Freemove Dance's ...IT'S TIME... Returns To 14th Street Y

Freemove Dance presents the comeback run of ...it's time... - a piece performed last year as part of 14th Street Y's inaugural curated season. The evening-length production, co -presented by the Theater at the 14th Street Y, played to sold-out houses in 2018. Its main theme is the intricacies of human relationship to time; it is choreographed by Jenn Freeman, with an original score by renowned percussionist Dani Markham (Tune-Yards, Childish Gambino). The work will be presented September 19-22, 2019 at the venue's theater, located at 344 East 14th Street (near First Avenue), New York, NY 10003. The tickets ($20 online; $25 at the door) can be purchased online at 14streety.org/itstime.

In Freemove Dance's ...it's time..., everyone is literally "on the clock." The piece, conceived as a meditation on each individual's complex relationship to time, features five dancers whose performances are both constrained and propelled by the presence of a large digital timer, inexorably counting down towards zero. The show's creator and director Jenn Freeman introduces this device to make a point about how measuring the passage of time - a distinctly human pursuit that does not apply to other species - shapes the perception of it and inevitably begets a variety of complex emotions: the sense of limitation, mortality, anxiety - but also experience of leisure, escape, and a new beginning at the end of each cycle. The evocative live percussion score, composed by Dani Markham (who has toured nationally with the indie-rock group Tune-Yards and is currently touring with the Grammy Award-winning Childish Gambino), literally dictates the tempo of the 60-minute piece. The work is conceived as a metaphor of a lifetime - one long, cinematic take in which performers transition through changing ambiances, styles, and energies.

...it's time... was a bold step into a new territory for both the choreographer Jenn Freeman and composer Dani Markham when it premiered in 2018, and the first evening-long work with the company Freeman has founded that year. Markham, whose creative career has until now been focused on group collaborations with other musicians, made her debut as a composer of an expansive, solo-drum score. The two artists met as collaborators of NYC-based choreographer Sonya Tayeh and connected over the idea of exploring the emotional dimension of time in a piece that, while eschewing narrative, has a strong theatrical slant. "It's an interesting challenge to be solely responsible as a composer for the entire complexity of moods and emotions, conveyed just in one instrument; it's exhilarating to bring my musical ideas front and center, " says Markham, while Freeman remarks: "The presence of a live musician added a completely new dimension to how I conceive and direct the piece that initially focused only on the movement; suddenly, it is a combination of dance theatre and a live concert all in one."

The work features five dancers: Maddison Burg, Mia DeWeese, Matt Luck, Christopher Ralph, and Madeline Wright. Dani Markham's score for the piece will be performed live by Price McGuffey. The lighting design of the piece is by the 2010 Bessie-winner Philip Treviño (awarded for his work on Pam Tanowitz's Be In The Gray With Me) and costumes are designed by Mondo Morales (known for his work with Alvin Ailey II.)

ABOUT THE ARTISTSJenn Freeman (Choreographer) is the founder and the Artistic Director of Freemove Dance and an accomplished choreographer, dance performer, and educator. Her appearances in the modern dance pieces by top contemporary choreographers include leads in the works by Sonya Tayeh and Kyle Abraham | Abraham.in.Motion.) She has worked as assistant and associate choreographer on major commercial productions for TV (including Fox's The X-Factor US with Florence and The Machine and So You Think You Can Dance), theater (Iphigenia in Aulis at the Second Stage Company, dir. Rachel Chavkin and The Wild Party at the City Center, dir. Leigh Silverman), and concert tours (Madonna and Cirque du Soleil.) As a performer, she was featured in The MTV Video Music Awards, The Jimmy Fallon Show, Comedy Central's The Comedy Awards, and in The Rolling Stones' 50th Anniversary Tour. Freeman is an internationally recognized educator who has been teaching across the U.S. at Revive Dance Convention, The national Dance Honors, Contemporary Now, and Axis Connect. She has made work at New York's Marymount Manhattan College; Wayne State University, MI; BYU, UT; UT Austin, TX. She also frequently appears as a guest/master teacher at Steps on Broadway in NYC. www.freemovedance.com

Dani Markham (Composer) is a percussionist/drummer who has recently been recording and touring with such artists as indie-rock group Tune-Yards and the Grammy Award-winning Childish Gambino. Her Off-Broadway credits include a collaboration with the band The Bengsons as an original music cast member of the recent production of Hundred Days at New York Theatre Workshop. TV appearances include 2018 Grammy Awards, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night With Conan O'Brien, and Saturday Night Life, among others. A native of Louisville, KY, she holds a degree in Music Performance from the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.

