DNA Presents Winter 2011 Season
By: Gabrielle Sierra Dec. 13, 2010
Dance New Amsterdam (DNA), Lower Manhattan's premiere international dance center that provides the ultimate studio-to-stage experience for artists, announces their Winter 2011 Season. Clarinda Mac Low and Jordana Che Toback start the season off with a shared evening of monsters, mayhem and cunning comedic styling in SPLICE: A dinosaur attacks a lighthouse, curated by Ishmael Houston-Jones and Dan Safer. DNA's bloody Valentine, theatrical pistol Victoria Libertore, serves up the world premiere of GIRL MEAT; evoking history's most prolific female serial killer, Hungarian Countess Erzsébet Bathory. RAW Directions artists excavate new choreographic frontiers, and original dance films grace the big screen in FRAMEWORKS. Collaborative creations piloted by dauntless dames, Ximena Garnica, Jennifer Nugent and Adrienne Westwood take to the stage next in OBject.obJECT. The season goes out with vividly theatrical world premieres by Artists in Residence Mana Kawamura and Makiko Tamura in SPLICE: Japan.
The DNA PRESENTS Winter 2011 Season isJan 6 - 9 Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) Conference ShowcasesJan 27 - 30 SPLICE: A dinosaur attacks a lighthouse? Mac Low & Che Toback
Feb 3 - Feb 6 GIRL MEAT?Victoria Libertore
Feb 10 -12 RAW Directions
Feb 13 FRAMEWORKS
Feb 17 - 20 OBject.obJECT?Garnica, Nugent, Westwood
Feb 24 - 26 SPLICE: Japan? Artists in Residence Kawamura & TamuraSeason performances take place Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00pm, Sunday at 3:00pm, unless otherwise noted. Tickets may be purchased in person at DNA's box office during regular business hours or by visiting www.dnadance.org. Ticket prices for performances are $17 general, $12 DNA members, $14 students/seniors unless stated otherwise. $12 Advance Sales are also available. To arrange discounted tickets for groups of 6 or more, contact mingle@dnadance.org. All sales are final.
Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) Conference Showcases
DNA will present four days of showcases as follows:Thursday, January 6, 2011 8:30 - 10:50pm
Friday, January 7, 2011 5:00-7:00pm & 8:30-10:30pm
Saturday, January 8, 2011 5:00-7:00pm & 8:30-10:30pm
Sunday, January 9, 2011 5:00-7:00pm & 8:30 - 10:30pm
Shannon Gillen & Guests will present WALL, a movement installation in DNA's Main Entrance Gallery January 7-9 2011 from 8:00-8:30pm.
DNA is also an APAP exhibitor and can be found at the New York Hilton Exhibit Hall: Rhinelander Booth 222.SPLICE: A dinosaur attacks a lighthouseClarinda Mac Low and Jordana Che Toback
January 27-30
A post-performance talkback moderated by Dan Safer, Artistic Director of Witness Relocation, will take place on Thursday, January 27.
Clarinda Mac Low
Double Public Blunder: Monster-us
World Premiere
Choreography by Clarinda Mac Low
Sound Score by Michael DiPietro and Clarinda Mac Low
Costumes by DiPietro, with conceptual contributions from Mac Low
Double Public Blunder: Monster-us is a revival of Mac Low's Public Blunder series. Public Blunders are darkly comic rituals, entertaining and disturbing feats of performance where the most embarrassing situations are uncovered through a smoky lens of continually interrupted and ridiculous seduction. Everything's hanging by a thread here, but all mistakes are intentional-or are they? The Blunders before were solos, but his time it's a duet, and we're scary.
