Though equally spicy, salsa is more than a sauce; spoken word speaks
to unspoken experiences; and home movies can be seen live. Such
plays with convention are promised at Dance Theater Workshop in
New York premieres by artists from three different states: Providence’s
Everett Dance Theatre (October 14–16); Philadelphia’s
Merián Soto Dance and Performance (October 20–23 &
27–30); and San Francisco’s Marc Bamuthi Joseph (November
4–6).
First of the three is the “Home
Movies” of Everett Dance Theatre, a work drawn from the vibrant,
witty, wrenching and poignant family stories of the company’s
five performers: “In my house, everyone was welcome…no
one was welcome…few friends were welcome…Mom’s
IMH patients were welcome…In my house, a custom was to…give
thanks before eating…practice ballet in the kitchen…take
off your shoes before entering…” Combining live dancing
with theater, song and video, the show is a mosaic of compelling
images woven into a powerful, multi-layered story of the American
family that resonates with universality. Everett Dance Theatre is
directed by Dorothy Jungels.
Merián Soto Dance and Performance
will present the New York premiere of “La Máquina del
Tiempo” (“The Time Machine”), a multi-media celebration
of salsa’s temporal and emotional flexibility. Performed by
a trio of dancers and two musicians, the work is divided into three
sections, each exploring a different dimension of the dance form.
The first is set in a black and white rehearsal studio where the
dancers improvise, playing with the creative potential of salsa.
Filled with bright color and using a variety show format, the second
section recalls Hollywood and Mexican films from the 40’s
and 50’s, while the third section is more introspective in
feeling. The video is by Irene Sosa with the musical direction by
Elio Villafranca; the set is by Roger Hanna and the costumes by
Christine Darch.
While it seems a long way from child
tap star of Broadway to star of the spoken word, the 29-year-old
Marc Bamuthi Joseph, a National Poetry Slam Champion and acknowledged
“neo-griot” because of his commitment to the oral tradition,
has already managed a jam-packed, multi-faceted career. A featured
artist in Russell Simmons’s HBO Def Poetry Jam series, Joseph
will present the New York premiere of “Word Becomes Flesh”
at Dance Theater Workshop, where he will make his long-awaited New
York debut. In “Word Becomes Flesh,” formed as a series
of letters to his unborn (and now two-year-old) son, Joseph, whose
social concerns are integral to his art, weaves 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.
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Everett
Dance Theatre: Since its creation by Dorothy Jungels
and her son Aaron Jungels in 1986, Everett Dance Theatre has been
seen at Dance Theater Workshop; Danspace Project; Central Park Summerstage;
Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors; the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus,
OH; Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington, VT; Bates
Dance Festival in Lewiston, ME; Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
in Lee, MA; and The Spoleto Festival in Charlestown, SC, among others.
Its numerous awards include the Jabez Gorham Award for “Unwavering
Commitment to Excellence” (1992); a Bessie Award (1996); The
First Annual Rhode Island Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts
(1997); the Meeting Street Center’s Visionary Award for an
Outstanding Level of Concern and Commitment for Rhode Island’s
Children and Adults with Disabilities (1997); and the Foundation
for Contemporary Performance Arts Award (2000). In 1990, Everett
Dance Theatre founded the Carriage House Stage and School, which
offers ongoing classes in the performing arts free to economically
disadvantaged inner-city youth.
Dorothy Jungels: Artistic Director Dorothy Jungels
received her B.A. in fine art from Alverno College in Wisconsin
and studied dance at the Rhode Island Ballet Center, as well as
at the Katherine Dunham School at the University of Southern Illinois.
The recipient of four choreography fellowships from the National
Endowment for the Arts, a Rhode Island Foundation Fellowship and
three fellowships from Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Jungels
also co-directed and produced a 50-minute documentary on the history
of social dance in Rhode Island, “Oh How We Danced,”
and illustrated three children’s books.