Maddison Burg is a Los Angeles based dance performer, teacher, and choreographer. She grew up training in LA and was a founding member of Jessie Hartley's award- winning Westside Dance Project. For three seasons, she was a member of the contemporary dance company Soul Escape, under the direction of Justin Giles. She has performed live and appeared in music videos for various artists including Louis the Child, Elohim, and Mike Posner. Her television credits include Victorious, The Cleaner, and Ubisoft. She is an internationally recognized dance educator and is on faculty with Revive Dance Convention, and is known for creating award-winning work at dance studios throughout the United States and beyond. Maddison is a founding member of Freemove Dance and is pleased to be on this journey with Jenn Freeman and company.

Mia DeWeese is a New York City based dance performer, teacher, and choreographer. She is originally from Columbus, Ohio where she trained at Infusion Dance under the direction of Shane Carpenter. She received her BFA in dance from Marymount Manhattan College under the direction of Katie Langan. She was a member of the Marymount Manhattan College Dance Company, and had the opportunity to perform works by Shen Wei, Larry Keigwin, Mark Morris, Robert Battle, Loni Landon, Cherice Barton, Lar Lubovitch, Pedro Ruiz, and more. She has performed with contemporary dance companies BodyStories: Teresa Fellion and 10 Hairy Legs Projects. She was a performer in Sonya Tayeh's New York Live Arts and Jacob's Pillow commissioned piece, You'll Still Call Me By Name. She was ensemble/dance captain in the off-broadway production of The Lucky Ones. She was assistant choreographer and ensemble for Rent Live on Fox Network, and she is Sonya Tayeh's associate choreographer for Moulin Rouge Broadway. She has been working with Jenn Freeman for the past 4 years and is proud to be a founding member of Freemove Dance.

Matt Luck is a Los Angeles based dance performer, teacher, and choreographer. He originally hails from Dayton, Ohio where he began his performing and choreographic careers. He made the decision to relocate to LA to pursue a career in dance and lm. Matt has appeared in various television series, feature lms, and award shows including; The Academy Awards, the American Music Awards, and Glee. Matt has performed live with musicians, RY X, Jens Lekman, and Richard Walters. In addition to commercial endeavors, he has performed the works of Micaela Taylor, Gracie Whyte, Laura Berg, Jenn Freeman, and Lauren Adams. Matt is currently dancing for The TL Collective, Freemove Dance, and LA's modern duo, Whyteberg. He has choreographed stage performances and music videos for Figs Vision and The Put Off, and has set work on Houston's MET too Youth Company. He has taught classes throughout Europe in London, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy. Matt is a founding member of Freemove Dance and is constantly searching for new elements of movement. Matt is thankful for the opportunities he has been given thus far.

Christopher Ralph is a New York based dance performer, teacher, and choreographer. Chris was born and raised in Long Island, N.Y. where he began his dance training at Holy Trinity High School, under the direction of Cathy Murphy and James Whore. He also trained at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway with teachers such as Dorrit Koppel, Frank Hatchett, and Shelia Barker. In 2005, he attended SUNY Purchase college to complete his B.F.A in dance. Chris is a founding member, as well as the associate artistic director and rehearsal director of The Dash Ensemble under the direction of Gregory Dolbashian. He spent 2 seasons touring nationally and internationally with Aszure Barton and Artists. He has also been a member of companies under the direction of Loni Landon, Janis Brenner, Doug Varone, Rebecca Lazier, Patrick Corbin, and Sonya Tayeh, and has performed at The Metropolitan Opera. He has worked on a video project with the recording artist FKA Twigs. He currently teaches contemporary and heels classes at Peridance Capezio Center in New York City and contemporary at Princeton University. He is a founding member of Freemove Dance.