Crush The Pearl
Choreography by Jordana Che Toback
Performed by Courtney Baron, Dorian Cervantes, Courtney Jo Drasner, ChrisTina Johnson, Gabriel Malo, Tsubasa Ogawa, Laura Smith, Ashley Wallace
Music by Radiohead, Thom Yorke
Costumes by Jordana Che Toback with Elisa Jimenez
Music Performed and Composed by Tom RossiArtist's Description
Crush the Pearl is a re-working of the 10 dances Toback made from'98-'01 for Art-Rock Band Fischerspooner. Lovelorn and full of venom when first generating this movement vocabulary, everything old is new again as each old dance reemerges a monster of a different sort with Radiohead and Thom Yorke as the musical accompaniment and glamorous catharsis as our muse.Collaborative Duet
A dinosaur attacks a lighthouse (Scylla and Charybdis)
World Premiere
Choreographed and Performed by Clarinda Mac Low and Jordana TobackArtists' Description
Monsters in the night frighten children, the monsters within terrify us from inside out. Toback and Mac Low set out to charm, tame, expose and destroy each other's monsters in a duet where the internal beast comes out to play with the inner child. A native of Los Angeles, California, Jordana Che Toback began her choreographic tutelage as a teenager under the guidance of the modern dance legend, Bella Lewitzky. After graduating NYU TSOA, she spent seven years touring internationally with the Mark Morris Dance Group before earning the title of "Supremely Theatrical" for her choreography and performances in NYC and abroad From 1991-1998 while Toback toured extensively with Mark Morris, she took full advantage of down time in NYC by performing with such notable choreographers as: Amy Pivar (of Bill T. Jones) Patricia Hoffbauer and George Emilio Sanchez, Pam Tanowitz, Meg Wolfe, Laura Staton, Douglas Dunn/Joshua Fried at DTW, The Kitchen, Joyce Soho, The Whitney Altria, Judson Church and The Merce Cunningham Studio. As the original dancer/director/choreographer behind rock band Fischerspooner, she and her dancers graced all sorts of venues from LA's new downtown Standard Hotel, to Irving Plaza in New York City. Toback then returned to her downtown roots staging Operettas for Cynthia Hopkins at St Ann's Warehouse and Musical Theatre at Harvard's A.R.T, and FringeNYC, all of which toured extensively, receiving both accolades and awards including Bessies, Obies and Grants for excellence in Theatre.
GIRL MEAT?Victoria Libertore
February 3 - February 6
World Premiere
Choreographed and Performed by Victoria Libertore
Music by Ben E. King, Annie Lennox, Uncle Moon, Elvis Presley
Directed by Rosalie Purvis
Dramaturgy by Jen-Scott Mobley
Elements of Set and Props Designed by Jono Lukas
According to legend, Hungarian Countess Erzsébet Bathory is the most prolific female serial killer in history. Allegedly drinking and bathing in the blood of her victims, she tortured and killed hundreds of girls. Intrigued by this true story, solo performer Victoria Libertore channels Bathory's essence with intensity, a dose of insanity and many bloody drops of humor. This work was created, in part, through the Artist in Residence Program at BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange with support from public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and with private funds from the Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, the New York Times Company Foundation Fund for Midsize Theatres - a project of A.R.T./New York, The Scherman Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation New York Theater Program and the New York Community Trust/ Lila Wallace Acheson Theater Fund. An actress, writer, teacher, curator and improv artist, Victoria Libertore has been writing and performing her own work since 1997. She has performed her work throughout NYC in venues such as Barrow Street Theater, BAX, Caroline's on Broadway, Dixon Place, DNA, and HERE, among others, and in Boston, D.C., Montreal, Philadelphia, Provincetown and Toronto. Her solo shows GIRL MEAT and My Journey of Decay were both directed by Rosalie Purvis and created while in residency at BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange. She also created: Camille: The Forgotten Artist, directed by Sara Laudonia; stalk(her), directed by Kimberly I. Kefgen; The Should Dream, directed by Ryan Migge; and collaborated with Tony nominee Rebecca Feldman on V-Ville. Her plays include A Man with a Limp (Dopplegäng Festival), How Crazy Joe Met His Wife (produced and published by Estrogenius) and Monster and Lola (Humana Festival Finalist). Impersonating Liza Minnelli, Libertore hosts and curates her own variety shows. She teaches performance workshops incorporating her original, archetypal energy technique. Libertore is currently an artist adviser at BAX and serves on the board of New Dance Alliance. She has a BFA in Theatre from Otterbein College and her studies include Balinese mask with Per Brahe and Grotowski with Raïna von Waldenberg. She lives in Brooklyn where she also gives intuitive readings. RAW Directions
February 10-12
Performance Times: Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00pm
RAW Directions indulges artists with proven choreographic track records in carving out new avenues for their work. The program supports up to five emerging to mid-career choreographers having more than ten years of professional choreographic experience. DNA provides a full marketing and production support package, a peer artistic consultant, two informal showings, a commission and artist fee, and discounted and free rehearsal space leading up to three performances of new 15-minute works in DNA's theater. Mentored by Artistic Advisor Colleen Thomas, this season's artists include: Shani Nwando Ikerioha Collins Achille/SNIC/Eternal Works, Jordan Fuchs/Jordan Fuchs Company, Elizabeth Motley/MOTLEY DANCE, Eunhee Lee, and Scott Lyons/Scott Lyons & Company.
