CONDER/Dance Announces 2020 Breaking Ground Festival Artists

An exhilarating weekend of performances, master classes and social events featuring some of the most important voices in contemporary dance today, the Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival comes to Tempe Center for the Arts. Tightly curated by a panel of nationally recognized adjudicators, this annual festival features cutting-edge choreographers, filmmakers and performers from Arizona and around the nation.

2020 Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival will be held over the course of two days, January 24 and 25, 2020 at 7:30 pm at the Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe.

Tickets are $18-28 and are available at tempecenterforthearts.com.

Following the main stage performances, the audience is invited to the 2020 Breaking Ground after party, featuring "Tiny Dances" with light hors d'oeuvres and cash bar in the Lakeside Room.

Highlights of the Festival include CONDER/dance's work commissioned by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation celebrating Taliesin West's inhabitants and architecture, Andrea Ordaz's piece which examines cultural heritage and the concept of one's homeland, and Alyssandra Katherine Wu's piece based on her grandfather's journey from China to mainland America.

Information about the 2020 Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival and CONDER/dance may be found at conderdance.com.

Nationally recognized as one of the most innovative contemporary dance festivals in the U.S., 2020 Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival is presented by CONDER/dance. Led by Artistic Director Carley Conder, CONDER/dance is comprised of the top contemporary dancers in Phoenix, including members of Arizona State University's dance faculty and independent artists from around the state. Carley Conder founded CONDER/dance in 2003 and has brought the company to national acclaim, including its recent appearance at the prestigious SoloDuo Dance Festival in New York City and being named one of the Valley's top "Phoenix Creatives" by the Phoenix New Times.

BOSS
(Breaking Ground Commissioned Artist)
"THRU"

BOSS is a solo performance artist based in the Phoenix area, making their first appearance at the Breaking Ground Festival, with their new work, THRU. THRU seeks to erase time for the duration of the performance, using fierce dance movements and visceral theater to portray their deeply personal narratives related to power, vulnerability, anxiety and human connection.

Keith A. Thompson/danceTactics performance group
(Breaking Ground Commissioned Artist)
"Undeniable Traits"

i??Making his debut at the Breaking Ground Festival, ASU's new Director of Dance Keith A. Thompson brings his fascinating work, "Undeniable Traits," which uses movement to examine relationships and the human form. Prior to moving to Phoenix, Thompson performed for many years as a dancer with the acclaimed Trisha Brown Dance Company in NYC, where he served as their rehearsal director and most recently served on the Dance Faculty of Rutgers University.

Rebecca Aneloski/And Artists
"Spice"

Recently honored with the Professional and Emerging Choreographer Award for New Century Dance Project, Rebecca Aneloski brings an excerpt from her work, TASTE, which has been praised by critics for its "refreshingly clear identity. Flirty, floaty, and bizarre."

Rachel Barker/Rachel Barker Dance
"Parched Chalk/I See You"

Rachel Barker brings her riveting work, Parched Chalk // I See You "a complex and inventive and danced with both sensitivity and abandon." The piece conjures images of a dusty, arid climate, imbued with an underlying folk-dance feel, as the dancers sustain a factory-like repetitive rhythmic state.

Mayra Barrigan/GATONEGRO
"La Mala"

Multidisciplinary artist from San Diego, CA. Mayra Barrigan received her degree in Contemporary Dance at the Professional Dance School of Mazatlan in Mexico. Since then she has taught & performed her choreography in Italy, Costa Rica, USA , & Mexico. She brings her work "La Mala," based on the book "Women who run with wolves," by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. She is the 2019 Winner of the San Diego Young Choreographer Prize.

Carley Conder/CONDER/dance
"in the direction of the unknown"

Carley Conder, Artistic Director of CONDER/dance, brings her newest work "in the direction of the unknown" commissioned by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to be performed at Taliesin West, UNESCO Heritage Site. This work was born of deep research into the form, function and inhabitants of Taliesin West. Internalizing Frank Lloyd Wright's values regarding nature and the built environment, Conder has employed the principles of organic architecture to the process of creating an original movement language specific to this work. A powerful and intricate piece, "in the general direction of the unknown" is a highly physical performance that celebrates perseverance, audacity and the ongoing desire to reinvent ourselves.

Shelly Hawkins/Hawkinsdance
"Wald Tellurian"

Shelly Hawkins and Hawkinsdance returns to Breaking Ground with their newest work, Wald Tellurian, Roughly translated as "beings of the woods," Wald Tellurian examines the concept of a dying world caused by humanity and the collapse of life on earth.

Hyoin Jun
FILM: "A Human is a complicate Puzzle"

Experimental Choreographer Hyoin Jun is a co-artistic director of Goblin Party USA dance performing group, and brings his film, "a Human is a Complicate Puzzle" which examines imaginations and feelings experienced during his struggle with depression. Jun has performed on both international and local stages, such as the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Closing Ceremony on behalf of Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, at the Olympic Stadium, Sochi, Russia.

Andrea Ordaz
"Tierra Intocable"

Andrea Ordaz is a dance artist based in Los Angeles specializing historical, cultural, and experiential movement. She is known for creating contemporary modern dance for diverse audience, and comes to Breaking Ground with a poetic piece that examines patterns of routes and the concept of individuals' cultural homeland.

Steven Redondo
"Eight"

Phoenix resident, Steven Redondo has choreographed and performed solo work with NueBox for Experimental Arts Nights and collaborating with many local artists. He brings his new work, "Eight" is an exploration of the tension between two movers, who never quite find ease or fulfillment.

Alyssandra Katherin Wu/Alyssandra Katherine Dance Project
"Another Time"
i??

Launched in London in 2015, Alyssandra Katherine Dance Project (AKDP) is a contemporary dance company currently based in San Francisco. AKDP debuted to rave reviews at Resolution!, London's largest festival for emerging artists in dance, and comes to Breaking Ground with her new piece, a biographical narrative of her grandfather's journey from rural China to metropolitan America. Based on an interview conducted before his passing, AKDP seeks to understand oneself by examining the past events of ones' ancestors.

Rebecca Bryant/Rebecca Bryant Danceworks
"white onion"

Rebecca Bryant combines contemporary dance with language, projection, and objects and has shown her work in 26 US states and 13 countries. She performs her work "white onion" a multimedia dance solo which utilizes movement, text, and projections to explore themes of power and privilege in performances of "high art."

2020 BREAKING GROUND
AFTER PARTY
AND
TINY DANCES

Immediately following the performance, the audience is invited to
i??the after-party reception.
Light hors d'oeuvres will be served, with cash bar.

Tiny Dances will be performed in the Lakeside Room
at the After-Party following the Main Stage Performance.

Tiny Dances are short, 5 minute pieces performed on a "tiny" 4 ft x 4 ft stage.