2013 Companies and Countries Announced

The four US companies participating in the 2013 season of DanceMotion USA are:

Doug Varone and Dancers, based in New York, New York, will tour to Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, based in Chicago, Illinois will tour to Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia

Illstyle & Peace Productions, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will tour to Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine

Spectrum Dance Theater, based in Seattle, Washington, will tour to Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka


About the Companies


Doug Varone and Dancers has commanded attention for its expansive vision, versatility, and technical prowess. On the concert stage, in opera, theater, film, and fashion, Varone’s kinetically thrilling dances make essential connections and mine the complexity of the human spirit. At home in New York City, Doug Varone and Dancers is the resident company at the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center. On tour, the company has performed across the US and internationally at venues including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music (Dense Terrain, 2007 Spring Season), the Jacob’s Pillow and American Dance Festivals, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, Moscow’s Stanislavsky Theater, and the Venice Biennale, among others. Varone, his dancers, and designers have won 11 New York Dance and Performance Awards (Bessies). They are sought-after ambassadors and educators in the field, and conduct annual summer intensive workshops at leading universities as well as multi-discipline residency programs while on tour.

Doug Varone is an award-winning choreographer and director. He has choreographed four productions for the Metropolitan Opera (including Salome, An American Tragedy, and an acclaimed production of Les Troyens, scheduled for revival in autumn 2012) as well as for New York City Opera, Washington Opera, Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theaters. He has created works for the Limón Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Batsheva Dance Company (Israel), among others. As a director, Varone has staged Orfée and Eurydice for Opera Colorado and Joseph Merrick: The Elephant Man for Minnesota Opera. He has been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship, an OBIE Award, two individual Bessie Awards, two American Dance Festival Doris Duke Awards for New Work, and four National Dance Project Awards.

Website:  www.dougvaroneanddancers.org

Doug Varone and Dancers/Credit J. Lemberger

Now celebrating its 35th anniversary season, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic direction of Glenn Edgerton, is one of the most original and forward-thinking forces in contemporary dance. The core purpose of Hubbard Street is to bring artists, art, and audiences together to enrich, engage, educate, and transform lives through the experience of dance. Hubbard Street grew out of the Lou Conte Dance Studio in 1977 (located on Hubbard and LaSalle Streets), where in its first decade it began to attract renowned choreographers—including Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Nacho Duato, Jirí Kylián, and Twyla Tharp—to create work for the company. Glenn Edgerton, named artistic director in 2009, joined Hubbard Street after an international career as a dancer with Joffrey Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater. Edgerton, who has secured new commissions and repertoire favorites from notable choreographers including William Forsythe, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Twyla Tharp, and Aszure Barton, among others, has guided the company forward and built on more than three decades of leadership from both Lou Conte and Jim Vincent, whose extraordinary work established the company as a leader in dance performance, education, and appreciation.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago comprises 17 dancers, operates year-round, and performs nationally and internationally. Hubbard Street 2 was established in 1997 to provide professional training for dancers ages 18—25. Hubbard Street’s rich educational and community programs offer movement-based arts experiences to students, teachers, and families throughout the Chicago area. Also key to Hubbard Street’s mission are collaborative partnerships with Chicago’s most significant cultural and community organizations, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Art Institute of Chicago, and Rush University Medical Center—with which it established the HSDC Parkinson’s Project, using contemporary dance techniques to improve the quality of life for participants.

Website:  www.hubbardstreetdance.com

© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2012


Illstyle and Peace Productions is a multicultural, Philadelphia-based dance company founded in 2001 by Brandon "Peace" Albright. The company creates work rooted in contemporary dance, West African dance, and old-school hip-hop blended with an eclectic mix of dance and performance disciplines including tap, ballet, DJ-ing, and beat-boxing. It has toured nationally and internationally to critical acclaim and is committed to delivering positive messages to all audiences. Illstyle & Peace most recently appeared at BAM in May, 2012 as part of the 35th annual DanceAfrica Festival.

Brandon "Peace" Albright is well versed in the various styles of hip-hop dance, He was an original member of the Philly-based hip-hop crew Scanner Boyz and has danced for major recording artists such as Schooly D, Will Smith, LL Cool J, Run DMC, Boyz II Men, and the Beach Boys, among others. Among Peace’s most recent choreography for Illstyle and Peace is Same Spirit Different Movement I & II—IMpossible, IZZpossible, a vibrant work which incorporates beat-boxing, tap, modern dance, African dance, DJ-ing, break-dancing, and modern jazz and has toured to critical acclaim in Canada, Russia, Poland, England, Italy, and France.

Illstyle & Peace Productions also offers acclaimed high-energy workshops, master classes, and educational programs including Become Your Dreams, a history of hip-hop; Hip-hop add it up, a math lecture demonstration program; and NO-Bullying STOP-Bullying and let’s be friends, a program focused on non-violence and healthy eating.

Website: www.pentacle.org/metro_illstyle.php


Illstyle and Peace Productions / Credit B. Herbert

Spectrum Dance Theater was founded in Seattle, Washington, in 1982. Its mission is to produce and present contemporary dance of global caliber that challenges expectations and calls forth strong emotions and thoughtful responses; to provide expert dance instruction in diverse dance forms to all; and to educate the community about dance as an art form and as a social/civic instrument. Under Donald Byrd’s visionary artistic leadership, Spectrum has emerged as a company of regional and national significance. The organization attracts world-class dancers and produces thrilling and challenging works in contemporary dance to critical acclaim.