FRAMEWORKS
February 13
Screening Time: Sunday 3:00pm
Ticket Prices: $10 ($5 Advance Sale)
FRAMEWORKS is a dance film series produced by Michael Bodel that presents innovative works of choreography for the camera. Hi-tech or lo-fi, the short films each forge new territory in the field, capturing the power of human motion through the camera's eye. The submission process is free, and films are selected solely based on their excellence regardless of budget. Screenings are held three times per year. FRAMEWORKS was originally hosted by Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO, and now finds its home at the downtown dance hub, DNA.
Choreographer, director, and dance film maker, Michael Bodel, founded FRAMEWORKS dance film series in 2008 in an effort to encourage creative, excellent films made by contemporary choreographers to come off of their shelves and be watched by more than their makers' moms and dads. His own works of dance film include "Ios" (2008) a piece about paradise and the loss of place in the Greek Isles, and "Night Wine" (2005) a frenzied look at two vintners the night of their father's death. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 2003 with honors in Dance and a double major in Astronomy, and is a Masters candidate in the Hollins University Dance Program at the American Dance Festival. His staged work has been shown at HERE, 3LD, St. Ann's Warehouse, Judson Church, The Dance Moving Forward Festival, DanceNow, and the almost-abandoned Criterion Theater in Bar Harbor Maine.
OBject.obJECT?Garnica, Nugent, Westwood
February 17-20
Becoming
U.S. Premiere
Choreographed by Ximena Garnica
Concept and Design by Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya
Performed by Masanori Asahara, Ximena Garnica, Miyu Leilani, Denisa Musilova
Music Composed and Performed Live by Roland Toledo, additional songs by Laddio Bolocko
Costume Design by Ximena Garnica
Live Video Projections by Shige MoriyaArtist's Description
Becoming is an inter-media performance created by LEIMAY; Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya. This new work synthesizes dance, live manipulated video and original live music, meditating on the continuous cycles of life and death and on the modern human search for identity and the struggle to become someone.Becoming was developed at The Yard, a colony for performing artists, Wendy Taucher, Artistic Director, as part of the Bessie Schönberg Choreographers' Residency. Produce by CAVE, a space for the development of contemporary art and performance.Colombian-born interdisciplinary choreographer and installation artist, Ximena Garnica, received a B.A. in theater from The City College of New York, and in 2006 graduated from Akira Kasai's Tenshikan Dance Institute in Tokyo. Garnica is active as a curator and producer. She is currently an Artist in Residence at HERE Arts Center and has been awarded with the 2010 Bessie Schonberg Individual Choreographers Residency at the Yard. Garnica has been recognized with the prestigious Van Lier Fellowship for young Hispanic directors in New York and has received grants from The Urban Artist Initiative (UAI/NYC), Robert Wilson's Watermill Center, The Japan Foundation and the Asian American Arts Alliance. She has been in residence at Watermill Center, the New and Hazlett Theater, the National Museum of Dance and at Silo. Her work has been presented at the Japan Society, Joyce SoHo, Dixon Place, Theater for the New City, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Safe-T Gallery, and The CAVE NY Butoh Festivalamong others. Internationally, her work has been presented in Japan, Spain, France, The Netherlands, Mexico and Colombia. She is Co-Director of CAVE Organization and of The New York Butoh Festival. Garnica and collaborator Shige Moriya will have their first solo exhibition at the LAB Gallery in New York Summer 2011. Residing in Brooklyn, she leads ongoing training in dance and performance at CAVE. Jennifer Nugent
I'd Go Out With You
Choreographed by Jennifer Nugent
Performed by Asli Bulbul and Jennifer Nugent
Music Composed by Sam CrawfordArtist's Description
This is a duet of a woman. Colliding, Carrying, wading through the body of another. Finding her through her. Arriving here. No resolution or finale.
