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Dear friends, Welcome to the third volume of Dance Place’s seasonal brochures and the final edition for the DISCOVER Season. This new approach to sharing our robust season of artist presentations gives you more insight into why we think you might enjoy seeing these artists in our beautiful theater and engaging with them in our community. I hope you continue to find it a useful way to learn about the artists we present on the Dance Place stage. Dance Place has been, and continues to be, hard at work bringing thoughtprovoking, moving, and beautiful dance performances by national and international choreographers to our nation’s capitol. We also continue developing multiple entry points for our community to learn about the artists in our season. In addition to this publication, you can: • • • •
Connect with us online where our Month in a Minute series gives you a quick look at what’s coming up in our theater each month. Listen to Dance Place Radio, featuring in-depth interviews with artists from our Presentation Series. Follow us on social media to see behind the scenes footage of our artists. Join us for any of the pre-show events and post-show Q&A’s that connect us all more deeply to one another.
Meanwhile, I look forward to meeting each of you in the theater for the remaining spectacular performances of DISCOVER. Yours in dance,
Christopher K. Morgan Executive Artistic Director
Mission Founded in 1980, Dance Place builds a community of artists, audiences, and students through high quality performances, commissions, training, and educational programs. We are committed to enriching the field of dance locally, nationally, and internationally. Our thriving arts campus serves as an anchor in our Brookland / Edgewood neighborhood in Washington, DC.
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Christopher K. Morgan. Photo by Brianne Bland COVER IMAGE: Capitol Tap. Photo Stephanie Vadala
The DISCOVER Season is an affirmation of Dance Place's longstanding support of dancemakers and performers at every stage of their careers, from a broad spectrum within the field of dance. You’ll be seeing that tradition continue with our upcoming 2019-2020 Season, AMPLIFY. Stay tuned for previews of what we have in store for you next season!
Heart Stück Bernie Photo by Jonathan Hsu
Heart Stück Bernie
SATURDAY, MAY 4 AT 8PM SUNDAY, MAY 5 AT 7PM
Sarah Beth Oppenheim, the mad dancescientist at the core of Heart Stück Bernie, always seems to follow the beat of that eponymous organ. Her work is a study in contrasts - wild and specific, intricate and extravagant - and never ceases to surprise and delight. As one of our inaugural Artists In Residence (AIR), the company has delved deep into a multi-year generative process that will debut in future seasons at Dance Place. In the meantime, we’ve paired her with local mainstay DancEthos for a collaborative show building on their mutual DC foundation. DancEthos has long called DC home, with
a large number of company members and a growing body of work that dates back to 2010. Their mission to provide opportunities for choreographers in our city makes them a perfect pairing for Heart Stück Bernie's ambitious and theatrical productions. Led by Artistic Director Tiffany Haughn, this facile company of movers from all walks of life deftly takes on Oppenheim’s work. This concert features a trio of parallel worlds, drawing on farflung inspirations, from Haruki Murakami to Yorgos Lanthimos. B OT TO M L I N E : A M AS H U P O F LO CA L C O M PAN I E S , F E AT U R I N G T H R E E W O R L D P R E M I E R E S FROM OUR NEW AIR.
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DISCOVER SEASON 18/19
DancEthos Photo by Amanda Kilgour
& DancEthos
Kicking off a summer of youth-focused programming at Dance Place, our longrunning NEXTgeneration Showcase is more than a recital - it’s a full-blown production! The culmination of our Spring semester Kids on the Move dance classes, we’ll celebrate our multitalented students in West African, ballet, tap, hip-hop, step, and more. This isn’t just a chance to share what they’ve learned - our students get valuable experience performing in our neighboring community
at Catholic University's Hartke Theatre and in a professionally-run show. Indeed, the same crew who mounts performances by national touring artists such as Urban Bush Women and CONTRA-TIEMPO runs the show for our students. It’s an invaluable experience for our young dancers and we can’t wait for you to see it! PER FECT FOR : PAR EN T S AN D CHI L DR EN AL I KE , WHO WI L L GET A KI CK OU T OU T OF T HIS FU L L-B LOWN DAY OF DAN CI N G FR OM OU R ST U DEN T PER FOR MER S . *Performance is part of our Family Series: get 1 free ticket for a child 12 & under with paying adult
NEXTgeneration Showcase Photos by Jonathan Hsu
NEXTgeneration Showcase
SATURDAY, MAY 11 AT 4PM* & 6PM*
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Photos Courtesy Of The Artist
New Releases Showcase SATURDAY, MAY 18 AT 8PM For years, Dance Place has provided a valuable opportunity for local artists to present new, short-form work. For this panel-adjudicated group of choreographers, the New Releases Showcase serves as a launchpad for budding voices in the field as well as new ideas from familiar faces. This initial performance opportunity deepens with one choreographer selected annually to receive our New Releases Commission. This award includes funding and rehearsal space for a new work to be presented
in the following year's season. Offering space for new creations and actively underwriting work by emerging makers, Dance Place is committed to growing and strengthening the local dance field. This year’s commissioned artist is Jamal Abrams. Jamal has performed on Dance Place's stage many times but presented his own work for the first time in New Releases 2018. His new piece, meeting blue, is an autobiographical solo that focuses on trauma -
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how to interrupt, accept, and cleanse, then redirect into healing. Informed by exhaustive research and deep questioning, Jamal’s sinuous movement and precise control will be on display alongside works from Kasi Aysola, Da’Shown Rawl, Bre Seals, Robert Woofter, and duo Samantha Sobash and Lauren Sotolongo. FI N AL T HOU GHT S: A WOR L D PR EMI ER E FR OM JAMAL AB R AMS AN D MU CH, MU CH MOR E I N T HIS LO CAL SHOWCASE .
