artistic Director Cathy Edwards.
33 FAINTING SPELLS, SEPTEMBER
8–11: Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Seattle-based
33 Fainting Spells will present the New York premiere of its most
recent dance theater production, “Our Little Sunbeam.”
The highly surprising work opposes the everyday despair expressed
in Anton Chekhov’s rarely produced tragedy “Ivanov”
against the ecstasy of the American astronauts in their first view
of the earth from space. In addition to music by Neil Young, Led
Zeppelin and Lou Reed, the work uses an original pop and rap score
by co-Artistic Directors Dayna Hanson and Gaelen Hanson and guest
artist Linas Phillips.
GABRI CHRISTA DANZAISA, SEPTEMBER 15–18:
In “Dominata,” a world premiere, former Bill T. Jones/Arnie
Zane dancer Gabri Christa continues her vivid, multi-media exploration
of contemporary Caribbean culture, diaspora rituals and community–this
time from a New York City point of view. Against a background by
Obie-Award winning video artist Marilys Ernst, Latasha N. Nevada
Diggs of Burnt Sugar Arkestra sings the stories of love and immigration
enacted by four young male dancers, while four older men continue
to play a game of dominoes, a favorite Caribbean pastime.
BIG DANCE THEATER, SEPTEMBER
23–OCTOBER 9: The unlikely pairing of the infamous
Nixon tapes and Kaspar Hauser, the 19th century “wild child”
of Germany, are the basis of Big Dance Theater’s “Plan
B,” a New York City premiere. Melding dance, song and theater,
and choreographed by Annie-B Parson and co-directed by Paul Lazar,
the work examines corruption and power through the innocent eyes
of Hauser, a child who mysteriously wandered into Nuremberg, apparently
unaccustomed to civilization. The score is by Gary Lucas.
EVERETT DANCE THEATRE, OCTOBER 14–16: What
is more American than home movies? A series of extraordinary, true
family stories are spliced, intertwined and connected through dance,
theater, song and video in Everett Dance Theatre’s “Home
Movies,” a New York premiere. This 75-minute work, based on
company members’ real family histories, gives life and new
meaning to the American family as it exists in our present, multi-cultural
world.
MERIÁN SOTO DANCE AND PERFORMANCE, OCTOBER 20–30:
Merián Soto Dance and Performance will present the New York
premiere of “La Máquina del Tiempo” (“The
Time Machine”). Soto, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico,
has long been using the sensuality and vitality of salsa dancing
as a basis for her choreography. “La Máquina”
celebrates the openness of salsa to the integration of other dance
forms in an anarchical blend of post-modern, dance improvisation,
ballroom, Orisha, hip-hop, swing and mambo. The work expresses the
tension between exacting demands of formal dance structures and
the flexible improvisational nature of salsa.
MARC BAMUTHI JOSEPH, NOVEMBER 4–6: Former
Broadway child tap star and multi award-winning spoken-word artist
Marc Bamuthi Joseph, two-time winner of the San Francisco Grand
Poetry Slam Championship, makes his Dance Theater Workshop debut
with the New York premiere of “Word Becomes Flesh.”
Formed as a series of letters to his unborn (and now two-year-old)
son, Joseph integrates original music, poetry, visual art, hip-hop,
tap, modern and West African dance to document the pregnancy from
the point of view of a young, single father.
RISA JAROSLOW & DANCERS, NOVEMBER 10–13:
In her “Whole Sky,” Risa Jaroslow reaffirms her ongoing
fascination with the workings of society. Featuring an original
score performed live by composer Steve Elson and video projections
by Barbara Bickart, “Sky,” a world premiere, integrates
community members with Jaroslow’s own professional dancers.
ELLIS WOOD DANCE, NOVEMBER 17–20: As a performer,
Ellis Wood, the daughter of former Martha Graham principals David
and Marni Wood, hits the stage in a storm of unapologetic sensuality.
“Hurricane Flora,” a world premiere, is a dramatic exploration
of the duality of nature: its ability to simultaneously create and
destroy, which Wood uses as a symbol of our potential to survive
life-threatening adversity. The music is an original score by Daniel
Bernard Roumain. In “A Spirit Serves a Small Breakfast,”
a New York premiere, Wood presents the internal struggles of a small-town
waitress as she tries to serve breakfast; and in “Timeless
Red” a trio of women try to mediate between control and passivity.
The sets for all three works are by architect Ed Rawlings, who designed
the new DTW building.
FRESH TRACKS, NOVEMBER 26–27: Participants
in this year’s Fresh Tracks, which offers a chance to catch
a glimpse of the newest talent in the downtown zeitgeist, will be
announced later this season. Stay tuned.
SAM KIM/ LUCIANA ACHUGAR (SHARED PROGRAM), DECEMBER 1–4:
It’s two for one when Sam Kim and Luciana Achugar present
a world premiere each as part of their DTW debuts. Kim’s work,
“Vince and Alison,” is named for Vince Clarke and Alison
Moyet, the founders of the pop band Yaz, whose music the choreographer
describes as “some of the most perfect pop ever.” In
“Vince and Alison,” Kim considers music as a buffer
against alienation, as an opiate and as a means of declaring oneself.