Donald Byrd became artistic director of Spectrum Dance Theater in December 2002. From 1978-2002, he was artistic director of Donald Byrd/The Group, a critically acclaimed contemporary dance company that toured extensively, both nationally and internationally. He has created more than 80 modern dance works for his own groups as well as for The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and The Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco), among others. He has choreographed for classical companies, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, Aterballetto, Maggio Danza diFirenze, and Oregon Ballet Theater. He has worked with some of the most prestigious theater and opera companies in the US, including The New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, San Francisco Opera, and New York City Opera. In 2005, Donald Byrd was honored by the Kennedy Center with a Master of Choreography Award, and in 2006 he received a TONY nomination for his choreography for The Color Purple. Most recently, Byrd was selected among the first group of Fellows to the American Academy in Jerusalem; and was awarded a fellowship by United States Artists.

Website:  www.spectrumdance.org

Spectrum Dance Theater / Credit G. Bienczycki

 

>> Read the full DanceMotion USA 2013 Press Release

DanceMotion USA 2012 by the Numbers

4 companies
41 artists
14 countries
18 U.S. embassies & consulates
33 cities
85 days
36 performances
118 exchange & education activities
460 books & DVDs distributed to 20 libraries
12,000+ web site visitors
23,156 audience members & participants
1,000,000+ media impressions

From March through June of 2012, four American dance companies embarked on journeys across the globe. As part of the second installment of DanceMotion USAsm, dancers from Los Angeles’ Jazz Tap Ensemble, Philadelphia’s Rennie Harris Puremovement, New York City’s Seán Curran Company and Boise, Idaho’s Trey McIntyre Project set out as artist diplomats – to share and exchange their work as American dancers with artists, students, and audiences from cultures and backgrounds entirely different from their own.

The power of these dancers’ travels has been seen in the stories told in this blog - through photos, videos, and anecdotes of their time abroad. As the program continues, the reports speak volumes about dance’s incredible ability to connect people across cultures, borders, and boundaries. These numbers only touch the surface in describing the connections made with audience members, workshop participants, fellow artists, and students – and the stories born from those experiences.

(c US Embassy Ashgabat)

Seán Curran Company after a workshop in Turkmenistan

 

Jazz Tap Ensemble with new friends in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

 

 Rennie Harris Puremovement after a workshop at the

Rabbea Murkus Dance Studio in Kfar Yassif, Israel

 

 Trey McIntyre Project studying Tai Chi in Guangzhou, China

DanceMotion USA would like to thank everyone involved in its second year of tours for their fearless dedication to connecting Americans to the rest of the world through dance. Because of your work, the world is shrinking geographically and expanding creatively, growing in its capacities for global collaboration, innovation, and peace-building.

Stay tuned for more details and information on the DanceMotion USA program over the next week!

Re-Cap Part 2: Feedback from the Embassies

18 United States Embassies and Consulates hosted the 2012 DanceMotion USA tours around the world.  These Embassies operated as the program's gateway to the cultures, audiences, traditions, students, and collaborators that each dance company would encounter and work with. 

A key mission of DanceMotion USA is to increase exposure to American dance abroad, but also to exchange with other cultures and open up conversations about cross-cultural understanding.  Despite differences in language and customs, how are we the same and what can we share? What moves us as artists and people? And through creative, collaborative dialogue, how can we develop an appreciation for our differences?

Here's what some of the Foreign Service Officers from the tour countries had to say about the program's impact:

In the Middle East:

Rennie Harris Puremovement's last performance in Israel was attended by US Ambassador Daniel B. Shapiro.  "It was a real opportunity for us to show a part of American culture that helps build bridges and helps find commonality between people of different backgrounds," he said in a video about the event.

American Day at Ben Gurion University, Be'er Sheva
(©US Embassy Tel Aviv)


Jackie Stein, from the American Center in Jerusalem, said that it was the largest and most successful outreach program for the center.  She described how afterwards, "the audience refused to go home, and crowded the stage to meet the dancers."

In Asia:

The US Embassy in Vietnam has put a particular emphasis on cross-cultural exchange and understanding, and David Moyer of the Embassy in Hanoi went on national television with the following statement:   "The U.S. Embassy has been working very hard to.. find different ways that the two countries can discover things we have in common, and learn from eachother... it is not just about bringing American dance to Vietnam. They [Trey McIntyre Project] are here working with Vietnamese artists, learning their techniques, and their styles, and hopefully incorporating that into their own styles. So it was really a creative process, they were learning new techniques and new ideas."

The Public Affairs Officer in Seoul, Korea invited Trey McIntyre Project for an informal performance in their home - and it turned into a collaborative improvisation session in the living room!

In Africa:

BAM and DanceMotion USA were personally thanked by the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles A. Ray, saying the program left a "lasting impression on the city [of Bulawayo]."  The Embassy in Harare is working on furthering the connections they made, with plans to bring Jazz Tap Ensemble's technical director back to the country to help with efforts help with professionalization of the arts industry in Zimbabwe.

With the Mayor of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe



In Central Asia / Eastern Europe:

The US Ambassador to Turkmenistan felt that the program "set a new standard" for cultural diplomacy in that country. US Embassy personnel in Turkmenistan were overjoyed with the results, and were convinced of the need for more exposure to such events, especially ones that involved direct exchange with Turkmen dancers. 

Jeffrey Sexton, Counselor for Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Astana, Kazakhstan, said that they "could not have had a better group of cultural ambassadors", and noted that the program would be one of the highlights of his time working in Kazakhstan. 



Thanks to everyone who made this continuing program possible!  The US Embassies in each country were incredible in their efforts to make these arts exchanges a great success.   We look forward to expanding our reach in 2013!

JTE, Siyayeh and Eyasah in Bulawayo having funnnnnnn!!!!

AFTER THE DANCE....

Jazz Tap Ensemble with Siyayeh and Eyasah at the Bulawayo Theatre, 

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe after their performance.. Thursday, April 26, 2012