Velocity Presents HYPERNOVA's Bitter Suites

Velocity Dance Center welcomes back Rainbow Fletcher|HYPERNOVA Contemporary Dance Company for their co-presentation of Bitter Suites, an ode to coming of age, growing pains, and what pop culture teaches us about becoming an adult. The dance company that brought you the critically acclaimed Eleven Eleven: A High-Energy Meditation on Coincidence, whose work has been called "potent" and "bold" by Seattle Dances, now brings to Velocity's stage their elegy to the painfully awkward and sometimes breathtaking journey of growing up, replete with HYPERNOVA's signature combination of razor-edge precision and buoyant, youthful spunk.

Fletcher first caught the attention of Seattle audiences as choreographer and dance director of the Can Can Castaways, the original in-house group of the Can Can Cabaret. The Castaways regularly filled the seats past capacity with their fearless and fierce hybridization of modern dance and burlesque. In 2014 Fletcher created HYPERNOVA, and the ensemble has been making exciting, charged new dance works that draw audiences in with their verve and vim, and keep them captivated with their precise and intricate choreography.

Bitter Suites is HYPERNOVA's most recent full-length work, and opened to enthusiastic praise from audiences for an all-too-brief run at Yaw Theater last year. Bitter Suites mixes fact and fantasy in a coming-of-age story that celebrates the nostalgia of growing up. Imaginative movement, music, text, and visual design intersect in a dreamy, pastel landscape. This bittersweet story follows ten performers as they examine their own memories surrounding the inevitable transition from childhood innocence to self-aware adulthood. Iconic imagery and references from late 20th century pop culture heavily influence the costume, lighting, and set design. The original score meshes classical structure with instrumentation prevalent in the 80s and 90s.

Location: Velocity; 1621 12th Ave, Seattle

Tickets: $20 advance ($25 at the door); $17 FRIEND-MVP members; $15 under 25 (w/ ID); $50 Patron