NEW YORK CITY
EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE Odeon
NOV 2-4
THU-SAT | 7:30PM + 2PM SAT MATINEE Lincoln Hall, Portland State University
SHOW SPONSOR NANCY & GEORGE THORN UNCAGED SERIES SPONSOR RONNI LACROUTE
Photos by Christopher Duggan
Photos by Robert Torres
Photos by Christopher Duggan
Artistic Director, Ephrat Asherie
WELCOME TO OUR 2023-24 UNCAGED SERIES Thank you for joining us as we kick off our 2023-24 Uncaged Series! We are proud to once again present all three of our Uncaged shows here at Lincoln Performance Hall. We want to thank Ronni Lacroute for her generous sponsorship of the full Uncaged Series; Ronni’s support has made Uncaged possible for nearly a decade now, enabling us to introduce dozens of companies from around the world to Portland. We also wish to thank Willamette Week for their continued media sponsorship of the Uncaged Series, as well as Portland State University for their ongoing partnership. This year Uncaged features three unique works by three standout woman-led dance companies from across the U.S., beginning with Ephrat Asherie Dance.
Photo by Jingzi Zhao
While Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie is a talented choreographer, you will see tonight that she is also a stellar dancer. Though her company, Ephrat Asherie Dance, makes its White Bird debut this weekend, Asherie has performed in Portland before. She is a frequent guest with Dorrance Dance, the prolific tap dance company which has made several White Bird appearances. Asherie’s technical versatility as a dancer, which makes her an asset to street dance and tap dance ensembles alike, is also what makes her multifaceted choreography exciting. In ODEON, Asherie’s skill in stitching together various street and club dance styles into a cohesive whole is on full display. That talent is no coincidence - rather, it stems from her upbringing and her roots in the NYC underground dance scene. Ephrat and her brother Ehud, the Musical Director for ODEON, both grew up listening to jazz music. Asherie then went on to immerse herself in house clubs and in the breaking (breakdancing) community, where she was fortunate enough to share the dance floor with artists whose embodied connection to street and club dance as a part of the jazz continuum was palpable. The styles that make up most of ODEON - breaking, house, and hip-hop - all have shared roots in jazz dance. Their shared enthusiasm for jazz music led first Ehud, then Ephrat, to discover the work of Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth, whose fusions of jazz and samba with rhythms from across the African diaspora make up tonight’s score. We hope you enjoy this joyful show of interconnection, many years in the making. Please join us back here in two weeks for the White Bird premiere of Abby Z and the New Utility, performing Radioactive Practice. Like Ephrat Asherie, Abby Zbikowski incorporates a wide range of movement into her choreography, but with wildly different results. In Radioactive Practice, dancers push themselves, and each other, to the physical limit, with dance that’s as at-home on a gym floor as it is on stage. Tickets are on sale now at whitebird.org Graham Cole, Executive Director
Board of Directors
Walter Jaffe & Paul King, Co-Presidents Ken Edwards, Vice-President Kim Allchurch Flick, Treasurer Sandra Holmes, Secretary Leroy E. Bynum, Jr. Graham Cole Lisa Mangum Shawn K. Mangum Nancy & George Thorn, Founding Board Members Emereti
White Bird Team
Graham Cole, Executive Director Christopher Carvalho, Director of Patron Services and Communication Noelle Simone, IDEA Director Jeff Forbes, Technical Director Deanna Reeves, Communication Manager Gretchen Westlight, Operations Manager/Executive Assistant Mia Chavez Lysaght, Administrative Assistant Natalie Anthony, Graphic Designer Alexandra Kuhle, Graphic Designer
EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE Odeon Director:
Ephrat Asherie
Choreographer:
Ephrat Asherie, in collaboration with EAD
Composer:
Ernesto Nazareth
Musical Director:
Ehud Asherie
Percussion Arrangements:
Sergio Krakowski
Lighting Designer
Kathy Kaufmann
Lighting Supervisor/ Stage Manager:
LD DeArmon
Costume Designer:
Mark Eric
Production Manager:
Diego Quintanar
Dancers:
Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie, Manon Bal, Teena Marie Custer, Valerie “Ms. Vee” Ho, Matthew “Megawatt” West, Omari Wiles
Musicians:
Eduardo Belo, Angel Lau, Fabio Oliveira, Ben Rosenblum Musical Selections in order of appearance Brejeiro Odeon Fon-Fon Tenebroso Apanhei-te Cavaquinho Ouro Sobre Azul Confidências Ven Cá Branquinha Batuque
TOUR COORDINATOR MADELINE NELLIS EXCLUSIVE USA TOUR REPRESENTATION: PENTACLE SANDY GARCIA SANDYG@PENTACLE.ORG WWW.PENTACLE.ORG IG: @EPHRATASHERIEDANCE WWW.EPHRATASHERIEDANCE.COM
ABOUT THE COMPOSER ERNESTO JÚLIO DE NAZARETH (Composer) was a Brazilian composer and pianist (1863–1934). He published his first composition Você Bem Sabe (1877), at age fourteen. At this time, he began his professional career playing in cafes, balls, society parties, and in the waiting rooms of movie theaters in Rio de Janeiro. Known for creatively combining musical influences from Brazil, Africa, and Europe, Nazareth straddled the genres of popular and classical music, often blurring the boundary between the two worlds. Although greatly influenced by Chopin, Nazareth was also noted for his singular maxixe and choro compositions and composed over 210 waltzes, sambas, polkas, and quadrilles during his lifetime. His work is now included as part of teaching programs for both classical and popular styles all over the world.