DISCOVER SEASON 18/19
Last year’s DanceAfrica, DC festival was the first festival featuring Mama Sylvia Soumah as Griot after the passing of our beloved Baba Chuck Davis in 2017. Mama Sylvia had a clear vision for her tenure - to gather the community even more tightly around the shared ideals of DanceAfrica and to bring the voices of that community to the forefront - literally! She worked with a team from Dance Place to record oral histories with key elders from DanceAfrica, DC’s history and together, we forged an advisory council of elders to inform the future of the festival. The result was an electrifying debut from two touring companies, one from South Africa and one from New York. This year, Mama Sylvia and a team from Dance Place traveled to Accra, Ghana for a 15-day exchange with Folkloric Salamta, a company in residence at the Accra Art Center. In partnership with Mama Sylvia's Coyaba Dance Theater, the two companies developed a work to be presented as part of this year's festival. When reflecting on the festival to come, Mama Sylvia had this to say: “It’s so important for Dance Place to preserve the stories and experiences of the people who have helped build this festival. I really want to focus this year on our local community and to draw everyone together for this incredible weekend.” Whether you’re attending for the first time or you’ve been here since the beginning, we can’t wait to welcome you to the 32nd year of this landmark festival celebrating the art and culture of the African Diaspora.
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DADC 2018 Photos by Jonathan Hsu
DanceAfrica, DC 2019
MAY 28 - JUNE 2
L AST WOR D: CL ASSES , PER FOR MAN CES , AFR I CAN STYL E MAR KET PL ACE AN D MOR E - T HIS T R EASU R ED FEST I VAL B R I N G S AFR I CA TO T HE HEART OF D C . I N D O OR PER FOR MAN CES FR I DAY, MAY 3 1 AT 8PM SAT U R DAY, JU N E 1 AT 2PM & 8PM SU N DAY, JU N E 2 AT 2PM FR EE PER FOR MAN CES & MAR KET PL ACE SAT U R DAY, JU N E 1 AT 12- 6PM SU N DAY, JU N E 2 AT 12- 6PM FU L L SCHEDU L E AT DAN CEPL ACE .OR G
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DISCOVER SEASON 18/19
SATURDAY, JUNE 22 AT 8PM SUNDAY, JUNE 23 AT 7PM
Since their founding in 1976 by the legendary Liz Lerman, Dance Exchange has uniquely drawn seemingly disparate groups, communities, and subjects together through the power of dance. Their mission to collaborate across generations and disciplines guided the company throughout their forty-year history and into their next chapter under the artistic direction of Cassie Meador since 2011. Dance Place has presented the company countless times since our own founding and we’re pleased to invite them back to perform in their hometown.
Sense of Wonder. This evening of mixed repertory by Elizabeth Johnson, Liz Lerman, Cassie Meador, and Keith Thompson excerpts three works demonstrating the range and breadth of Dance Exchange’s collaborations. As with so many of their works, expect tough questions and critical reflections on the world we live in today, paired with heartfelt dancing from a broad range of dancers. A tenant of Dance Exchange is to ask, “Who gets to dance?” Their answer is, resoundingly, “Everyone!” IN SHORT: A TRIO OF WORKS FROM THIS LOCAL CLASSIC BLENDS DANCE AND THE SCIENCES.