In “A Super Natural Return to Love,” Achugar uses six
female dancers to suggest a Greek chorus, which she then uses to
explore the oppression inherent in homogeneity.
MARIA HASSABI, DECEMBER 9–11: Using references
from pop culture as the basis of “Dead is Dead,” Maria
Hassabi searches out the quiet embedded in the chaos and randomness
of our lives. The choreography in this world premiere calls upon
the singular backgrounds of her six dancers. The music is by Spencer
Sweeney.
DAVID PARKER AND THE BANG GROUP, DECEMBER 15–22:
David Parker’s “Nut/cracked” is a 21st century
vaudevillian take on the 19th century classic in which Parker’s
off-the-wall wit cracks convention. The result: a reinvention of
“The Nutcracker.” For movement, he calls upon tap dancing,
singing, booty shaking, pointe work and the Hustle, and for the
music he combines the nontraditional recordings of the Tchaikovsky
score by, among others, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller and Fred Waring,
as well as the traditional orchestral suite. The hilarious 50-minute
work will be presented in its entirety for the first time in New
York this season at DTW.
FAMILY MATTERS:
In addition to presenting work for adult audiences, DTW’s
Family Matters shows offer a series of matinees for junior dance
lovers: “It’s All Relative: KinFolk Tales and Trails”
(September 18); “World Beats, Feats and Treats” (October
16) and “Femmes and Fellas” (November 20).
ASSISTING CREATIVE ADVENTURES:
To help give once unimagined possibilities to these performances,
DTW’s new building houses an Artists Resource Media Lab, where
choreographers exploit its state-of-the-art facilities to bring
their work into another dimension. Video recording, editing, compositing,
DVD and CD-Rom producing, graphic, web and sound design and international
communication are just some of the means. DTW’s two dance
studios, wired so that rehearsals can be recorded and choreography
easily edited, offer artists a chance to work in depth over time.
With the DTW Gallery, which presents visual arts, media installations
and digital presentations on one side and an open view of the comings
and goings on West 19th Street on the other, the Lucky Star Café
has become a kind of dance central station for the artists and the
public, where thoughts and ideas are exchanged in a casual setting.
DTW’s helping arm to artists extends far beyond its West 19th
Street headquarters. Among its myriad programs are: financial assistance
to artists who locate and work in spaces outside Manhattan; group
insurance to its member artists; rehearsal space in its two dance
studios; membership in a credit union and a New York State touring
and residency program.
PLEASE NOTE: The evening curtains are
at 7:30pm. There are also 2pm matinees of David Parker and The Bang
Group’s “Nut/cracked” on December 18 & 19.
Family Matters programs are performed at 2pm. Tickets to all performances
are $20, except Big Dance Theater, Merián Soto Dance and
Performance and David Parker and The Bang Group, which each cost
$25. Family Matters tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children.
By purchasing four tickets at once, those and all other tickets
for the rest of the season are available at 40% off full price,
as part of DTW’s 4 for 40% Club. All tickets may be purchased
at the box office, by calling 212-924-0077 or online at www.dtw.org.
Dance Theater Workshop is located at 219 West 19th Street, between
7th and 8th Avenues.
BACKGROUND
MATERIALS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.
CLICK
HERE TO DOWNLOAD PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
CLICK
HERE TO GO TO ONLINE CALENDAR
###
DTW’s 2004-2005 Season
is sponsored in part by 
DTW’s Family Matters Series is supported by Con Edison.
DTW Digital Programs are made possible with major support
from The City of New York, The New York City Council, The Department
of Cultural Affairs, The Rockefeller Foundation and The Surdna Foundation.
With Gratitude: For continuous exemplary support, DTW is grateful
to Altria Group, Inc., JPMorganChase, New York City Council, New
York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council
on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Among the private
foundations providing leadership support to DTW are: The Carnegie
Corporation of New York, The Ford Foundation, The Mertz Gilmore
Foundation, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Greenwall Foundation,
The William Randolph Hearst Foundations, The Jerome Foundation,
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The New York Community Trust, The
Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Scherman
Foundation, The Adolph and Ruth Schnurmacher Foundation, The Peter
Jay Sharp Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Inc., The Surdna Foundation,
Trust for Mutual Understanding and The Lila Acheson Wallace Theater
Fund. Additional Endowment Funds are provided by: The Doris Duke
Charitable Trust, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and The Fan Fox &
Leslie R. Samuels Foundation.
DTW also thanks its Corporate Partners for their valuable support:
Altria Group, Inc., American Express Company, Con Edison, Goldman,
Sachs & Co., HX Magazine, JPMorgan Chase, Limited Brands, Merrill
Lynch, New York Times Company and Time Out New York.
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