ABOUT THE COMPANY EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE (EAD) is a dance company rooted in African American and Latine street and club dances. Dedicated to exploring the inherent complexities of these dances, EAD investigates the expansive narrative qualities of various vernacular forms including breaking, hip hop, house and vogue, as a means to tell stories, develop innovative imagery, and find new modes of expression. EAD’s first evening-length work, A Single Ride, earned two Bessie nominations in 2013 for Outstanding Emerging Choreographer and Outstanding Sound Design by Marty Beller. The company has presented work at Art Power! at UC San Diego, The Apollo Theater, Columbia College, Dixon Place, FiraTarrega, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Joyce Theater, La MaMa, New York Live Arts, River to River Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Summerstage NYC, and The Yard, among others. For more information please visit www.ephratasheriedance.com IG: @ephratasheriedance
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and was created in part during a residency at the Pillow Lab and with the support of the Jacob’s Pillow Fellowship at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post. Additional development was made possible through a technical residency at MASS MoCA, co-sponsored by Jacob’s Pillow, with additional support from the National Dance Project’s Production Residency for Dance Program, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. EAD would like to thank the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Extended Life Program, Lincoln Center Education, Guggenheim Works & Process, and TOWN Stages for additional developmental support. Special thanks to Eyal and Yael Aronoff, Deborah and Charles Adelman, Stuart Coleman, Matthew and Cynthia Hertz, Marjorie Miller, and Morrie Sandler for their generous support. Fiscal Sponsorship for Ephrat Asherie Dance is provided by Foundation for Independent Artists Inc, a nonprofit organization administered by Pentacle (Dance Works Inc). All donations made are fully tax deductible.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR EPHRAT “BOUNCE” ASHERIE is a NYC-based director, choreographer, performer and b-girl and a 2016 Bessie Award Winner for Innovative Achievement in Dance. Asherie has received numerous awards to support her work including Dance Magazine’s Inaugural Harkness Promise Award and two National Dance Project Awards. In 2019 she was the recipient of a NYFA Fellowship and is currently a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow. As Artistic Director of Ephrat Asherie Dance (EAD), Asherie’s work has been presented on stages nationally and internationally with commissions from Malpaso, Parsons Dance, New York City Center, Vail Dance Festival, Works & Process at the Guggenheim and The Kennedy Center. Asherie’s most recent work UNDERSCORED received a National Performance Network Award and a National Dance Project Award and will have its European premiere in the summer of 2024. Asherie is honored to have been mentored by Richard Santiago (aka Break Easy) and to have worked and collaborated with Michelle Dorrance, Doug Elkins, Rennie Harris, Bill Irwin, Gus Solomons jr, and Buddha Stretch, among others. Asherie earned her BA from Barnard College, Columbia University in Italian and her MFA from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee where she researched the vernacular jazz dance roots of contemporary street and club dances. She is a cofounding member of the all-female house dance collective MAWU and is forever grateful to NYC’s underground dance community for inspiring her to pursue a life as an artist. For more information, please visit @ephratasheriedance.
