Houston Contemporary Dance Company Will Present LOCALISH

Houston Contemporary Dance Company will present LOCALISH, a program of new choreography, on February 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Institute of Contemporary Dance, located at 1302 Houston Avenue, Suite 300, in Houston. Reserved tickets will be available for $25.

Curated by founding artistic and executive director Marlana Doyle, LOCALISH will feature new, smaller-scale works created for the company by seven Houston-based choreographers. The program is designed for an intimate setting and centers on themes connected to the city of Houston and its surrounding communities. Participating choreographers include Mia Angelini, Lenorris Arnold, Laura Gutierrez, Key’Aria Lockett, Robbie Moore, Olivia Morrow, and Isabella Mireles Vik.

The program is supported in part by the Houston Arts Alliance through the City of Houston, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mid America Arts Alliance, and Dance Source Houston. Additional seasonal support has been provided by Bob Boblitt, Bobbie Nau, Shirley and Brian Colona, Amegy Bank, and the Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation.

Mia Angelini, originally from Jefferson, Pennsylvania, is a graduate of Point Park University and a former company member of METdance in Houston, where she performed for seven seasons. Her performance credits include appearances at Jacob’s Pillow, Spring to Dance in St. Louis, and multiple national festivals. She currently serves as director of Houston Contemporary 2 and has extensive experience teaching and choreographing for competitive and pre-professional programs.

Lenorris Arnold, originally from Memphis, Tennessee, trained in Houston at Masters, The Upper Level in Stafford, Texas, and has become a widely sought-after choreographer and educator throughout Texas and Louisiana. His work has received recognition at national dance competitions and conventions, and in 2022 he directed and produced The Iris at the MATCH Theatre in downtown Houston.

Laura Gutierrez is a Houston-based dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist and a graduate of Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Her performance experience includes work by Joan Jonas, Tino Sehgal, and Robert Wilson, and she has been named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch.” She currently teaches at Kinder HSPVA.

Key’Aria Lockett is a choreographer, performer, filmmaker, and educator whose work combines contemporary dance techniques with immersive and interdisciplinary practices. She holds degrees from Hollins University and the Boston Conservatory and has performed with companies including Dallas Black Dance Theatre II and Urbanity Dance. She currently serves as assistant professor of dance at the University of Houston.

Robbie Moore is a Houston native and graduate of the Juilliard School who has performed internationally with companies including L.A. Dance Project, Eastman under Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, and Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève. He works as a freelance dancer, choreographer, and movement coach and returns to Houston Contemporary Dance Company as a guest artist and choreographer.

Olivia Morrow trained at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and earned a BFA in Dance from the University of Houston. Her choreography has been presented in Houston, Philadelphia, New York City, and Waco, and she has received recognition for excellence in choreography from both Kinder HSPVA and the University of Houston.

Isabella Mireles Vik is an interdisciplinary artist whose work blends choreography, performance art, and movement research. Their projects have been presented nationally and internationally, and in 2023 they founded the performance project Aufheben. Vik continues to develop new evening-length work while maintaining a freelance performance and choreographic practice.