On Saturday, April 17th, Dancepatheatre presented Danceplorations, a unique showcase of six daring choreographers who investigated the intersection of modern dance with spoken word and voice. Live music, a spoken word artist, a Greek chorus, bilingual narration, authentic life stories, and passionate dancing were among the highlights featured in this program. This showcase featured works by Artistic Director Sara Draper and independent choreographers Leslie Scates, Toni Leago Valle, Elizabeth Lucrezio, Lydia Hance, and newcomer Katelyn Halpern.
On Thursday, March 18th, Dancepatheatre held its premiere performance of Letters You Wrote, featuring live music and real letters written during America's Baby Boom years, treasured and saved by their families. The letters were read by actors as the dancers performed in vintage dress.
Collaborative partner Foundation for Modern Music provided improvisational musical accompaniment for the new work choreographed by Sara Draper, Artistic Director of Dancepatheatre. The new work was based on letters written in the Baby Boom years, postwar 1945-1965, that were saved by their families and recently collected by Draper for this work. Draper said, “With the art of writing letters nearly lost from our present age, simply reading a letter becomes a nostalgic act. These Baby Boom letters reveal bits of lost attitudes, of passé discoveries, of our collective history, and of a time when lifestyles were simpler but relationships were not.”
Draper created Letters You Wrote to be a mutable performance piece. The work was designed so that it can continually mutate to fit the setting of a particular venue or event. Draper employed dancers who are comfortable with this post-modern approach and who do not have to attach themselves to a single musical piece in order to perform the choreography and the character beautifully. In some cases a dancer portrayed the writer of the letter, and in others, the reader. In every case, a personality from the past was brought back to life through dance.
Post-war occupation, Lyndon Johnson’s election, caring for the old family cook, a middle aged newly wed, a New Orleans family, and contributions to the Baby Boom by a minister and his wife…these are some of the topics that popped up in these letters. Vintage clothing as costumes and sensuous, surprising movement spiced with humor brought new life to these old letters.
Letters You Wrote, a Dancepatheatre Arts Project, was funded in part by a grant from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.
On Saturday, March 6th, Dancepatheatre helped to celebrate peace through its performance of Scenes from Al Andalus during the Quaker Peace Festival, a day of celebration and networking with local and national organizations working to improve our community. The event was held at the Live Oaks Friends Meeting House.
On Wednesday, March 3rd, Artistic Director Sara Draper was interviewed live on KPFT 90.1 FM Radio for the Open Journal program. She discussed Dancepatheatre's Al Andalus Project and its performance in the Houston Peace Festival.
On Thursday, February 25th, Dancepatheatre was featured in Cultured Cocktails at Boheme Cafe and Wine Bar, s ponsored by Spacetaker and Boheme.
On Saturday, October 17th, Sara Draper led this playful master class, which was designed to help dancers gain skills and confidence in speaking on stage, and to have fun doing it!
Vocal Dance Technique fused breathing exercises and vocal warm-ups and practices with modern dance technique. Special attention was given to vocal projection, tempo, and pitch. The dance technique draws from various modern traditions as well as Laban Movement Analysis, yoga, Feldenkrais, Pilates, Bartenieff Fundamentals, guided improvisation, contact improvisation and other techniques. Class ended with an exhilarating vocal dance combination or structured improvisation.
On Saturday, June 20, Dancepatheatre presented Memories of Spain, a repertory concert that swept audiences through various eras of Spanish history and style through dance, word, music and song. Memories of Spain included the critically acclaimed El Cerrojo (The Door Latch); a Life Museum audience favorite: The Back; and an experimental premiere, Five Tonadillas with Elementals, combining dancers with mezzo soprano Shannon Langman and music by Spanish composer Enrique Granados. Valdemar Phoenix performed flamenco guitar solos as our guest from Gitanerias Flamenco.
The program also continued our Al Andalus Project with Scenes from Al Andalus, a suite of solos and duets celebrating the music, dance styles, and cultures that peacefully co-existed in that historical era. Love duets, magic, and exotic intrigue were plentiful in this suite.
Dancepatheatre performed in the Dance Gathering, an event of the annual Big Range Dance Festival on May 31st at Barnevelder. Richard Hubscher and Sterling Ramsey performed the whimsical, energetic Men's Duet from Scenes from Al Andalus.
