Santa Barbara Dance Theater to Present INTIMACY & AUTONOMY This Month

Santa Barbara Dance Theater, the only professional dance company in residence in the UC system, will present its 2023 Season, Intimacy & Autonomy, featuring the work of guest choreographers Helen Simoneau and David Maurice, and a new premiere by UCSB dance faculty Brandon Whited, January 18 - 22, 2023 at UCSB's Hatlen Theater.

The second season for SBDT's new Artistic Director Brandon Whited (UCSB Assoc. Prof. of Dance, Director of Dance Performance), and the 46th anniversary season for the company, this concert reflects a shifting creative direction for the company toward a project-based framework and innovative contemporary dance.

"I am so excited to bring together professional dancers from near and far, guest choreographers, UCSB dancers and students, and the greater Santa Barbara arts community in this production that has been in process since August 2022," shares Brandon Whited, SBDT Artistic Director.

Last Summer, Whited hosted an intensive creative residency with guest choreographers Helen Simoneau and David Maurice who interfaced with UCSB Dance Summer Students to develop the new works that will be presented on the Hatlen Stage this January.

This season features Nicole Powell (Carpinteria, CA), Paige Amicon (Los Angeles, CA), Natalie Leibert (Moorpark, CA), and UCSB Dance Alum, Derion Loman (Los Angeles, CA), with apprentice-understudies Riley Haley (UCSB Dance class of 2024), Sky Pasqual (UCSB Dance class of 2024), and Dalya Modlin (UCSB Dance class of 2023).

Helen Simoneau's DARLING explores vulnerability and intimacy through the presence and absence of touch. More than romance-how does touch inform relationship? DARLING exposes audiences' own biases towards the perceived power and strength of the people onstage. Rooted in form, the movement is created in reverence to its lineage yet subverts traditional ways of being within dance partnering by proposing new ones. This iteration of the work is a 30-minute redux of the original evening-length version.

David Maurice offers a new premiere as part of this concert - Partial Adaptation - a dance work created in the realm of absurdist theater, challenging autonomy and the "fourth wall." For David, Partial Adaptation is the beginning of a period of curiosity and the exploration of the roles of performers and audience, misuse of the fourth wall, and performer and audience autonomy.

Brandon Whited's Her (abridged) is a new ensemble work for five women-comprised of both SDBT dancers and apprentices-that abstractly resonates on the ongoing injustice endured by women. Developed in partial collaboration with the dancers, the piece contrasts gestural explorations of strength and assertiveness, with durational group partnering reflecting community and mutual support amongst women.

Intimacy & Autonomy runs at UCSB's Hatlen Theater January 18 - 21 at 7:30pm and January 22 at 2:00pm. For tickets and more information, visit theaterdance.ucsb.edu, or call the box office at (805) 893-2064.