DNA Presents BETWEEN YOU AND ME, 10/13 - 16

Dance New Amsterdam (DNA), NYC's foremost progressive dance education and performance center, presents world premieres Between You and Me by Joanna Kotze and Black Ground by Benn Rasmuseen as part of the DNA Presents series. SPLICE:DUETspaceQUARTET will have three evening shows October 13 -15, 8:00 p.m. and a matinee on October 16, 3:00 p.m. in DNA's 130-seat state-of-the-art theater.

Before and After, a corresponding gallery exhibit created by Ryutaro Mishima, will be on display in the second floor gallery until October 30, 2011. An opening reception will take place at 7:00 p.m., October 13, followed by the opening of SPLICE: DUETspaceQUARTET. The exhibit uses photography to comment on the impermanent nature of performance through images of artists before and after taking the stage.

"DNA's SPLICE series brings together unique artists that share a common thread, however subtle, into a performance setting that offers insightful views into the breadth of contemporary dance," says Catherine Peila, Executive Director. "Joanna and Benn are distinctive emerging artists whose choreographic qualities utilize both movement and spatial perspectives. SPLICE gives them a performance opportunity to unite as artists who evoke new directions and bring distinctive movement viewpoints to dance."

Leveraging a unique audience setting to play with what is revealed to the viewer, Kotze presents simultaneous episodes that question what it means to be alone versus together onstage in Between You and Me. The work has been in creation since May 2010 during residencies and rehearsals at Summer Stages Dance, LMDC's Swing Space, Mount Tremper Arts and DNA. As a choreographer and performer Kotze, aims to explore the potential of the body's human architecture through movement. "The movement in this piece progresses from a rhythmic sense of self to a dynamic, interactive duet," says Kotze. "Between You and Me started out as a sketch and ended as a collage - made possible through DNA's encouragement, donation of theater space and unending support of my vision."

Inspired by visual art, experimental film and architecture, Rasmussen's Black Ground explores how non-linear structures engage with live dance performance. Animating multiple generations of families' photographs, the work explores stories imagined, but not yet written. Previous drafts of the work were shown in 2010 - Under Exposed (Dixon Place) and Draft Work (Dancespace Project). "I like to play with suspension and texture in my works and try to capture the human body - presenting humans as they are, every day characters that are approachable," says Rasmussen, "I am grateful to DNA for allowing me to further develop Black Ground."

Starting in 2004, Joanna Kotze has presented works at Jacob's Pillow, Danspace Project, Dance New Amsterdam, Judson Church, Dixon Place, 92nd Street Y, WAXworks and as part of Soho20 Gallery's Savior Faire Fall 2010 Performance Series. She was selected earlier this year for Ailey's New Directions Choreography Lab as a Choreographic Fellow. She is also currently a 2011-2012 Studio Series artist at New York Live Arts and a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Swing Space Artist-in-Residence. Last spring Joanna worked in residence at Mount Tremper Arts. In 2010 Joanna was awarded the Foundation for Contemporary Arts EmergenCy Grant and became a Choreographers' Project Fellow at Summer Stages Dance in Concord, MA. She is on faculty at Movement Research and has studied Klein technique with Barbara Mahler since 2003. Since moving to New York in 1998 she has danced with Wally Cardona, Kimberly Bartosik/daela, Netta Yerushalmy, Daniel Charon, the Metropolitan Opera (including their works by Doug Varone), Nina Winthrop, Mimi Garrard Dance Theater and Company Appels. She has performed throughout NYC, the United States, Canada, Europe and Mexico. Joanna is originally from South Africa, has a BA in Architecture from Miami University and is a freelance architectural model builder.

Benn Rasmussen is a choreographer, performer, teacher, producer, curator, administrator and organizer. He currently works with a group of five exceptional dancers to experiment and develop works. His work has been shown in New York at the Center for Performance Research, Dixon Place, Danspace Project, Arts in Bushwick (SITE Festival, Bushwick Open Studios), and CAVE. Nationally his works have been presented at various venues in his home state of Wisconsin. He is one of five curators of RoofTop Dance, which he hosts on the roof of his apartment in Brooklyn. In 2010 Benn was a part of The Adventure, which was led by Trajal Harrell and in conjunction with Danspace Project. As a teacher and choreographer he draws information and inspiration from his Vinyasa yoga practice, extensive research into current visual arts practices, and cultural history. Benn works as the studio manager at Kula Yoga Project in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and he teaches yoga classes throughout the city. Benn holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and a 200-Hour Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Certification from OM Yoga Center.

TICKETS and PERFORMANCE TIMES
Performances take place Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. 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 for general audiences, $12 for DNA members and $14 for students/seniors unless stated otherwise. $12 advance sales are also available. To arrange discounted tickets for groups of six or more, contact mingle@dnadance.org. All sales are final.

SPLICE: DUETspaceQUARTET
BETWEEN YOU AND ME - World Premiere
Choreographer: Joanna Kotze
Dancers: Joanna Kotze and Francis Stansky
Set design: Joanna Kotze and Jonathan Allen
Music: Mike Koenig, Broken Social Scene, Janis Joplin, Ray Charles, Rinocerose and The Rolling Stone

Two dancers, a contained space, a stationary audience - In Between You and Me, simultaneous episodes present solos or a duet and asks questions about what it means to be alone versus what it means to be together.

BLACK GROUND - World Premiere
Choreographer: Benn Rasmussen
Company: Ardent August
Dancers: Arletta Anderson, Julia Kelly, Benn Rasmussen, and Edward Rice

With the gentle caress of a woman's clavicle or the crash of a mysterious black book hurtling towards the floor, Black Ground unravels through a series of tense events, revealing simmering layers of emotions residing underneath the performers' taut actions.

Gallery: Before and After the Performance
Artist: Ryutaro Mishima

Before and After the Performance is a series of diptychs (paired photographs) of performing artists; one taken just before a performance and the other taken directly after the artist leaves the stage. Photographer Ryutaro Mishima immerses himself into multifaceted layers of space and time to explore individual and collective contemporary experiences. The series celebrates the act of performing and depicts the complex attitudes of the sitters as they echo the transient performances taking place.
DNA's Gallery hours are 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., Monday - Sunday. There is no charge for admission to the exhibit.

About Dance New Amsterdam
Founded in 1984, Dance New Amsterdam (DNA) celebrates 27 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.

DNA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and its 2011-2012 programming is made possible through the generosity of its supporters. As of September 2011, public funding provided by: the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). Private funding provided by: Bloomberg Philanthropies, with support from the Kennedy Center/DeVos Institute; The MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; FJC, a Foundation of Philanthropic Funds; and Meet The Composer's MetLife Creative Connections program. In-kind support from: Arts & Business Council, Fox Rothschild LLP, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and Materials for the Arts. Additional support provided by our Advisors, Programming Partners, Neighborhood Partners, International Partners, and DNA's community of individual donors. For a full list of DNA's partnerships, visit www.dnada

 

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