Saturday, May 16, 2009

DAG Memorial Day Weekend Dance Extravaganza

BARE BONES!
Memorial Day Weekend Dance Extravaganza

Have a staycation this Memorial Day Weekend! Join Dance Art Group for a weekend of dance workshops, the 15th annual Bare Bones Benefit performances and party, and a big fat dance jam to finish it off.

WORKSHOPS :: FRIDAY, MAY 22 :: Fremont Abbey, 4272 Fremont Ave N

10am-1pm :: BUTOH: CONNECTING THE DOTS with Jyl Brewer
The beauty & strength of Butoh lies within the "MA," "the space between." The dance itself is the vibrant energy field which holds together & contains the movements. We will enhance this energy field through awareness using physical tools & breath, contacting personal intent, & using images which allow the mind & body to let go of conscious & unconscious limitations & judgments. Free yourself into a more creative, vibrant dance which naturally integrates into daily life.

Jyl Shinjo Brewer has been a Butoh dancer for 20 years training in Japan under Kazuo Ohno, performing extensively in Japan, Europe & America. She lived & trained full-time in Sogenji Zen Monastery in Japan for 11 years.

2-5pm :: DANCING TOGETHER with Sheri Cohen
We will use touching, listening & vision exercises to warm ourselves deeply, attune our senses & stimulate our imaginations. Through witnessing & other partner forms, we will bring our internal images out to be seen & shared. Group dancing scores will give us an opportunity to share our images & experiences with others through clear actions, & to make dances together.

Sheri Cohen is an award-winning choreographer, improviser and performer. She has taught at Cornish College, Oberlin College, Evergreen University, & in many other grassroots-organized workshops since 1992. She also teaches hatha yoga & is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner(cm).

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WORKSHOPS :: SATURDAY, MAY 23 :: Open Flight Studio, 4205 University Way NE

9am-noon :: THE GRADUATED DROPOUT with Scott Davis
Take a soft, connected ride to the floor. We will build on basic Contact Improvisation techniques toward a place where we can trust a shared release to the ground. We'll focus on keeping our centers connected even during a descent. We'll move step by step away from bumps & disconnections to soft, controlled, melting dropouts.

W. Scott Davis is a Seattle-based artist with an eclectic background in contemporary dance, improvisational dance & physical theater performance. His work includes seven years with Lingo dancetheater & multiple collaborative projects with LeGendre Performance, Phfffft Dance, Acorn Dance & Loon Soup Theater Troupe.

1:30-4:30pm :: RELATING TO with Jurg Koch
This workshop will explore the time & space relationship through solo, partnering & group work, through scores oscillating between improvisation & set work, specific parameters & open play.

Jurg Koch (MA LCDS London, Faculty UW Seattle). Working with CandoCo with disabled & non-disabled performers, dancing in contemporary repertory & choreographing inform Jurg's artistic and pedagogic outlook. He is currently working with Lyn Goeringer (new media) & dancers Alia Swersky & Joseph Anderson on ab:from/to, a dance performance installation for On the Boards' Northwest New Works Festival.

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15th annual BARE BONES BENEFIT for Dance Art Group!
SATURDAY, MAY 23, 7pm
Performances . Auction . Party
Hosted by the dazzling Jasper McCann of the Atomic Bombshells,
with performances by Paige Barnes, Scott Davis, Maureen Freehill, Beth Graczyk,
Kristin Hapke, Aiko Kinoshita, Jurg Koch, and more!
Annex Theatre, 1100 E Pike St

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WORKSHOP & JAM :: SUNDAY, MAY 24 :: Fremont Abbey, 4272 Fremont Ave N

10am-12pm :: CONTEMPLATIVE DANCE PRACTICE with Alia Swersky
Contemplative Dance Practice (CDP) was developed by Barbara Dilley of Naropa University. CDP is a three-part form consisting of sitting meditation, personal warm-up, & open movement space. This practice allows for deep connection to the language of your own body, offers an opportunity to witness, & a rich open space of improvisational play.

Alia Swersky is a movement artist, improviser, performer & teacher. She creates work & collaborates with many Seattle artists, taught at University Prep for six years, is an adjunct faculty member at Cornish College of the Arts, teaches yoga, & is a Co-Artistic Director of Dance Art Group.

1-4pm :: SUPER-SIZE BENEFIT JAM
The long-running weekly dance jam at Velocity Dance Center relocates for the day to the Fremont Abbey for this special extra-long jam to benefit Dance Art Group!

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REGISTER at Dance Art Group

$125: All Workshops, Contemplative Dance Practice, Jam
$35: One Workshop; $5 off each additional workshop
$25: Contemplative Dance Practice
$5-15: Jam

Beyond the Threshold - Seattle International Dance Festival

Festival Calendar Overview:

PERFORMANCES
June 13-14 // Seattle Center // (206) 684-7200
Installation piece Shiver opens at 12noon Sat. June 13th and closes Sat. June 14th at 6pm.

