Philadelphia Dance Projects announces its largest dance series to date, featuring performances, workshops and “informances” by renowned independent dance artists and companies. Between January 31 and February 28, Philadelphia Dance Projects Presents ‘09 will showcase adventurous dance programming by pairing rising Philadelphia talent with visiting choreographers from around the country.
“Our aims with PDP Presents are to continue to build and sustain an audience for contemporary dance in Philadelphia and provide opportunities for audiences to experience new work from local artists along with their national and international peers,” says Terry Fox, Executive Director of Philadelphia Dance Projects and curator of the series. “Through our work with the SCUBA National Touring Network for Dance we have seen the breadth of work and stature of companies worthy of attention and presenting support across the country that parallels many peers here in Philly. This series provides a much-needed presenting platform for independent dance artists and small companies.”
Philadelphia’s Headlong Dance Theater will present The Future of the Future from February 6 – 7 at The Performance Garage, in a program with London-born, New York-based choreographer Keely Garfield, who will present the Philadelphia premiere of Limerance. The Future of the Future is a collection of dances from Headlong’s characteristically expansive palette, from intricate set dances to sophisticated improvisation, and includes the premiere of a new dance exploring the songs of outsider musician Daniel Johnston. The performance will feature Headlong core dancers Nichole Canuso and Christy Lee. Garfield’s Limerance is “a ritual event for performers and witnesses in which things happen, full of risk, repercussions, wisdom, seasoned with pain and experience on both sides,” performed by Garfield, Philadelphia-based dancer Jamil Kosoko and Brandin Steffensen, with innovative lighting-design-as-performance by Jonathan Belcher.
On February 14 and 15, the avant-garde Minneapolis-based trio ARENA Dances will perform Plastic Language, choreographed by Mathew Janczewski. This unusual and provocative work undulates and skims across a confined space with the dancers attempting to establish communication by transferring information between each other. The program also features Philadelphia-based choreographer Zane Booker, who will premiere a suite of romantic dances set on his company, Smoke, Lilies & Jade.
The February 27 program at Temple University’s Conwell Dance Theater will be dedicated to the SCUBA National Touring Network for Dance. The evening will feature a Philadelphia-based choreographer in a shared program with two visiting choreographers (artists to be announced) from SCUBA’s exchange network which includes Velocity Dance Center of Seattle, ODC Theater in San Francisco and The Southern Theater in Minneapolis. The goal of the consortium of sister cities is to support the growth and expansion of the country’s next generation of contemporary dance artists through touring and the development of relationships with other artists and presenters.
For an informance on January 31, New York-based Jennifer Monson, Artistic Director of iLAND Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art, Nature and Dance will discuss her multi-year epic project Bird Brain, which explores the natural world through experimental dance practices. Monson’s dance work illuminates the issues of migration, navigation and conservation, artistic creativity and freedom. The audience is invited to engage in this dialogue through the lens of migration in culture.
Workshops will be led by Jennifer Monson (Jan. 31 & Feb. 1), Keely Garfield (Feb. 6 & 7), Zane Booker & Mathew Janczewski (Feb. 14 & 15) and SCUBA artists (Feb. 27).
All Philadelphia Dance Projects Presents events will be held at The Performance Garage, 1515 Brandywine Street, Philadelphia, unless otherwise noted. Tickets to all series events will be available for purchase after October 1, 2008 online at www.danceboxoffice.com or by phone at (215) 546-2552.
ABOUT PHILADELPHIA DANCE PROJECTS
The mission of Philadelphia Dance Projects (PDP) is to support contemporary dance through projects that encourage artists and audiences to more fully participate and engage in the experience and pursuit of dance as an evolving form. PDP began as a three year mentoring project (1993-95) under the aegis of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and was established as an independent organization in 1996. As an advocate for dance in Philadelphia, PDP serves the regional dance and performance community through projects which greatly enhance the capacity of dance making and the presence of dance in Philadelphia. PDP programming includes the annual dance film festival Motion Pictures, The Studio Access Project, artist exchanges, workshops and classes, commissioning collaborative dance work, ongoing educational projects, and SCUBA, National Network for Dance, among others. For more information, visit www.philadanceprojects.org.
Philadelphia Dance Projects gratefully acknowledges support for its 08-09 Season from: The William Penn Foundation; Dance Advance, an initiative of the Philadelphia Center for Arts & Heritage, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by the UArts; Philadelphia Cultural Fund; The Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation; Rosenlund Family Foundation; The Barra Foundation; The Suzanne F. Roberts Cultural Development Fund; The National Endowment for the Arts; Individual donors and organizational partners Philadanco; Temple University/ Conwell Dance Theater; Scribe Video Center and Dance Films Association; and SCUBA Partners: ODC Theater, San Francisco, Southern Theater, Minneapolis and Velocity Dance Center, Seattle.