Aaron Jungels: Aaron Jungels, the company’s
associate artistic director, graduated from the Rhode Island School
of Design with a B.F.A. in film and video, and studied acting, directing
and set design at Trinity Repertory Conservatory. (He creates many
of the sets and props used by the company.) Jungels has received
both the Merit and the Fellowship Award for New Genre from the Rhode
Island State Council on the Arts.
Merián Soto Dance and Performance:
In 1983, Merián Soto collaborated with MacArthur Fellowship
award-winning visual artist Pepón Osorio to found Pepatián,
a Bronx-based, multidisciplinary Latino arts organization. The company,
which is deeply rooted in community, has been seen in major American
visual and performing arts venues such as the Chicago Museum of
Contemporary Art, The Joyce Theater, The Whitney Museum and The
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, among others. Internationally,
Soto’s work has been presented in London, Mexico City, Venezuela
and Colombia.
Merián Soto: Merián Soto, who has
been creating and presenting solo, group and collaborative pieces
in her native Puerto Rico, across the United States and internationally
for almost 30 years, began her dance studies in Puerto Rico with
Petra Bravo, a former member of Alicia Alonzo’s National Ballet
of Cuba. After moving to New York City, she began work with Elaine
Summers in 1978 as an apprentice in kinetic awareness and improvisation
techniques. A recipient of six Choreographer Fellowships from the
National Endowment of the Arts and an Artist Fellowship by New York
Foundation for the Arts, Soto has also been awarded numerous project
grants. In 2000, she received a New York Dance and Performance Award,
a.k.a. “Bessie,” for sustained choreographic achievement.
She is currently Associate Professor at the Temple University Department
of Dance.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph:
A New York native, Marc Bamuthi Joseph became involved in literary
performance after a childhood spent on the Broadway stage and on
the road in the Tony award-winning “The Tap Dance Kid”
and “Stand Up Tragedy.” His jazz training began with
Frank Hatchett at Broadway Dance Center and continued on the set
of “The Tap Dance Kid.” Since beginning his career in
performance poetry in the fall of 1998, Joseph has been San Francisco’s
Poetry Grand Slam winner three times and won the 1999 National Poetry
Slam with Team San Francisco. He founded Second Sundays, the nation’s
largest ongoing monthly spoken word gathering, which he continues
to host. Through Youth Speaks, Joseph mentors young writers and
curates the Living Word Festival for Literary Arts. Currently a
resident artist at Stanford University’s Drama Department,
he teaches spoken word and community action. Joseph has also choreographed
a series of music videos and film segments, working with Savion
Glover, George Faison and Harold Nicholas, among others.
____________________________________________________________________
The evening curtains at Dance
Theater Workshop are at 7:30pm. Tickets to performances by Everett
Dance Theatre and Marc Bamuthi Joseph are $20. Merián Soto
Dance and Performance tickets cost $25. Discounts are available
through 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.
###
“Home Movies” is
co-commissioned by the Contemporary Dance Theater, Dance Theater
Workshop, Everett Dance Theatre, New World Theater and the National
Performance Network Creation Fund. The Creation Fund is sponsored
by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Philip Morris Companies.
“Home Movies” is funded in part by the National Dance
Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding
from National Endowment for the Arts and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Additional support provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and
The Ford Foundation.
“La Máquina del Tiempo” is made possible with
major support from The New York State Council on the Arts, The Mary
Flagler Cary Community Trust, The National Dance Project of the
New England Foundation for the Arts and Pennsylvania Performing
Arts on Tour, a program developed and funded by the Vira l. Heinz
Endowment; the William Penn Foundation; the Pennsylvania Council
on the Arts, a state agency; and The Pew Charitable Trusts; and
administered by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. Additional assistance
is provided by the South Bronx-based Latino arts organization, Pepatián.
“Word Becomes Flesh” is commissioned by the Bessie Schönberg/First
Light commissioning program of Dance Theater Workshop with funds
from the Jerome Foundation. “Word Becomes Flesh” is
commissioned by the National Performance Network, La Pena Cultural
Center and New World Theater through the National Performance Network
Creation Fund. Additional support is provided by the Zellerbach
Family Foundation, the New England Foundation for the Arts.
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