Tahni Holt's DUET LOVE Premieres Tonight at Velocity Founders Theater

Celebrated Portland choreographer Tahni Holt's provocative world-premiere Duet Love plays with our precious notions of hetero-romance. Holt and a stellar Pacific Northwest artistic team, draw from iconic photographs of famous couples as a driving force to disrupt and question how gendered bodies are portrayed in performance. Developed during a June and August 2014 Velocity Creative Residency, Duet Love thrives upon queer twists by asking: How does audience desire inflect the experience of masculine/feminine into the movement and emotion of dancing bodies? Performed by Ezra Dickinson, Keyon Gaskin, Allie Hankins and Lucy Yim. Music composed by Luke Wyland with special guest Corinna Repp. Dramaturgy by Robert Tyree. Lighting design by Jeff Forbes. Costume design by Jayme Hansen and Kate Fenker. Artistic advice by Chris Larson.

After the Velocity world premiere, Duet Love heads to PICA's TBA Festival in September 2014.

SPECIAL EVENTS

MASTER CLASS: TAHNI HOLT

TUES SEPT 2 / 9:30-11:15
Velocity Founders Studio / 1621 12th Ave
$15 / $12 MVP

AUDIENCE LAB: TAHNI HOLT Duet Love
SEPT 4 / 5:30-8:30PM
Velocity / 1621 12th Ave
LAB $30 / $25 MVP / Includes ticket to THUR performance

Audience Labs aim to demystify dance through an equal emphasis on conversation, presentation, participation and social interaction. Facilitated by Velocity Artistic Director Tonya Lockyer, this audience lab focuses on Tahni Holt's Duet Love. The Audience Lab includes a ticket to the performance, refreshments and a post-show conversation with the artist.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

TAHNI HOLT's (PDX) varied collaborations and solo work have been presented throughout the Northwest and beyond: On The Boards and Bumbershoot, PICA's TBA Festival, Reed College's Raw Art Week, Fusebox Festival, The Lucky Penny (Atlanta); Movement Research's Monday at Judson Church (NYC); as well as far off places in France, Romania and Idaho. In 2010 Holt was curated into the PORTLAND 2010 Biennial and is an Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship awardee (2007). TahniHolt.com

Velocity's presentation of Duet Love is made possible by generous support from season sponsors KUOW, The Western States Arts Federation, The New England Foundation for the Arts, The Seattle Foundation, 4Culture, ArtsFund, The Office of Arts & Culture, The Pruzan Foundation, Pacific Continental Bank, Boeing and the Morris Clitherow Family Fund.

VELOCITY MISSION

Velocity advances contemporary dance and movement-based art by fostering the creative explorations of artists and audiences through an invested commitment to education, creation, performance, inquiry, community participation, and inter/national exchange.

ABOUT VELOCITY

Mayor's Arts Award and Genius Award winning Velocity Dance Center is Seattle's forward-thinking laboratory and essential incubator for dance and emerging ideas. A national nexus for dance, Velocity is recognized as a leader in new dance development in the US. With artist-driven, community-centered artistic and education programs, Velocity is instrumental in making Seattle a destination city with one of the most active dance communities in the nation. With artist-led classes and workshops every day, performances every week, three annual dance festivals, ongoing humanities programs that activate thoughtful conversations, as well as weekly community events from social dances to family-style dinners, Velocity is a portal for those new to dance and an important community resource. Home to hundreds of independent dance artists and renowned for producing innovative, cutting-edge work, Velocity has featured performances and master classes by art stars Tere O'Connor, Pat Graney, Reggie Watts, Miguel Gutierrez, Anouk van Dijk, Deborah Hay, Faye Driscoll, 33 Fainting Spells, KT Niehoff, Zoe Scofield/Juniper Shuey, Danielle Agami and many more. Velocity is Seattle's only dedicated contemporary dance venue where groundbreaking work and disciplined practice coexist.

SEASON SPONSORS

Velocity's programs are made possible thanks to the support of The Glenn H. Kawasaki Foundation, 4Culture, ArtsFund, The Office of Arts & Culture, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, The Boeing Company, The Pruzan Foundation, Morris Clitherow Family Fund, Pacific Continental Bank, Microsoft, KUOW, New England Foundation for the Arts, and the generous support of individual donors.