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Richard Hubscher and Lydia Hance.
Photo by Dan Mohr.
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Richard Hubscher and Sterling Ramsey.
Photo by Dan Mohr.
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On Saturday, April 11 at 8pm, Sara Draper performed her solo, Calves, in the MICS - A Weekend of Choreography at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas on Saturday, April 11th.
Dancepatheatre premiered Caution: Women at Work at its International Women’s Day Soiree on Sunday, March 8, 2009. The themes of women and identity at various stages of life, and of healing racism, intertwined to create a reflection on women, race, and identity through personal stories and insights. This forty-minute work was representative of Dancepatheatre’s hallmark of fusing modern dance with story, word, and voice. Choreography was by Artistic Director Sara Draper with poetry by African American poet Donna Garrett. Dancers Lindsey McGill and Catalina Molnari performed Draper’s choreography during Garrett’s powerful spoken word performances of four poems. The jazz music for three of Garrett’s poems was recorded in Taipei, Taiwan, specifically for Garrett’s poetry performances when she was there by invitation to perform in the country’s Black History Month.
Dancepatheatre performed its educational program, The Cosmic Planetary Show, at the Bayou Bend Family Day on Sunday, November 16, 2008.
Catalina, Tim and Sara are in their third year performing The Cosmic Planetary Show together in schools through Young Audiences of Houston.
Artistic Director Sara Draper offered a unique array of dance classes in fall 2008, focusing on the hallmark of the company's work. Dancepatheatre creates art that fuses dance and voice in performance.Dancepatheatre is committed to assisting dancers in developing skills to speak and vocalize on stage, and to assisting singers in developing skills to move expressively on stage.
Dancepatheatre began its 2007-2008 season with a performance of the production-in-progress of Al Andalus! The Legend at Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex on Saturday, August 11, 2007. The performance sold out with a waiting list of one hundred. About forty individuals remained after the show to participate in the talk-back session with the creative team, and that important audience feedback is being carefully considered as the artistic team continues with the creative process.
Dancepatheatre held its annual fundraising soiree on Sunday, November 18, 2007. Our theme was medieval Andalusian in food, wine, music, entertainment and garb. Andalusian treats like red sherry wine and delicious food from Aladdin Restaurant transported our guests to medieval southern Spain. Attendees were invited to come dressed in flamenco, Middle Eastern, or generally medieval attire, or just come comfortably enough to have a wonderful time. A beautiful costume sketch for the future performances of Al Andalus! The Legend by designer Pat Covington was on display. Everyone was entertained with live music, dance, and poetry followed by an invitation to join in folk dances and to cut a (Persian) rug to some world pop.
On Saturday, January 26, 2008, professional dancers, students, and amateurs alike were invited to learn Spanish dance and Middle Eastern dance in a workshop sampling the styles of medieval Al Andalus from Houston’s experts. Dancepatheatre’s team of consultants in medieval Andalusian dance styles and history presented a day of workshops for beginners through professionals, and artistic director Sara Draper offered a modern dance – Andalusian Fusion class for intermediate, advanced and professional dancers.
Dancepatheatre visited Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, on March 18 & 19, 2008. Sara Draper and Kristina Koutsoudas taught master classes in Middle Eastern and Modern-Andalusian Fusion to dance program students; Al Andalus Project musician Khaled Al Jamal taught Middle Eastern music classes; and cast members Leah Bauer, Linda Gomez and Jonathan Gutierrez joined the others and music director Sharon Joy in a lecture demonstration, performing music and dance numbers from Al Andalus! The Legend.
Dr. Sharon Joy gave a multi-media presentation at Research Day, Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA on March 20, 2008.
Director/Choreographer Sara Draper and Music Director/Composer Sharon Joy spoke about the multi-cultural issues and successes of Al Andalus! The Legend, a multi- disciplinary dance epic that celebrates a historic time of peace on April 19, 2008. The lecture was presented by SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research). In this special SIETAR presentation, Ms. Draper and Dr. Joy discussed video clips from the project. They described the unique intercultural experiences and challenges that were encountered in bringing together this diverse group of artists and shared their vision for the future of the project.
Dancers Leah Bauer and Richard Hubscher performed the Despair Duet from Al Andalus! The Legend in the Dance Gathering, an event of the Big Range Dance Festival, at Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex on June 8, 2008.
