Ishida Dance Company's World Premiere of HAVING BEEN BREATHED OUT to be Presented in Austin & Houston

ISHIDA Dance Company, in collaboration with Asia Society Texas will present having been breathed out featuring works choreographed by ISHIDA, renowned Greek choreographer Adonis Foniadakis, and award-winning Romanian choreographer Edward Clug. having been breathed out will play Houston June 9-11, 2023 at Asia Society Texas Center and Austin June 17 at Dell Fine Arts Center at St. Andrew's. Tickets go on sale Saturday, April 15 at IshidaDance.org.

having been breathed out includes the world premiere of an original ISHIDA poetic narrative titled American Gothic which explores the internal and external dynamics of the nuclear family. The program also features works by two widely respected but rarely seen in the United States, European choreographers: Horizons by Greek choreographer Adonis Foniadakis and critically acclaimed Mutual Comfort by Edward Clug from Romania. Clug is an award-winning choreographer and Artistic Director of Maribor Ballet who has created several works on Stuttgart Ballet, Zurich Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), and others. Foniadakis' work is well known in the European dance community commissioned by many of the top European dance companies over the past two decades. The evening promises to be a unique opportunity to see some of best and most interesting choreography from Europe and the US.

"Mutual Comfort exhibits Clug's idiosyncratic choreographic language and a sense of restraint which fits beautifully in this program," said Artistic Director Brett Ishida. "And Foniadakis' Horizons has an ancient feel to it, almost like a ritual. I've been following Adonis for some time, so this was a great opportunity to present his work here in Texas."

Performance Details:

World Premiere of having been breathed out | HOUSTON, TX

June 9-11, 2023 | Friday - Saturday at 8 pm; Sunday at 3 pm

Asia Society Texas Center | 1370 Southmore Blvd, Houston TX 77004

Tickets: $40-$90/VIP $120 | Tickets available at IshidaDance.org

Austin Premiere of having been breathed out | AUSTIN, TX

June 17, 2023 | Saturday at 8 pm

Dell Fine Arts Center at St. Andrew's | 5901 Southwest Pkwy, Austin TX 78735

Tickets: $40-$90/VIP $110 | Tickets available at IshidaDance.org

About ISHIDA Dance Company

ISHIDA is a new world-class contemporary dance company based in Austin and Houston, Texas and the only company in the US to be nationally recognized in Dance Magazine's prestigious "25 to watch" list for 2023. ISHIDA features venerated dancers from many of the top companies in the world (Houston Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, English National Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Juilliard, Ballet BC, Netherlands Dance Theater, GöteborgsOperan, tanzmainz, Les Ballets Jazz Montreal). ISHIDA blends contemporary dance with theatrical elements while retaining the physicality and beauty of the human form from traditional ballet. ISHIDA presents unique poetic narratives relevant to a modern audience that invite existential questions. The work explores archetypal patterns and themes of our psyche such as betrayal, belonging, love and loss, to encourage a tender kindness towards ourselves that extends to others.

About Brett Ishida - Artistic Director

Brett Ishida is Japanese American and grew up on a citrus farm in California's Central Valley. Brett's love for dance inspired her to move away from home at age fifteen when she received a full scholarship to the Kirov Academy and later to the School of American Ballet in NYC. She then danced with Boston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, where she first choreographed on the company, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montréal where she toured around the world. At Les Grands Ballets, she collaborated in new creations with choreographers and performed principal and soloist roles in repertoire by Nacho Duato, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Jirí Kylián, Didy Veldman and Ohad Naharin, among others.

She later graduated from UCLA earning a BA in Literature with emphasis in Creative Writing (Poetry), and MA in Montessori Education. She felt by combining those two worlds from her past, she could be a new voice in contemporary dance and started ISHIDA in 2019.

Already a sought-out choreographer for her work, Ishida was commissioned by venerated ballerina and Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet and soon to be Co-Artistic Director of Houston Ballet, Julie Kent, to create a ballet for their NEXTsteps program held this past June 2022 and was performed again in November 2022 at The Kennedy Center. Pulitzer-prize winning dance critic Sarah L. Kaufman from The Washington Post deemed Ishida's piece homecoming which "tackled a deeply poignant, poetic theme" to be "remarkable."

Brett Ishida's work intertwines reflections of ancient timeless themes of Greek philosophy and poetry with subconscious memories which shape who we are and where we are going. Her company, ISHIDA, creates 'memory houses' for audiences where themes and characters build relationships and familiarity in imitation of life's enigma.

About Guest Choreographer - Edward Clug

Edward Clug was born in Beius, Romania and decided to enroll at the dance academy to escape the repressive communist regime of Ceauşescu. In 1991, Clug completed his ballet studies at the National ballet school in Cluj-Napoca (Romania). The same year he was engaged as a soloist at the Slovene National Theatre (SNG) in Maribor where he made his first choreography.

In 2003, Clug became artistic director of the Maribor Ballet, leading the company towards a new and distinctive direction. As a choreographer he received international acclaim with Radio & Juliet (2005). Clug succeeded in putting the Maribor Ballet on the international dancing map by participating in the largest theatre festivals, such as Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, The Stars of the White Nights festival at the Mariinsky Theatre St.Petersburg, Arts Festival in Singapore, and Seoul International Dance Festival in Korea.

Besides Maribor Ballet, Clug was repeatedly invited to create new works for Stuttgart Ballet, Zurich Ballet, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Ballett Theater Basel, Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), and other companies around the world. He won several awards, including a "Special Award for Best Choreography" for his creation Roses at the International Theatre Festival MESS in Sarajevo (2011). Clug received international awards for his choreographies at dance competitions and festivals in Moscow, Belgrade and Sarajevo and he was nominated for the Golden Mask award in Moscow (2010). He has received the Prešern Foundation Award in 2005 and the Glazer Charter in 2008. In 2014, the magazine "Tanz" acknowledged him as one of the future's brightest talents in the field of choreography.

About Guest Choreographer - Adonis Foniadakis

Greek-born choreographer Andonis Foniadakis began his career as a professional dancer with the Ballet de l'Opéra de Lyon (1996-2002), where he worked with such leading choreographers as Maguy Marin and Jiří Kylián. He founded his own company, Apotosoma, in 2003. He has choreographed for many companies, including the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, Ballett Theater Basel, the Sydney Dance Company, the National Dance Company of Wales, Manheim National Theatre, and Les Ballets Jazz Montreal.

From 2016 to 2018 he was the director of the Greek National Opera Ballet. He created the choreography for three French operas, collaborated with Darren Aronofsky on the film "Noah", and worked with Palais de Tokyo on the exhibition Prec(ar)ious Collectives in Athens. In 2012, he received the Danza Award for Best Choreography for "Les Noces", created for the MaggioDanza ballet company in Italy.

About Asia Society Texas

Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community - trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.

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