International and local dance and musical artists perform from 12 noon until 5pm Sat. and Sun. June 13th & 14th: dance artists including Astad Deboo (India), The Phffft! Company (Seattle) along with others and musical artists Moraine, Reptet and Deep Sleep Narcotics Co.

For more info. on festival performance, go to www.phffft.org/sidf.html.

June 19 & 21 // Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center // (206) 684-4757

4 companies/groups and one dance video Friday June 19 at 8pm and Sunday June 21 at 7:30pm:
Astad Deboo (India) and company, Tasneem Rangwala, Divya Rangarajan and Archana Kumar
Mirva Makinen (Finland) with Trinidad Martinez (Spain/Seattle) and Cyrus Khambatta (U.S.)
Cyrus Khambatta and The Phffft! Dance Theatre Company (Seattle)
Claire Filmon, Stephane Els/ Company Asphodèle Danses Envol (France)
Dance fim by Paige Phillips and Przemek Pardyak (U.S./Poland)

WORKSHOPS with international artists:
June 15-20 // Grassroots Studio & Camp Long // (206) 935-0459 //
5200 35th Ave. SW (W. Seattle)

Mirva Makinen (Finland) teaches Details in Dance on June 20 from 11-4pm
Claire Filmon (France) will teach "CI and Underscore" and "CI and speaking," inspired by her work/performing with Simone Forti Monday June 15, 16 & 17 from 1-4 and 6-9pm.

For more information on both workshops or to sign up, go to www.phffft.org/sidf-workshops.html.

Meet the Artists

Astad Deboo pioneered Modern Dance in India merging Graham and Limon technique studied at the London School of Contemporary Dance with Kathkali and Kathak traditional Indian dance. Based in Mumbai, the city of Slumdog Millionaire fame, Astad is truly a one-of-a-kind artist not to be missed. He arrives in Seattle two weeks early for a unique collaborative project to be performed with local dancers versed in Indian/Modern crossover at Seattle Center on June 13 & 14 at 12 noon (see below). Then his group will perform a split-bill, along with the companies listed below, at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center on June 19 & 21.

Mirva Mäkinen is a Finnish dance artist from Helsinki working with the Zodiak Center for New Dance, Karttunen Kollectiv and Circo Aereo. Having received her MA and studied Modern Dance at the Theater Academy of Finland her work fuses contemporary technique and improvisational dance modalities into a passionate performance amalgam. Mirva will be joined by Spanish artist, Trinidad Martinez, most recently seen in Pat Graney's House of Mind, and Phffft! Company Artistic Director, Cyrus Khambatta for a three-country collaboration. The artists will create the piece in different countries and spend one week assembling them in Seattle before the festival. Another exciting adventure in art not to be missed. Performances are June 19 & 21 at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.

Cyrus Khambatta, Artistic Director of The Phffft! Dance Theatre Company, is compelled to create partnering movement that contains precise synchonicity inside intensely organized chaos. "I like to see how many split-second moments the audience can catch with the eye." says Mr. Khambatta. Fed also by the intrinsic qualities of each of his powerful cast of dancers, the company will present the premiere of Interview with The American Dream. Based on a sound-track created by calling one person in each state in the U.S., the piece explores how Americans notion of the "American dream" has/has not changed with recent events. You don't want to miss this company's split-second timing and intricate partnering finesse. Performances are June 19 & 21 at Langston Hughes.

Claire Filmon and Stéphane Els (France) are Company Asphodèle Danses Envol. "Asphodèle" is a small blue or white flower, the subject of a Matisse painting, that only grows on mountain tops. The Greek origins of the word mean "the flower of the forgotten." And like this flower, Claire, who performs frequently with Simone Forti, presents a performance style both delicate and nuanced. 8 mn 08 precisely," the piece she and Staphane will perform is a sensitive and precious little piece art you will want to take home in your pocket.

Dance Artist, Paige Phillips and Polish film Director, Przemek Pardyak teamed up to create a dance film, As Was Said, based on Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov's novel, Master and Margarita. The sensuous and mysterious film hosts a battery of quirky characters, intriguing plots and subplots with the feel of a secret society of misfits, akin to the underground world of Alice in Wonderland. The film was shot entirely in Seattle and includes Phffft! dancer of three years running, Chris McCallister among its cast. The festival presentation will be the world premiere of the film.

