Presenting
a program of new distinctive solo and ensemble work of contemporary
dance from established and emerging Bay Area choreographers.
Saturday, November
12, 2005 - 8pm
Maria Basile - Tara Brandel - Heather Cooper
Kelly Kemp - Leyya Tawil - Lisa Townsend
Maria
Basile of sjDANCEco
Maria Basile presents The
Little Nothings, based on Les
Petits Riens, Mozart's only ballet score, written in
1778. Four of its 10 sections were performed at this summer's
Midsummer Mozart Festival. Basile picked up the music's
light-hearted spirit and peopled it … with mini-portraits
and incidents such as a girl dreaming of her wedding and a
couple fighting over a bath towel. The framing action –
a puppeteer trying to keep his charges under control –
is an old ballet tradition. Basile uses it well.
– Rita Felciano, San Jose Mercury News, October 15, 2005
Tara
Brandel of
Mna Rua Dance Productions
Tara
Brandel performs Family Values, a solo dance
theater piece exploring one woman's relationship to her father
and how he helped shape her lesbian sexuality. This original
work looks at the legacy of fear and pain that is often inadvertently
passed on from ancestors, and offers hope through the transformative
nature of art.
Heather Cooper
Heather Cooper and Mara Williams perform Barriers.
Kelly Kemp
Kelly
Kemp presents a work in progress, reflecting on the concept
of values, the role that a value system plays in an individual's
life, and the means by which a person develops or neglects
the values she allegedly lives her life by. This solo performance
is accompanied by scripture readings by Paul Laurey. This
original work, premiering at PS2005, is presently untitled.
Dance Elixir / Leyya Tawil
Dance Elixir/Leyya Tawil present a new work in progress titled Breakdown
to Now. This trio is excerpted from MEDIA,
an evening-length work to premiere at Dance Mission Theater
in June 2006. Choreographer Leyya Tawil and composer Topher Keyes are developing this work in stages; Breakdown to Now is the second section to be presented. It is based on the individual's interaction with mass media.
Lisa Townsend
In she marquis, Lisa Townsend explores an intimate
power struggle over sexual dominance. This duet is an excerpt
from Virile Streak, an evening of work that
will premiere at ODC Theater in May 2006. The creation of
this piece was made possible in part by CA$H, a grants program
of Theater Bay Area in partnership with Dancers' Group. Loose
limbed but never sloppy, Townsend's movement vocabulary depicts
the complicated and highly fluid state of the relationships
that define the human condition.
– Lisa Wallgren, Dance, September 2005
