Houston Performing Arts And Culture Programs Partner To Present BUTTERFLY EFFECT 

Performing Arts and Culture programs at Asia Society Texas, Houston Contemporary Dance Company and Open Dance Project will present Butterfly Effect, a weekend of stunning performances bringing together Houston's two leading contemporary dance companies. Two ticketed performances will run at the Asia Society Texas Center's Brown Foundation Performing Arts Theater October 18th and 19th, 2024 at 7:30PM. 

Open Dance Project (ODP) joins forces with Houston Contemporary Dance Company (HCDC) to present Butterfly Effect. The performances will include an original work by ODP's Executive Artistic Director Annie Arnoult that unites the powerhouse of both companies on stage together with a repertoire work from each organization, including HCDC's piece by internationally acclaimed choreographer Yue Yin.

Butterfly Effect is a world premiere choreographed by Annie Arnoult for a combined cast of Houston Contemporary Dance Company and Open Dance Project dancers. Arnoult digs into the unique strengths of these powerhouse performers while tackling the topic of personal development. Butterfly Effect puts the dancers into a series of challenging physical and social situations that send the dancers alternately into “discover” and “defend” modes. Sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes humorous, the piece, set to a contemporary music score by Michael Wall, asks how and why people handle tough situations so differently.

Citizen is a physically demanding ensemble piece performed by the full company of YYDC dancers. Its dynamic and expressive movement, together with dramatic original musical scoring, reflects the intensity of the times we are living then and now, the challenges we face together and the political environment that surrounds and influences us. The dancers and their movements celebrate our common sense of hope and determination.

In Shakespearean Shorts: A Tragicomedy, Open Dance Project brings Shakespeare's most recognizable moments to life in a collaboratively devised set of rotating vignettes that pop up with makeshift scenery and sets to tease and delight the audience. Shakespeare's most beloved characters – Romeo and Juliet, Helena and Hermia, Demetrius and Lysander, Hamlet and the Players, Bottom and the Mechanicals, and the witches from Macbeth – engage the audience directly in iconic moments of love, strife, and comedy. With whimsical costumes by artist Ashley Horn and fantastic props by Lauren Davis, Open Dance Project transforms the Brown Foundation Performing Arts Theater at Asia Society Texas into a playful backdrop for Shakespeare's most magical and mysterious moments.