MUSICAL DIRECTOR EHUD ASHERIE (Musical Director) “a master of swing and stride” (The New Yorker), is a jazz pianist who integrates the venerable New York piano tradition into his inventive style. Largely self-taught, or rather, “old-schooled,” Asherie learned the ropes at Smalls, spending the wee small hours of his early teens becoming a fixture of the late night jam sessions. Mentored by the late Frank Hewitt, Asherie began to develop “his virtuosity and his ear for clean, crisp lines“ (The Star- Ledger). From Smalls to the Rainbow Room, from Lincoln Center to The Village Vanguard, Asherie has since worked with a broad range of musicians including: Eric Alexander, Roy Ayers, Peter Bernstein, Jesse Davis, Bobby Durham, Vince Giordano, Wycliffe Gordon, Scott Hamilton, Catherine Russell, Ken Peplowski, and Clark Terry. Ehud has toured clubs and festivals around the world, including South America, Europe, and Asia. His playing can be heard on countless recordings, including the 2010 Grammy Award winning soundtrack of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Acclaimed album releases under Ehud Asherie’s leadership have included Shuffle Along, which reinterpreted the music of Eubie Blake, Organic, which finds Asherie on organ, and Upper West Side and Lower East Side, duet projects featuring the saxophonist Harry Allen and his trio recording Music Makes Me. Asherie’s most recent trio recording is Wild Man Blues on the Capri Label. For more information please visit www.ehudpiano.com.
DANCER BIOS MANON BAL (Dancer) is a versatile professional dancer from Marseille, France. She has trained at the IFPRO Rick Odums in Paris and at the prestigious Ailey School in New York City. She has been a member of Ephrat Asherie Dance since 2016. She has worked for respected choreographers such as Ronald K Brown, Tweet Boogie, Michele Byrd McPhee, Jon Rua, and Miki Tuesday. As a choreographer, Manon is the co-founder of Mozaik Dance in collaboration with Janine “J9” Micheletti and Sun Kim. The company has presented their work “Sad Hope” at Jacob’s Pillow, San Francisco Hip Hop Dance Fest, and New Victory Dance. TEENA MARIE CUSTER (Dancer) is an artist and healer based in Pittsburgh, PA. Her solo choreographic work has been presented at Sadler’s Wells in London, and then toured around the U.S. She has created street dance theater works for over 35 university dance departments around the country, and after receiving an M.F.A. from Ohio State, was on faculty at Slippery Rock University and the American Dance Festival. She is a member of Venus Fly and Get Down Gang street dance crews, and has been with Ephrat Asherie Dance since 2012, while also touring with Bill “Crutchmaster” Shannon.
VAL “MS. VEE” HO (Dancer) has been a proud member of Ephrat Asherie Dance since 2012. Career highlights: working with such distinguished choreographers as Buddha Stretch, Rennie Harris, Luam, Maria Torres, and Bradley Rapier. TV/ Film/Stage highlights: ‘Hideaway’ Video by Kiesza, The Detour, VH1 Dear Mama TV special, Step Up 3D, Rennie Harris’ Legends of Hip Hop, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Sadler’s Wells Breaking Convention, Lincoln Center Out of Doors. Ms Vee is also a celebrated dance educator. She is on faculty at Broadway Dance Center, Pace University’s Commercial Dance BFA Program, and in 2017 became the first Hip Hop teacher at the world-renowned Juilliard School. IG @msveeproductions MATTHEW “MEGAWATT” WEST (Dancer) started dancing at the age of sixteen in Queens. Megawatt is an active part of NYC’s underground dance community and teaches youth classes throughout the five boroughs. Megawatt is a regular guest artist with Dorrance Dance and can be seen in Baz Lurhman’s Netflix series The Get Down and battling with his crew, the Mellow Animals.Victory Dance.
OMARI WILES (Dancer) was born in Senegal, West Africa. Raised in Brooklyn, New York, Omari is a legendary member of the ballroom scene and founder of the House of Oricci, as well as the founder and artistic director of Les Ballet Afrik. Omari has worked with many artists including Janet Jackson, Jidenna, Madonna, John Legend, Beyoncé and most recently Omari can be seen featured on season two of HBO’s critically acclaimed show Legendary.
MUSICIAN BIOS ANGEL LAU (Musician) is a Peruvian percussionist based in Hudson Valley, NY. While his foundation comes from his classical percussion studies at Purchase College, Angel’s interests in Afro-Peruvian and Brazilian music expanded into different folkloric and modern percussion styles from across the globe. Angel has performed and recorded with artists such as Kala and the Lost Tribe, Common Tongue, Birdland Latin Jazz Orchestra, Kelly Quigley, Wallace Roney Jr., Ted Piltzecker, Maria Quintanilla, and Leah Woods. In 2017, Angel had the opportunity to commission “Believe Me” a composition by Sergio Krakowski that involved Pandeiro and electronics and was a reflection of the turmoil in the US government. EDUARDO BELO is a Brazilian bass player and composer who has worked with many great musicians including Ari Hoenig, Chico Pinheiro, Duduka Da Fonseca, Helio Alves, Claudio Roditi, Kevin Hays, Gabriel Grossi, Koran Agan, Mario Adnet, and many others. Eduardo earned his BA in Music at the Universidade de Brasília, and his Master’s degree in Jazz from the Queen’s College of New York.