Madeline Wright - from Toronto, Canada - is a dance graduate of Point Park University, where she completed her BFA degree with high honours. She has attended professional programs such as Springboard Danse Montreal (working with Alexandra Wells, Ami Schulman, Peter Chu, Bobbi Jene Smith and Spenser Theberge), Movement Invention Project, AXIS Connect, and two sessions of Sidra Bell's SBDNY Module. Madeline's professional and performance experience consists of commercial, concert and multi-disciplinary venues - collaborating and performing the works of Cindy Salgado, Terrence Marling, Gregory Dolbashian, Sonya Tayeh and TOES for Dance (Kristen Carcone). Over the past few years she has been working in Toronto as well as New York City, where she was a member of Sonya Tayeh's premier production of you'll still call me by name at New York Live Arts in December 2016. She had the privilege of performing the work again for its commission at Jacob's Pillow in the Doris Duke Theatre. Madeline is both honoured and full of gratitude to be taking the stage with the Freemove team this fall.

Price McGuffey began performing alongside the Louisville Leopard Percussionists at the age of seven, where he later met and subsequently worked with Dani Markham (composer & former member), and was a featured soloist in the HBO documentary The Leopards Take Manhattan: The Little Band that Roared. Throughout his grade school musical career, he performed across multiple art disciplines and was selected each year on All-County/All-State/National levels for band, jazz band, orchestra, and percussion ensemble spanning multiple instruments: saxophone, percussion, piano, and drum set. During his time at U of L, he studied drum set with Michael Hyman and performed to various extents with Ndugu Chancellor, Don Braden, Wycliffe Gordon, Alan Broadbent, META Quintet, and Amina Figarova. His current professional credits include Ben Sollee, Carly Johnson, and Freemove Dance.

Mondo Morales is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College, spent his post collegiate years shaping and shifting the costume design field, merging urban fashion with contemporary dance-wear. His background in both dance and styling is apparent in his work; embodying New York City's style. He has costumed for artists such as Alvin Ailey, Sonya Tayeh, Pascal Rioult and Jeremy McQueen. Mondo acted as The Ailey School's Costume Coordinator from 2012- 2015 and is currently at Marymount Manhattan College. Mondo works as Art Director in NYC for solo artist and companies. In 2016, Mondo presented a solo exhibit, Skinetic Moments, at G Lounge Chelsea and ALOFT Hotel Harlem, featuring images exploring body paint on dancers. In early Spring of 2018 Mondo presented his first gender neutral collection ONYX at Brooklyn Fashion Week and was also featured in a short film Directed by Angelo Soriano and Choreographer Angelica Stiskin.

Philip Treviño is the recipient of a 2010 New York Dance and Performance Award (BESSIE) for lighting and scenic design of Pam Tanowitz's Be In The Gray With Me. He was the scenic designer for Camille A. Brown and Company's Mr. Tol E. Rance, 2014 BESSIE Award for Outstanding Production. Other design work includes: Catherine Cabeen/ Hyphen Give Me More, Pioneers Go East Collective's Gemini Stars/Scorpio Stars at La MaMa directed by Gian Marco Lo Forte. Treviño has also collaborated with Brian Brooks Moving Company, Henning Rübsam's Sensedance, and Kymera Dance. He is an alumnus of San Francisco State University and currently holds the position of Technical Director and Adjunct Professor for the Dance Department at Marymount Manhattan College. www.philiptrevino.com

About The Theater at the 14th Street YThe Theater at the 14th Street Y focuses on social awareness and change through big picture narrative. Inspired by works that welcome artists of all backgrounds, we place artists at the heart of our community and seek to create an inclusive and open cultural experience for all. Art is incubated here.

About the 14th Street YThe 14th Street Y's philosophy is grounded in the belief that contemporary Jewish sensibilities can be a source of inspiration, connection and learning. No matter what your background, we aim to inspire you to live your best life. We're committed to the development of the whole person, to strengthening family connections and to building inclusive and sustainable communities. The 14th Street Y serves more than 20,000 people annually with a variety of community programs and is proud to be a part of Educational Alliance, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a 128-year history of serving New Yorkers downtown.

www.freemovedance.com

Photo by Maria Baranov