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For Immediate Release DANCE
SALAD HOUSTON, TX – Dance Salad will celebrate its tenth year of presenting the works of internationally renowned contemporary choreographers and dancers by expanding its performance schedule to three evenings, scheduled for Thursday, March 28; Friday, March 29; and Saturday, March 30, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. in the Cullen Theatre at the Wortham Center. Director Nancy Henderek has curated three distinct and artistically rich evenings of dance, harmoniously blending a diverse program that presents some of the world's most compelling companies, choreographers, and dancers, all who have not been seen before in Houston, except for the Houston Ballet dancers. The music will range from live jazz to the classical work of such composers as Antonin Dvorak to an electronic score by Guanglin Huang. Patrons will want to attend two of the three nights to witness the full-range of national and international talent scheduled. On the program this season are dancers from The Guangdong Modern Dance Company, Guangzhou, China; Rambert Dance Company, England; The Norwegian National Ballet, Norway; GoteborgsOperans Ballet, Sweden; Alonzo King's LINES Ballet, San Francisco; BeauteeZ'n The Beat, France and New York; Rebecca Stenn/Perks DanceMusicTheater, and Battleworks of New York and Houston Ballet. Choreographers represented in the performance program include: Jiri Kylian, William Forysthe, Christopher Bruce, Alonzo King, Jacopo Godani, Martino Muller, Xiang Liang, Yunna Long, Jijia Sang, Jean Grand-Maitre, Roxane Butterfly, Rebecca Stenn, Robert Battle and Timothy O'Keefe. Nancy Henderek, Director of Dance Salad said, "Houstonians will have the opportunity to 'sample the feast' of national and international choreography at Dance Salad. These beautiful companies have sent their finest dancers to Houston to share in an outstanding mix of contemporary ballet and modern dance at our special holiday weekend concert." Dance Salad tickets are available beginning January 28, 2002 from $15, $25 and $35 plus convenience charges at the Wortham Ticket Center box office by calling (713) 227-ARTS (2787) or purchased at the ticket window located at 550 Prairie. A special discount of 15% off each evening ticket is available to patrons that wish to buy tickets for two or three evenings of Dance Salad; by coming back a second or third night these patrons will see the complete program offerings. For additional information please contact the Dance Salad Web site at www.dancesalad.org. The program order for the three performances will be posted on the Web site in February; most of the works will be performed twice within the three-day festival. For a special Dance Salad rate at the Hyatt Regency Houston please visit the Dance Salad Web site for details. The Performance
Program The Guangdong Modern Dance Company of Guangzhou, China is the country's first professional modern dance company and has never before performed in Houston. The company will present five works, 180 Degrees and Night of the Dancer by co-artistic director Xiang Liang; Linglei/Unusual and Do You Be by Yunna Long; and Comrades/Heart, Shape, Substance by Jijia Sang; over the course of the three evening dance festival. Their performances at the Joyce Theater, New York City, were hailed by The New York Time's dance critic Anna Kisselgoff who stated "The Guangdong Modern Dance Company from China is one of the big success stories of international dance... It is easy to be astonished by the sheer physical power of the absolutely brilliant dancers and their hip demeanor... They have a spring and power in their leaps, a fluidity and suppleness in transitions that come from training in Chinese forms with an acrobatic tinge." Writing about Xiang Liang's piece 180 Degrees, Ms. Kisselgoff said the work is "a feminine reverie with an underlying fierceness" set for four female dancers. Houston audiences will delight in the opportunity to enjoy a pas de deux from one of the most important choreographers of our time, the internationally renowned choreographer Jiri Kylian. His lyrical work, Heart's Labryinth, will be performed by The Norwegian National Ballet located in Oslo, Norway. The excerpt featured is the final pas de deux from the full-length work set to the Nocture in B-Major for String Orchestra by Antonin Dvorak. Heart's Labyrinth is a rarely seen work of stunning impact. Dancers from the company will also perform a beautiful pas de deux from Canadian Jean Grand-Maitre's contemporary ballet Exilium. This company, known throughout Europe, has not performed in the United States for more than a decade. The GoteborgsOperans Ballet, of Gothenburg, Sweden will perform the exhilarating pas de deux from William Forsythe's Herman Schmerman set to music by composer Thom Willems and with costumes by the late Gianni Versace. In addition, the dancers will bring to Houston a contemporary interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, created for the company by Martino Muller, a former Nederlands Dans Theater dancer. Romeo and Juliet premiered in 2001 at the GoteborgsOperans. The ballet was hailed by Marita Adamsson of Bohuslanningen as "Fantastic ... Exceptional dancers, poignantly expressive music, and a whole in which every detail is significant." Also included on the program is a pas de quatre from Digital Secrets by Jacopo Godani set to an original score by Diego Dall'Osto. One of the United States' most exciting contemporary ballet companies, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet, of San Francisco will perform Tarab by artistic director Alonzo King to an original score on the Oud (the precursor of the lute, pipa and biwa) by Egyptian singer and musician Hamza El Din. He has performed regularly with the Kronos Quartet, which includes Escalay: the Water Wheel on their chart-topping "Pieces of Africa" release (Elektra/ Nonesuch, 1992). LINES Ballet will also perform selections from King's The Heart's Natural Inclination with music by Leslie Stuck. Houston-based choreographer Timothy O'Keefe is well known to Houston audiences through his distinguished performances as a Houston Ballet principal in such roles as Dracula and Julius Caesar. Houston Ballet principals Mireille Hassenboehler, Dominic Walsh and soloist Nicholas Leschke will perform a pas de troix from his poignant work, Uncommon Valor. O'Keefe's work, inspired by his reading of The Greatest Generation and Flags of Their Fathers, focuses on the devastation of war, and the ways in which society grieves and memorializes their dead. Uncommon Valor premiered in 1999 at the Houston Ballet Cullen Contemporary Series. French tap dancer Roxanne Butterfly, the Artistic Director of BeauteeZ'nThe Beat, was named one of the "25 to Watch" by Dance Magazine in January 2002. Her New York-based company features the city's finest female dancers and musicians and mixes tap, hip hop, and Afro-Cuban dances to the original music of saxophonist "Sweet" Sue Terry. In Houston, Butterfly will perform Rhythm Is Our Voice, accompanied on-stage by Terry and by acclaimed New York drummer Bernice Brooks. Rebecca Stenn/PerksDanceMusicTheater of New York City will bring Rebecca Stenn's signature piece, Iguana, to Dance Salad. The work embodies the darting movements and momentary stillness of the iguana. Jay Weissman accompanies Stenn on-stage using his electric bass to create a duet. Stenn and her musicians work collaboratively to blend the music and movement to create a synergistic work. She is a former member of Momix Dance Theatre and a founding member of Pilobolus Too. New York-based Artistic Director/Choreographer Robert Battle of the recently formed dance company Battleworks will present Strange Humors. Performed by Jason McDole and Samuel L. Roberts the work is set to original music by composer John Mackey with costumes by Missoni. Battle is a former member of the Parsons Dance Company and holds a BFA in dance from the Juilliard School where he studied choreography with Bessie Schoenberg, Elizabeth Keen, and Doris Rudko. In 2002 Battle is creating a new work for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Related Events Roxane Butterfly will also offer a master class at the Houston Metropolitan Dance Center, 1202 Calumet on Thursday, March 28, 2002 at 6:00 p.m. For more information about the class please call (713) 522-6375. Additional master classes will be offered during the week of Dance Salad. Please consult the Dance Salad Web site at www.dancesalad.org for class information. Dance Salad Sponsorship Dance Salad History
& Mission Nancy Henderek |