SIDF Faces Unprecedented VISA Obstacles

Increased immigration scrutiny and regulations mean the Seattle International Dance Festival (SIDF) is experiencing new challenges and costs when applying for, and securing, visas for visiting artists. Festival director Cyrus Khambatta explains, "We knew this year would be tough, but we didn't know exactly how resourceful we would have to get." Early on, SIDF heard from dancers who were afraid to enter the US and chose not to participate in the festival because of anticipated difficulties. Khambatta continues, "Now that we are just a few weeks from opening, we are seeing their unfortunate predictions come true.

Unlike previous years, some of the visas that have come through have only been secured with the assistance and unrelenting 'hounding' from different members of congress in multiple states." Some visas are still pending; at present, all Festival performances will proceed as scheduled. SIDF remains committed to its mission of expanding the dialogue between international and NW artists to further the role dance plays in shaping lives.

The wildly popular, and FREE, Art on the Fly activities are planned for June 3; the first dance performances begin at the Broadway Performance Hall on Capitol Hill on June 9th. Tickets to paid performances are $23 in advance, $27 at the door (Students are $18 in advance, $22 at the door). A 2-Show pass is $38, the All Festival Pass (11 shows) is $75 and the Premium Pass ($125, includes priority seating, complimentary beverages and entrance to the closing night VIP party.) All details, including performance times, locations and ticketing information are available at www.Seattleidf.org.

ART ON THE FLY - June 3; 12 noon - 3pm

SIDF partners with the SLU Saturday Market to bring dozens of FREE all-ages dance events, food trucks and crafts to South Lake Union. Art on the Fly takes over the outside spaces on 9th Avenue and Denny Ave at Denny Park. Contemporary dance springs to life in everyday environments with surprise/ roving and impromptu performances, dance classes, flash mobs, arts & crafts vendors, music and food.

The following performances are all at the Broadway Performance Hall in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.

INTER|NATIONAL ARTISTS SERIES WEEKEND 1 - June 9-11 (Fri & Sat @ 8pm. Sun@7:30 pm)

Gu Jiani (Beijing, China) - Gu Jiani fuses aggressive precision with projection and light in her ominous work Right & Left. Her piece examines the oldest questions: Why do we love and how do we stop it from destroying who we are?

Khambatta Dance Company (Seattle, WA) - presents My Freedom / Your Freedom, portraying the stifling of a polarized nation and continuing its exploration of haunting psychosocial themes of our times.

Tabea Martin (Basel, Switzerland) - performs Field, an exploration of the 100 best love songs during which its raucous characters fight fiercely for love, affection, and recognition.

Rachel Barker (Charlotte, NC) - journeys through disparate emotional states in her new work, Welcome. Rachel's work explores themes of vulnerability and "human-ness" while questioning the roles of performer and the boundaries.

INTER|NATIONAL ARTISTS SERIES WEEKEND 2 - June 16-18 (Fri & Sat @ 8pm. Sun@7:30 pm)

Quorum Ballet (Lisbon, Portugal) - presents the U.S. Premiere of A Modern Perspective depicting ambiguous surroundings of complexity and intrigue where there are always conflicting perspectives that hold us hostage.

Bruce McCormick (Seattle, WA) - presents a solo revealing his international journey through the dance world along with Boléro, a group work revealing the discord that can lie between an individual and society.

Invertigo Dance Theater (Los Angeles, CA) - performs Interior Design about how we deal with our surroundings, boundaries, domestic territorialism and interpersonal relations. The theatrical setting conjures Magical Realism in a work that is intimate, hilarious, strange and beautiful.

Modern Line Dance Theater (Russia/Seattle) - After 18 months of study on the streets in factories and within families, Sergei Burlak presents Influence. This captivating work is about the influences that people have on one another in various environments.

INTER|NATIONAL ARTISTS SERIES WEEKEND 3 - June 23-25 (Fri & Sat @ 8pm. Sun@7:30 pm)

Sapphire Dance Creations (Kolkata, India) - celebrating its 25th anniversary, presenting Ekonama-The Beginning at the End. The work portrays hope within despair, weaving Bengal Purulia Chhau martial art (the first presentation in the US of its kind) with contemporary dance.

Rachel Lincoln and NFKAA (Seattle, WA) - Lincoln and the improvisation collective Never Formerly Known as Anything present Great Again; a political tryptic melding humor and horror, precision and spontaneity, clarity and chaos.

Peter & Co (San Francisco, CA) - blend contemporary dance alongside the rigors of classical ballet when they present contrasting works: Transverse Course, and Space Speaks.

Marlo Ariz Dance (Seattle, WA) - presents a new work for the 2017 SIDF with a focus on the investigation and procurement of movement from the most primal, instinctual, and intuitive of beginnings.

SPOTLIGHT SERIES - June 13, 15, 20, 21 at 7:30pm

June 13 - Spotlight on Seattle Now. Curated by Cyrus Khambatta, Deb Wolf and Marlo Ariz. Including artists Erica Badgeley, Corr de Rose, Delashmette Dance Projects, Ka.nei.see Collective, and Maya Soto + Nico Tower.

June 15 - Spotlight: Artist's Perspective. Focuses on Seattle-based artists, who address specific themes in their work that are important to each creator. Curated by the festival's own crew, including artists, ForthunRome Dance, Kimberly Holloway, Samsara, Tesselations Dance Project, and Amber Willett.

June 21 & 22 - Spotlight on Contemporary Ballet. Curated by Donald Byrd, Cyrus Khambatta, Zoe Scofield and Eva Stone. Presenting Daniel Costa Dance, Christopher D'Ariano Company, Emilee Hope Putsche, and a featured commissioned work by Miles Pertl (PNB) with a special feature by Donald Byrd (Spectrum).

SPECIAL EVENT [FRAGILE] - June 19 (Time & Place TBA on the website) & June 22 (Velocity Dance Center)

This is an interactive performance by Serial Paradise (Italy, Norway, Romania). They play with different layers of distance between the artists and the audience. It is part performance, part installation, and part game, involving the audience in the risk and fragility involving our multiple identities.

The festival is produced by Khambatta Dance Company and provided to Seattle residents to enrich the local community through the availability and diversity of high caliber contemporary dance.

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