FABIO OLIVEIRA is a percussionist, vocalist, and conductor who navigates consistently between European classical and traditional Brazilian music. Transversing these traditions is an important and distinctive feature of his work. As a scholar, Fabio concentrates in matters related to multiplepercussion performance, preparing performances with live electronics, text translation in Instrumental Musical Theatre, and composer-performer collaboration. He’s also theorized and published about traditional Brazilian Music. Fabio has recordings released on Tzadik, New World Records and Mode Records and is an Associate professor and Director of Percussion Studies at Rowan University in New Jersey.
Pianist, accordionist and composer BEN ROSENBLUM’S unique musical journey has taken him on tours with Grammy-winning pop artist Rickie Lee Jones and Juno-winning contemporary Indian singer Kiran Ahluwalia. He’s played Brazilian forró with The Late Night Show’s Nêgah Santos. His jazz roots have led to an over ten-year relationship with Grammy-winning bassist Curtis Lundy, performing at festivals alongside jazz luminaries Bobby Watson and Sean Jones. He has appeared with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and at Carnegie Hall. Whatever the setting, Rosenblum tries to tell a compelling story with his music.
DESIGNER BIOS Currently based in Richmond, VA, LD DEARMON (Lighting Supervisor/Stage Manager) worked in New York City from 2008-2020 in the field of dance as a performer, stage manager, production manager, and lighting designer. During those years they worked on projects for artists including Yvonne Meier, Kim Brandt, Sam Kim, Faye Driscoll, Yvonne Rainer, Larissa Velez-Jackson, Ayano Elson, as well as Bessie award-winning productions with Yanira Castro, Tess Dworman, and David Thomson. They currently work as a Lighting Designer for jaamil olawale kosoko, and are a recurring guest artist at Whitman College. KATHY KAUFMANN (Lighting Designer) is a two time Bessie recipient and New York City native. She has been a resident designer at the Danspace Project at St. Marks Church for over 15 years and has toured extensively throughout the world. She works regularly with many companies including Michelle Dorrance (Dorrance Dance), Music From The Sole, Joanna Kotze, The Bang Group, Eiko & Koma, Rebecca Stenn, Mariana Valencia and Mina Nishamura. MARK ERIC (Costume Designer) resides in New York City, where he designs in his Manhattan studio. He trained at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where he was recognized as the Critics’ Choice upon graduating. After designing for several New York City houses, he discovered his passion for costuming and transitioned into primarily designing and styling for the stage. Mark Eric has designed costumes for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theater, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Philadelphia Ballet, BalletX, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Ballet Hispánico among others. IG @MARKERICdesign DIEGO QUINTANAR (Production Manager/Stage Manager) started working in theater productions while studying architecture at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He began working for theater productions in Dallas, TX, in 2015. After a short visit to New York City in early 2016, he decided that New York would be the place to pursue a career in the arts and canceled his return flight to Dallas. Since then, he has worked as a Stage Manager at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, working closely with the Works & Process series, which has sparked work with touring dance companies like Dance Heginbotham, Dorrance Dance, and now Ephrat Asherie Dance.
DISCOVER OUR FLOCK OF HEROES
A Tribute to Those Who Soar with Us!
