VIA DANCE COLLABORATIVE
January 31- February 3 at Dance New Amsterdam
a group of brainy, funny modern-dance choreographers" -- Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times
VIA DANCE COLLABORATIVE presents its fourth full season beginning January 31 at Dance New Amsterdam. The evening-length program will feature the premieres three new modern dance pieces:
Janice Lancaster’s "Weren’t you always distracted by expectation, as if every event announced a beloved" explores humanism and folly in love. The dance asks: have you ever been in love with more than one person at once? Answers are sifted through the haze of false Hollywood love stories, girly games of MASH, mystical love poems, the neurochemistry of flirting, trial and error, and a reflecting pool. The work features four women, three men, and projections by Adam Larsen.
Katie Swords’ "When it gets dark enough, you can see the stars" delves into the pain felt when love is taken away. Presented in four movements, this dance for five women begins with the ladies at a breaking point, lost and barely coping. Their loss becomes raw frustration and anger at being rejected. After hitting rock bottom, they begin to sew together the pieces of their hearts.
Dawn Poirier’s "Sometimes In, Sometimes Out" explores the paradox of being part of a group, but not always fitting into it. The audience witnesses the frustration, exhaustion, and perserverance a single dancer faces as she tries to navigate the group dynamic. This 10-minute piece, divided into three sections, begins with a solo by Katie Swords and follows her as she interacts with the various members of her group. Looking through her eyes, we see our own struggle to fit in.
The program is danced by all three choreographers with Hallie Dalsimer, Cheri Fogelman, Gessuri Gaitan, Jessica Ingraham, Stephanie Liapis, Seth Miner, Lauren Muraski, Hae Young Ohe, Anna Schon, Colleen Wahl, and Adrienne Westwood with lighting by Carrie Wood, projections design by Adam Larsen and costumes by Renee Kurz.
Janice Lancaster is a founding member of VIA Dance Collaborative. She has danced with Shen Wei Dance Arts, Abby Chan, Satoshi Haga, and Aynsley Vandenbrouke Movement Group. Her piece "St. John’s Wort" is currently being toured by the Hubbard Street 2 Dance Company of Chicago. Her work has been presented at venues including Joyce SoHo, Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre, Lincoln Center’s Clark Studio Theatre, University Settlement and Universidad de las Américas in Cholula, Mexico.
Dawn Poirier earned an MFA in choreography from the University of Iowa. Her work has been showcased at the American College Dance Festival (2003) and commissioned by Dancers in Company (2002), HSPVA in Houston (2006), and SUNY Fredonia (2005). In New York, she has worked with Geraldine Cardiel, Daniel Charon and Philippa Kaye.
Katie Swords has worked with Satoshi Haga, Melissa Briggs Dance, the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, California-based choreographer Hahn Nguyen, and Helen Simoneau. She has created three new works for VIA: Pearl, Mute (co-choreographed by Dawn Poirier), and Tides. When Katie is not dancing, she works as a personal trainer at Equinox.
VIA DANCE COLLABORATIVE is a performance ensemble whose members have diverse aesthetic viewpoints. It was founded in 2003 through Adrienne Westwood’s Kenan Fellowship at the Lincoln Center Institute for Arts in Education. VIA had its inaugural performances at LCI's Clark Studio Theatre in February 2004. VIA has since had full seasons at Joyce Soho and at the Ailey Citigrup Theater and has been presented over two dozen times at venues including Joe’s Pub (with Dancenow), Dance New Amsterdam, St. Mark’s Church and Dance Theatre Workshop. VIA has been presented regionally at the Dance Under the Stars Festival at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California; Mt. Tremper Arts in the Catskills; Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out; and the East Street Theatre in Hadley, Massachusetts. The collaborative has also conducted residency programs at the State University of New York at Fredonia and North Carolina School of the Arts. VIA was recently a company in residence at Performática: an International Forum on Contemporary Dance and Movement Arts in Puebla, Mexico. For more info visit www.viadance.org.
VIA DANCE COLLABORATIVE appears January 31 - February 3, Thursday - Sunday at 8:00pm. Dance New Amsterdam is located at 280 Broadway (between Chambers and Reade Streets -- enter on Chambers Street -- accessible from the A,C at Chambers Street; R,W at City Hall; or J,M,Z at Chambers Street -Brooklyn Bridge). Tickets are $15, available at 212-279-4200 or TicketCentral.com.