Photo by Michael Mazzola
This time, Dance Exchange will engage the scientific field through modern dance in A
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Photo by Kevin Kennefick
Dance Exchange Photo by Ben Carver
Dance Exchange
Photo by Hallie Martenson, Courtesy of FringeArts
Global Current: US / Russia Art Omi: Dance Alumni SATURDAY, JUNE 29 AT 8PM SUNDAY, JUNE 30 AT 7PM
As director of Art Omi: Dance since 2006, Dance Place’s Executive Artistic Director Christopher K. Morgan saw a natural confluence between the missions of these two organizations. Dance Place’s and Art Omi: Dance’s overlapping commitments to discovering talent as well as their strong belief in the power of dance to connect across culture and geography made a presenting partnership feel inevitable.
Omi: Dance in 2012, where they crafted a performance installation for the center’s barn studio. From there, Stephanie received a grant from the US State Department to join Anna in Russia for a month-long intensive residency to create the work you will see at Dance Place this summer. Paper Piece explores transformation, femininity, and identity using an elaborate and delicate paper set as metaphor and muse.
Broad-reaching connections form the backbone of this evening of two works, each featuring one choreographer from the United States collaborating with a choreographer from Russia. The first pair, Anna Shchekleina and University of Maryland MFA graduate Stephanie Miracle met at Art
Our second pair had a similarly fruitful meeting in 2014, when they made their work Show No Show in a whirlwind three-week residency at Art Omi. Gabrielle Revlock and Aleksandr Frolov have since toured this work to Philadelphia, North Carolina’s American Dance
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Festival, and in Russia at multiple festivals to soldout audiences and positive press. Described by Frolov as “truth or dare using a peach, a megaphone, two chairs, and a tablecloth,” Show No Show charts the process of two people getting to know each other for the first time. Embody the spirit of discovery and meet these artists yourself. IN SUMMARY: A C R O S S - C O N T I N E N TA L C O L L A B O R AT I O N WITH OLD FRIENDS AND NEW.
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MASTER CLASS WITH S T E P H A N I E M I R AC L E AT DANCE EXCHANGE
J O I N U S O N S AT U R D AY FOR OUR 2019-2020 SEASON LAUNCH PARTY
DISCOVER SEASON 18/19
Capital Tap Photos by Stephanie Vadala
Emerging Tap Choreographer’s Showcase DANCEPLACE.ORG
SATURDAY, JULY 13 AT 8PM SUNDAY, JULY 14 AT 7PM The student performers of Capitol Tap are facile beyond their years. Guided by Founder Lisa SwentonEppard and Assistant Artistic Director Baakari Wilder, these young people are paving the way for the future of this quintessentially American artform. In an effort to create more visibility for choreographers working in this medium, Capitol Tap and it’s professional company, District Tap, deliver an evening of emerging voices working in the tap genre today. With its deep DC roots, we’re so proud to have this company back with us again for another collection of toe-tapping, rhythm-bending works. L AST WO R D : CA P I TO L TA P ’ S STUDENT PERFORMERS RISE TO THE CHALLENGE POSED BY DC’S EMERGING TA P CHOREOGRAPHERS.
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SATURDAY, JULY 27 AT 8PM SUNDAY, JULY 28 AT 7PM In celebration of Merce Cunningham’s centennial anniversary, Dance Place presents a classic MinEvent, staged by authorized Merce Cunningham Trust stager Jamie Scott. Described by Cunningham as a short-form sequence of excerpts performed as an evening-length work without interruption, Dance Place casts the MinEvent with local, DMV-based professional dance artists. To compliment this MinEvent, Ireland-based John Scott Dance performs two remounted repertory works from Cunningham’s early period, Totem Ancestor and Night Wandering. In collaboration with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Merce Cunningham Trust, Dance Place hosts this international modern dance company and offers local dancers the opportunity to perform Cunningham's repertory. BOTTOM LINE: HONOR THIS MOD ERN DANCE LEGEND IN HIS CENTENNIAL YEAR.
John Scott Dance Photos by Chris Nash
Cunningham Centennial Celebration: John Scott Dance & Guests
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DISCOVER SEASON 18/19
THURSDAY, AUGUST 1 AT 7PM FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 AT 7PM Rounding out our trifecta of youthpowered summer programming, this concert is the culmination of six weeks of summer fun. Each summer, Dance Place hosts over 50 campers and 25 teen Junior staffers for a season of learning and artistic expression in our Energizers Creative Arts Camp. For the 7th year in a row, we’re proud to offer 100% of our campers full scholarships for six weeks of classes, field trips, dancing, fitness, life skills training, and more. This concert showcases the talent of our Energizers Creative Arts Camp students! What better way to wrap up the summer than with our youth! IN SHORT: CLOSE OUT THE SEASON WITH A LOOK TOWARDS THE FUTURE PERFORMERS OF DC!
