SATIATE YOUR APPETITIE FOR DANCE WITH
"A TOURING TASTE OF DANCE SALAD"

Award-winning video artist presents a screening of the 2005 season

HOUSTON, TX (October 15, 2005). Tuesday, November 29, 2005, Dance Salad Festival, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Royal Norwegian Consulate General-Houston (as part of Norway's Centennial Celebration Program) present a screening of the spring 2005 season performances of Dance Salad Festival at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet, Brown Auditorium. MFAH will host a reception from 5:30 – 6:30 pm in the foyer of the Caroline Weiss Law Building. The screening begins at 6:30 pm. Those who missed the March performances at the Cullen Theater, or those who would like to see the performances again, on screen, can enjoy an evening of world-class dance captured by award-winning video artist, Laurie McDonald. Some of the dance companies included are Norwegian National Ballet, Norway; Ballet de Monterrey, Mexico; The Kylián Foundation, The Hague; Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve, Switzerland, and more. Following the screening, Laurie McDonald and DSF Artistic Director, Nancy Henderek, will take questions from the audience.

Laurie McDonald began her career as a video artist at the Rhode Island School of Design where she graduated with honors in film/video. During that time, she also attended Brown University and went on to receive an MA from the University of Houston in literature. McDonald has presented work in more than 100 museum exhibitions, festivals, and residencies including such prestigious institutions as The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Hirshhorn Museum, The Smithsonian Institute and The Menil Collection. Her work has been included in venues such as The Tokyo Video Festival, The Sundance Film Festival, Video Biennale (Barcelona) and The American Film Institute. She has worked with some of Houston’s favorite arts organizations including the Alley Theater, The Orange Show, Diverseworks, Houston Grand Opera, Inprint, and Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP). In addition to arts projects, McDonald also writes, directs, shoots, edits and produces videos for Fortune 500 companies, advertising agencies, and media production facilities. Currently a resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico, she teaches video production to homeless children through the Santa Fe Art Institute.

Now celebrating the 11th anniversary season in Houston and 14th season since its inception in Brussels, Belgium, Dance Salad Festival showcases world-class performers from the far corners of the globe. Modern, contemporary and classical dance merge on stage to form a magnificent mélange of styles and music. Dance Salad has presented dancers, choreographers and companies from the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. The Festival includes a full week of education and outreach activities culminating in three nights of performance. Each night’s production is different yet is choreographed as a coherent, expressive performance designed to interweave – a “salad” of pieces—creating a compelling whole. Many of the pieces are performed twice in the three-day format.

Mark your calendars for the 2006 Dance Salad Festival season: April 13, 14 and 15 at the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater. This year will include: China’s Beijing Modern Dance Company, Netherland’s Dutch National Ballet, Denmark’s Royal Danish Ballet, and Danish Dance Theater, Ben Stevenson's Texas Ballet Theater, Trey McIntyre Project, Sweden’s Göteborgs Opera Ballet, and much more!

For up-to-date information and photo gallery please visit www.dancesalad.org

Media Contact:
Julie Lambert
713.355.9011 (Tel)
713.294.9034 (Fax)