This work was made possible, in part, through the Movement Research Artist-in-Residency Program, funded, in part, by the Leonard and Sophie Davis Fund, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.
Jennifer Nugent is a performer, teacher, and choreographer. She was a member of David Dorfman Dance from 1999-2007, receiving a "Bessie" in 2006 for her performing work with the company. Jennifer has also had the pleasure of working with Barbara Sloan, Gerri Houlihan & Dancers, Mary Street Dance Theater, Daniel Lepkoff, Nina Winthrop, Lisa Race, Yin Mei, Doug Elkins, Bill Young, Colleen Thomas, Martha Clarke, and Kate Weare. She continuously creates her own work and collaborates with Paul Matteson. Jennifer was a 2008 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence and a 2004 Artist-in-Residence at Dance New Amsterdam. Her own work and collaborations have been presented at Dancespace Project, Dixon Place, Judson Church, Rhode Island College, Bennington College, Middlebury College, Hollins University, The Florida Dance Festival, Galapagos Art Space, and Jacob's Pillow. Jennifer teaches in NYC at Movement Research and Dance New Amsterdam as well as festivals and universities throughout the United States, Korea, Russia, and Vietnam. She is currently dancing with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company.
Adrienne WestwoodRecord
World Premiere
Performed by Jung-eun Kim, Dawn Poirier, Helen Simoneau, and Jacob Slominski
Original score and sound design by Jim Briggs III, additional music by Lila Sand Jones
Costumes by Seth Easter and Adrienne Westwood
Scenic collaboration by Seth EasterArtist's Description
Record conjures the space of a distant memory in live performance, allowing the phantoms of that memory to be felt in the present space, right here, right now. Objects of memory" such as a record player, table and chairs, childhood toys, miniature objects, old family photographs, live-feed video and directional audio are central areas of research.The development of Record has been made possible, in part, by a month-long residency at One Arm Red in DUMBO, Brooklyn, and by an anonymous grant. Brooklyn based dance artist Adrienne Westwood co-founded VIA Dance Collaborative in 2003 after being awarded the eight-month Kenan Fellowship at Lincoln Center Institute. Her choreography has been presented at Jacob's Pillow, the CCN-Ballet de Lorraine in France, and The WUK in Vienna, among other venues. Her work has also been presented in New York, at spaces including Joyce SoHo and Dance Theater Workshop, Dance New Amsterdam, Center for Performance Research, and Dixon Place. Westwood's choreography has been supported by grants including the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Fund for Creative Communities and Manhattan Community Arts Fund, The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, and by numerous space grants. Her choreography has received finalist awards in both the Island Moving Company Choreography Competition and the McCallum Theater Dance Under the Stars Choreographic Competition. She has been visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at SUNY Fredonia, Artist in Residence at University of North Carolina School of the Arts and Performática in Mexico; New York teaching includes Dancepants, CLASSCLASSCLASS, and Lincoln Center Institute. Westwood has also danced for Helen Simoneau since 2006. She recently completed her MFA in dance on fellowship through Hollins University/The American Dance Festival. SPLICE: Japan? Artists in Residence
Mana Kawamura & Makiko Tamura
February 24-26
Performance Times: Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00pm
*A post-performance talkback moderated by Yoko Shioya, Artistic Director of Japan Society, will take place on Thursday, February 24.
Mana Kawamura/Kawamura the 3rd
Pandora
World Premiere
Choreographed by Mana Kawamura
Performed by Christiana Axelsen, Mana Kawamura, Lize-Lotte Pitlo, Andrea Rossi, Keelin Ryan, Lindy Schmedt
Music Composed by Susumi Hirasawa, J.S. Bach, Frederic Chopin, and Christian Marclay, mixed by Mana Kawamura
Pandora is a site-specific piece inspired by the legendary myth, Pandora's Box. Utilizing the walls and columns of DNA's theater, the piece is movement-based and incorporates a theatrical essence.Mana Kawamura grew up in Japan studying dance at the Izumi Kawamura Dance Studio, a dance school her grandmother established in 1953. In 2001 she traveled to Germany to study under Pina Bausch Dance Company members Dominique Merci and Malou Airaudo at the Folkwang Hochschule, until 2003.She then returned to Japan and started dancing as a member of the Izumi Kawamura Dance Company. In Japan, she choreographed and performed her own solo for the All Japan Modern Dance Competition in Akita, and received first prize. Kawamura applied for and received a scholarship from the Agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan to further her studies abroad and traveled to New York in 2006. In New York City, she was selected to present a new work for five dancers as part of the newsteps emerging choreographer series during spring of 2008 and 2009. Her choreography has also been presented at Dance Theater Workshop, Joyce Soho, 92nd Street Y, Movement Research at Judson Church, Bric Studio, Cunningham Dance Studio, The Chocolate Factory and The Flea Theater. She received a 2011 space grant from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.Makiko Tamura/small apple co.