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Energizers Creative Arts Camp Concert Photos by Mariah Miranda
Energizers Creative Arts Camp Concert
Join Us! 2019-2020 Season Launch We can't wait to share our newest endeavors with you. Come out for our season launch party to get an inside look at our next year of programming. Then, stay for the performance at 8pm!
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SATURDAY, JUNE 29
DISCOVER SEASON 18/19
Thank You
DANCE PLACE 2018 – 2019 SEASON FUNDERS $5,000 AND ABOVE SEPTEMBER 1, 2017- AUGUST 31, 2018 $80,000 and above
National Performance Network
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Reston CenterStage
US Commission of Fine Arts / National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Program
Stephen & Jeanette Bruce
$50,000-$79,999 Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation National Endowment for the Arts
Revada Foundation The Estate of Michael Demick $5,000-$9,999 Adam Weers Bloomberg
United Way Summer Strong
Bozzuto Group Carol & Willis Bradwell
$20,000-$49,999
Corina Higginson Trust
Anonymous Edgewood / Brookland Family Support Collaborative Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation
Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts Daniel Hitchcock & Linda Arvin Dimick Foundation
LUMBERYARD Contemporary Performing Arts
Eugene Lang Foundation
MARPAT Foundation
HumanitiesDC
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
Ina Kay Foundation
Share Fund
Jannes Waples Gibson
The Shubert foundation
Jared & Rachel Paul, in honor of Hyman M. Perlo and Mitchell Paul
$10,000-$19,999
Mars Foundation
Denise Rollins
Nancy Peery Marriott Foundation
Events DC
New England Foundation for the Arts
George Preston Marshall Foundation
Sydney Polakoff Charitable Fund
Hattie M. Strong Foundation
Sylvan C. Coleman Foundation
Janice Marks & Damien Agostinelli
The Menkiti Group
John Edward Fowler Memorial Foundation
Wendy Shapiro & Charles Ferris
Graham Holdings
Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts DANCEPLACE.ORG
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Funding Credits The following performances are supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts: New Releases Showcase and DanceAfrica, DC. The presentation of Global Current: US / Russia Art Omi: Dance Alumni is made possible with support from Omi International Arts Center.
THANK YOU TO THE CORPORATE SPONSORS OF OUR 2018-2019 SEASON! Bloomberg Courtyard Marriott The Menkiti Group Busboys and Poets Bognet Construction Grassroot Communication Lee and Associates Landscape Architects Miller Development Occasions Caterers
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DISCOVER SEASON 18/19
D I S C O V E R18/19 SEPTEMBER 8 Brookland / Edgewood Block Party 15 – 16 Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre 21 – 23 2018 DC Dance Summit 29 – 30 Culture Shock DC OCTOBER 6 – 7 13 – 14 20 27 – 28
Helanius J. Wilkins Words Beats & Life DISCOVER Gala Global Perspectives Festival
NOVEMBER 3 – 4 DC Casineros 10 – 11 Bill Shannon 17 – 18 ReVision dance company DECEMBER 1 – 2 cakeface 8 – 9 Bowen McCauley Dance Company 14 – 15 Kwanzaa Celebration 18 Fieldwork for Mixed Disciplines Showing 2019 JANUARY 12 – 13 Contemporary Viewpoints Festival 19 – 20 KanKouran West African Dance Company 26 – 27 Orange Grove Dance
SEASON
FEBRUARY 9 – 10 Zvi Dance 16 – 17 Urban Bush Women 23- 24 Kalanidhi Dance MARCH 2–3 Maria Naidu 15 – 16 CONTRA-TIEMPO 30 - 31 Ananya Dance Theatre APRIL 27 – 28 Christopher K. Morgan & Artists MAY 4–5 11 18
Heart Stück Bernie & DancEthos NEXTgeneration Showcase New Releases Showcase
JUNE May 28 – 2 DanceAfrica, DC 2019 22 – 23 Dance Exchange 29 – 30 Global Current: US / Russia Art Omi: Dance Alumni JULY 13 – 14 27 – 28
Emerging Tap Choreographer's Showcase Cunningham Centennial Celebration: John Scott Dance & Guests
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AUGUST 1–2 Energizers Creative Arts Camp Concert