Our Flock List includes gifts made between August 13, 2022, and October 13, 2023. Those with total gifts of $100 or more are honored online (linked through the QR code to the right), and those giving $250 or more are listed below. For questions or changes regarding our Flock List, please contact Executive Director, Graham Cole at graham@whitebird.org TITANIUM PATRONS ($10,000+) Anonymous Terry Bean Joan Cirillo & Roger Cooke The J and J Foundation Walter Jaffe & Paul King Ronni S. Lacroute Fund of Oregon Community Foundation Lisa & Shawn K. Mangum James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation Oregon Arts Commission Regional Arts & Culture Council, including support from the City of Portland, Multnomah County, and the Arts Education & Access Fund George & Nancy Thorn Ellen Walkley DIAMOND PATRONS ($5,000+) Carole Alexander Janet Roberts & Ed Clark Michael Curry & Julia Hannegan Ken & Ann Edwards Robert & Mercedes Eichholz Foundation Jamey Hampton & Ashley Roland Dr. Norm Kalbfleisch & Dr. Neil Matteucci George Eighmey & Peter Livingston Maryanne & David Holman Jackson Foundation David Magilke & Butch Williams Morel Ink Angela Roach Technology and Society, Inc. Herbert A. Templeton Foundation Edyth Willard GOLD PATRONS ($2,500+) Mariana Crawford Kim and Greg Flick Carol Streeter and Harold Goldstein Mark Holloway & David Kahl Peter Kost Sandra & Stephen Holmes Christopher Johnson & Rex Bills Joanne & Steven Rizzo Marian & Elihu Schott Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Jaymi & Francis Sladen
SN Charitable Foundation in Honor of Tahni Holt and DeeAnn Nelson WESTAF TourWest SILVER PATRONS ($1,000+) Anonymous (2) Sherrie Barr & Philip Lewin Chris & Audry Bond Natalie Butler Leroy Bynum Jed Cohen & Paul Lance Roberta Davis Justin WB Dune Leslye Epstein & Herman Taylor Marco Escalante and Dongni Li Donna & Bill Fishbein Marnie Frank Andrea & Fred Charles & Kyle Fuchs Ann & Edward Galen Christine & Bob Gilmore Valarie Grudier Connie Guist Karen Hinsdale & Michael Preisz In Memory of Beth Hyams Leslie S. Homer Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation for SW Washington Nancy Goodwin & Albert Horn Bob & Jill Jaffe Murray Koodish Robert & Larissa Lodzinski Candace Lounsbury Barb & Randy Lovre Robert & Larissa Lodzinski Candace Lounsbury Barb & Randy Lovre Mana Mahaffey Steven Odum & Eileen O’Neill Odum OnPoint Community Credit Union Ron and Shirley Pausig Janet L. & Frank Phillips Jenice Powell Dean Richardson Marti & John Rosenthal Carol Schnitzer Lewis Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Sarabelle Hitchner & Tom Snell
Bob Speltz Minh Tran & Gary Nelson Robyn Williams BRONZE PATRONS ($500+) Anonymous Carl Andreen Laurie Balmuth Mary and Joseph Bernert Tracy Brophy Denise Carty and Roger Brown Family Fund Marvin & Abby Dawson Dennis Deming & Corky Cortright Ann & Ron Emmerson Pat Evenson-Brady Brian Ferriso, Portland Art Museum Barbara Fishleder & John Wolfe Fong Family Fund of Oregon Community Foundation Lucile Gauger Chris Gauger & Lee Leighton Corrina Hall Karen Henell & Gregg McCarty Ava & Charlie Hoover Allan & Toby Jaffe Heather & Loren Jenkins Dennis Johnson Donor Advised Fund of the Pride Foundation Virginia Johnson Marge & Stephen Kafoury Jim Kalvelage Anna S. King Peter Kokopeli Gloria Kondrup & Justin Rattner Carol & Marshall Martin Erin Mboup Ellen F Rosenblum and Richard H Meeker Kathleen & James Meyer VeAnna Morgan & Pam Town Steven Clark Neighorn John Eric Noran Mary O’Connor Marthel Porter Judith E Posey & Edward J Doyle Rosenberg/Lippman Fund of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation Selby Artists Mgmt. Stephen W. Seifert Kathy Taylor Brian & Nikki Weaver Brian Yellin
ANGELS ($250+) Anonymous Elizabeth Arch Kregg Arntson & Theodore Fettig Bill & Michele Bader Lynne Barnes, MD Brent Barton & Liz Fuller Sean Berry Janet Bowersox Kay Bristow Marcia & Richard Bushnell Margery Cohn Amy & Gary Cole Danièle Colonna & Steve Jacobson Barbara & Tom Cooney Maryanne Deffenbaugh Amber DiLoreto Annie Dudley Debra Dutkiewicz & Timothy Evans Sara Elgee Stuart Farmer Liz Fuller & Kara Swadley Ivy Gibson & Joe FitzPatrick Evelyn Hamann Thyra Hartshorn Carol Ihlenburg Lynda Jackson Alan & Sharon Jones Wendy Kahn Paula Kanarek & Ross Kaplan Carol & Jeffrey Kilmer Joanna Langdale David E. Lapin Bonnie and Mike Leiser Jennie Leslie & Bradley Taylor Jenni Lipscomb Sarah Logan Edward Maurina III Kelli May Alison Nimura Stan and Susanne Penkin The PDX Roes Leslie Rose Sarah Rosenberg and Don Caniparoli Janet and Tom Schmitt Anne Senters Donna Shu & Tom Kane Donna Silverberg & Charles Wiggins Steven Smith Barbara & Dani Steinfeld Christine Tell & Jeff Davis Teresa Tse Beth Kaplan Westbrook Renae Williams Niles Rhiannon Wood Rambus Foundation
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White Bird’s 2023-24 season is supported in part by the Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Western States Arts Foundation, and the James F. and Marion. L Miller Foundation.