In addition to performances at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, Beyond the Threshold Site Specific will present over 50 artists and groups performing music and dance at Seattle Center's Center House on June 13 & 14 from 12-5pm. The events circle around an installation by Cyrus Khambatta entitled "Shiver" in which 5,000 tiny pieces of tissue suspended above the audience, "shiver" at the frequency of the Earth's orbit of the Sun. Dance artists, including Astad Deboo performing in person (his company performs June 19/21), Cyrus Khambatta/The Phffft! Dance Theatre Company along with numerous others, and musical artists, Moraine, Deep Sleep Narcotics and the Nextdoor Neighbors. Check the website as artists are still being added.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Buy Your Raffle Tickets - DAG's Bare Bones Benefit


get your raffle tickets quick for DAG's Bare Bones Benefit coming up May 23.

we're raffling off fabulous prize packages including:

:: indulgent spa visits
:: tickets for theater, dance, live music, movies
:: books and music gift certificates
:: yoga, dance, and martial arts classes
:: massages and bodywork
:: dinners out on the town
:: Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation classes, performances and fashion!

and loads more.

1 raffle ticket for $2
3 for $5
7 for $10
15 for $20

as some of you can attest from past years, winning a huge wheel of cheese or a big bucket of tools is just about the best thing ever.

and all proceeds go towards producing the 16th annual Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation this summer, so your money will be well spent all around.

you don't have to be there to win; we'll let you know if you do. but it's definitely more fun if you're there!

let me know what you want, i'll hook you up...

Lila Hurwitz
Administrative Director
Dance Art Group
lila (at) danceartgroup.org

May 4-25: Sheri Cohen / Revealing Presence

Dance Art Group / Movement Arts Research
Mondays 6-7:30pm
Velocity Dance Center, Studio 3, 915 E Pine St, 3rd floor
$15/class; series discounts; drop-ins and all experience levels welcome
Info at http://www.danceartgroup.org/velocity-series.html

DAG/MAR features weekly classes in improvisation, performance, creative process and composition, contact improvisation, somatic education, New Dance techniques and other dance realms, with a different local teacher/topic each month.

May 4-25: Sheri Cohen / Revealing Presence

We will use touching, listening and vision exercises to attune our senses and stimulate our imaginations. Through witnessing and other partner forms, we will bring our internal images out to be seen and shared. Group dancing scores will give us an opportunity to share our images and experiences with others through clear actions, and to make dances together.

Sheri Cohen is an award-winning choreographer and dance teacher. She has taught at Cornish College, Oberlin College, Evergreen University, and in many other grassroots-organized workshops since 1992. She is a hatha yoga teacher and a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner(cm).

And coming up:
June 1-29: Kristin Hapke / Only You: Solo Play

Dance Art Group

Monday, May 4, 2009

Lasqueti Island BC - Contact Improv Workshop and Jam

JULY 25 - AUGUST 1 2009

CONTACT IMPROVISATION WORKSHOP + INQUIRY & JAM
with Carolyn Stuart

July 25-26 Workshop
CONTACT CONFIDENT
$150 (cdn)

Everything you need to know for safe and satisfying dancing.
The principles are simple, the practice infinite.
Beginners welcome. Participation is divine.
Come as you are, begin from there.
Bring your curiosity.

July 26 - August 1
CONTACT INQUIRY & JAM
$280 (cdn)

State of Inquiry: How does inquiry inform our dancing?
What is? What are we doing? What else is possible?
What unfolds as we embody our curiosity, physically and verbally?
We gather in inquire, or ourselves and each other.


Carolyn Stuart - Explorer of C.I. since 1984, calling her thread of inquiry the Touchmonkey path. She realized hundreds of performance projects with Patrick Gracewood in the 90's, spent years teaching and performing world-wide and is now based in Portland,OR. Her events emphasize inquiry and exploration as the origin and life blood of the form. All are invited to research and contribute to the paradigm of contact improvising, on and off the dance floor!

WORKSHOP $150 cdn / INQUIRY&JAM $280 cdn /
FULL 8 DAYS @ $380 cdn
Camping, food and childcare provided.
Tasty vegetarian meals w/ wheat-free, vegan and non veg. options.

Non-refundable deposit of $100 is required, with total due July 1.
Workshop is limited to 25, the Inquiry & Jam to 50.
Last year we filled fast so send a deposit to save your space.

To register send cheques to-
Mark Young
123 Sesame Street
Lasqueti Island, BC V0R 2J0

or contact Mark at markyoung (at) lasqueti.ca for further information regarding registration and logistics.

For more information on the content of the event please contact Carolyn touchmonk (at) yahoo.com or 503-282-2938.

Call for Artists for Beyond the Threshold Festival

Call for Artists for Beyond the Threshold Festival Site Specific
Deadline: May 14, 2009
Event Date: June 13 & 14, 2009
Event Location Seattle Center (site specific)
To apply, go to website: www.phffft.org/sidf-artists.html

On June 13 and 14, Beyond the Threshold International Dance Festival will take over Seattle Center’s Center House, with a site specific installation by Cyrus Khambatta, entitled Shiver, with 5,000 small pieces of tissue hanging above the audience “shivering” to the frequency of the earth’s orbit.

We are requesting applications from local choreographers, dancers and dance companies for innovative projects in and around this installation to be included in the festival alongside international artists from India, Finland, France and the U.S.