Laura Pawel Dance Co. to Perform at Chen Dance Center, 3/18-19

Laura Pawel Dance Company reminds people that "how are you is a greeting, not a question" when they return to perform March 18&19, 7 PM, at the Chen Dance Center, 70 Mulberry Street in Chinatown. Also receiving its world premiere is the work "Comfortable Silence," and the program will be completed by company favorites. The Pawel style combines choreographed works with improvisational structures in both the dance and music, along with improvised talk by the performers, whose longtime collaboration is reflected in the ease and harmony of their performances. As always, there is live music for all works.

This year's new group work is "how are you is a greeting, not a question," set to keyboard music by Phil Stone;

"Comfortable Silence," also premiering, is a duet for Laura and Stacey, to the mellow jazz sounds of the Cecilia Coleman Quartet;

The Coleman Quartet will also accompany the 2014 "3 a.m.," a dance about that time of the morning - a time for nightmares, restlessness and wanderings, both sad and funny;

The Company will repeat last year's premiere "Flickers," inspired by dream fragments, flickers of thoughts, memories of something you were going to say but can't quite remember. Music is by Barebones (Gene Caprioglio on guitar and Dr. 88 on harmonica).

Also by Barebones is the 2013 "Tete-a-Tete," an idiosyncratic conversation for two dancers.