Merián Soto/Performance Practice announces Wissahickon Reunion,  a one-year cycle of 4 Branch Dance performances  that will take place in Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Valley Park.  The series, will  consist of four outdoor performances, one each season spanning from  October 2011- June 2012.   The first performance, Fall, will take place at Bluebell Meadow on Sunday October 23 , at 10:30 AM.   Soto is joined for these performances by dancers: Beau Hancock, Shavon Norris,  Jumatatu Poe, Olive Prince, and Marion Ramírez and  acclaimed musician Harold Smith.

Wissahickon Reunion
Wissahickon Reunion revisits the award-winning One Year Wissahickon Park Project which investigated  correspondences between movement, the elements,  physical experience,  alignment and balance, consciousness, and performance.

The seasonal performances offer audiences the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the Wissahickon Park.  Audiences are encouraged to attend the year-long performance cycle to experience the change of seasons, the elements,  and shifting light.    Audiences should consult the project blog for updates, directions to the performance sites and ssuggestions for dealing with the elements. http://branchdances.blogspot.com/

About Branch Dances
Branch Dances investigate somatic consciousness in action, performance, and practice. They are grounded in a meditative movement practice involving the detailed sequencing of movement through inner pathways; the investigation of gravity through dynamic shifting of balance and alignment; and the investigation of a spectrum of tempi.

The simplicity of the performance task — to connect/harmonize (body/mind/place/) while approaching stillness results in heightened consciousness and a sense of centering for the dancers. The physical practice of maintaining energetic balance and flow in the body as it responds to place, temperature, sound, light, weight, etc., allows the performer (and the viewer) to sense, imagine, experience, and create structural, conceptual, and poetic relationships , meanings, and potentialities.

About Merián Soto
Merián Soto, who considers her artistic life rooted in the Bronx, is one of the Founding Artistic Directors of Pepatián, the Bronx-based, multi-disciplinary Latino arts organization. In that capacity, during the 1980’s and 1990’s she developed, curated and produced numerous projects featuring new works by emerging Latino dance and performance artists. Soto’s work has been presented across the United States and internationally since the mid 1980’s. In 2000, she was the recipient of the New York Dance and Performance Award, commonly known as the Bessie Award. Soto is an Associate Professor and MFA Coordinator of the Department of Dance at the Esther Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University. Soto is a PennPAT Roster Artist. For more information visit www.meriansoto.com.

Wissahickon Reunion performance dates are:

Fall: October 23, 2011
Winter: January 15, 2012
Spring: April 15, 2012
Summer: June 17, 2012

All performances will take place on Sundays at 10:30am, rain or shine. Cancellations will be only in extreme weather.

Getting to the Mt. Airy Ave Path
From Wissahickon Ave go west on Mt. Airy Ave to the end of road. Parking along the street. Find the performers along the path to Forbidden Drive. Map: http://www.fow.org/map.php

Photo Credit: Pepon Osorio.