Order made
World Premiere
Choreography by Makiko Tamura
Performed by Jessica Herring, Asami Morita, Ryoji Sasamoto, Makiko Tamura
Costumes by Makiko Tamura
Music composed and performed live by Chris Powers
Sound Design by Stephan Moore
Lighting Design by Amanda K. RinggerArtist's Description
Order made was originally two separate pieces called, Order made and 256, inspired by my grandmother's and grandfather's lives. This new piece has been created as if I cut out moments of their lives and reflect on them. In this piece, two characters, a lady in a dress and a man in a suit, express significant moments in one couple's lives such as birth, graduation, marriage, and funerals, which punctuate their lives with each flash. The characters are represented by various couples of dancers whose gender, race and age differ.
As the founder and artistic director of small apple co., Makiko Tamura has been an annual special guest choreographer/dancer of The Dance Satellite Lecture at Yamaguchi University Faculty of Education since 2004. Tamura graduated from Japan Women's Junior College of Physical Education studying dance, vocal music, pantomime and traditional art, and Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music in Tokyo. Tamura performed her works in many theaters such as Asahi Art Square, Akiyoshidai International Art Village and Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media in Japan. In 2007, Tamura moved to the U.S.A. and has since worked with Nathan Trice/RITUALS, Vanessa Justice Dance, Diane McCarthy, Digby Dance, Ellis Wood Dance and in the works of various New York City artists. Tamura presented her works in newsteps choreographer's series 2008 and 2010 at Chen Dance Center, Danspace Project Food For Thought 2009 at St. Mark's Church, RAW Material Fall 2009 at Dance New Amsterdam, Fresh Tracks 2010 at Dance Theater Workshop, and other NYC venues. Tamura received first place-prize at "The A.W.A.R.D Show! 2009: New York City" presented by Joyce SoHo and third place-prize by Festival Twenty Ten DanceNOW Challenge 2010 at Dance Theater Workshop. Tamura is a 2009-2010 Fresh Tracks artist at Dance Theater Workshop.
About Dance New AmsterdamFounded in 1984, Dance New Amsterdam (DNA) celebrates 26 years of cultural leadership in contemporary dance. DNA supports the life, career, and longevity of dance artists through ongoing high quality contemporary dance education, opportunities for choreographic exploration and innovative performance, and service to the field and the Lower Manhattan community. DNA fosters the development of new and experimental works through commissions, residencies and subsidized space. We are committed to training healthy dancers, developing new audiences and bridging diverse communities by exploring the role of dance across a spectrum of contemporary dance styles and cultures.Program revenue alone does not cover the costs of DNA's annual activities. We would like to thank the generous supporters who have helped DNA achieve its mission and make the 2010/2011 season possible, including: public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), in partnership with the City Council and Former City Council Member Alan J. Gerson; New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties, and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA); New York State Assembly-Member Deborah J. Glick and New York State Senator Daniel Squadron through the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; The Department of Design and Construction (DDC); as well as from American Express; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; Multi-Arts Production (MAP) Fund; TenduTV, a media sponsor; Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Jerome Robbins Foundation; Consulate General of Israel in New York. Additional funding for the Winter 2011 season has been provided through the Lower Manhattan Arts League (LoMAL) from American Express; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; and New York Community Trust. In-kind support from Arts & Business Council and Materials for the Arts; legal counsel from Seyfarth Shaw LLC and Fox Rothschild LLP; our Individual Program Sponsors, Co-Presenting Partners, Community Business Partners, and DNA's community of individual donors. See www.dnadance.org for a complete list of donors.
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