Bates Dance Festival presents showcase of diverse dance styles

Showcasing diverse styles and perspectives, Different Voices features modern, jazz and improvisational works by U.S., Indian and Asian artists in residence at the Bates Dance Festival.

The evening features an excerpt from Not About Iraq by the award-winning choreographer/filmmaker Victoria Marks. A visceral dance to engage hearts and minds, Not About Iraq takes a look at citizenship as it explores the way dances speak about our experience. Through a set of poetics Marks questions the place of the body in matters of courageousness and valor, knowledge and responsibility. She asks whether dance can be a force for social change. Not About Iraq examines government rhetoric, ‘double-speak’ and the outrage that occurs when words lose their meaning.

Marks is a 2007 Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center award winner for the creation of a new dance for the camera, and a 2005 Guggenheim Fellow, who has also received recent grants from the Irvine Foundation and the Cultural Affairs Council. In 1997, she was honored with the Alpert Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography. Marks has received multiple grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, among others. She also has received a Fulbright Fellowship in choreography and numerous awards for her dance films.

Indian artist/activist Ananya Chatterjea is the founding director of the Minneapolis-based Ananya Dance Theatre, a company of women artists of color who believe in dancing to energize a future that is full of hope.  A riveting performer, Chatterjea presents a provocative new solo work. Since 2005 she has performed in Osaka (Dance Box Festival), Jakarta (Indonesian Dance Festival), Kuala Lampur (Sutra Dance Theater) and Minneapolis (Southern Theater). She was recently recognized as one of the “21 leaders for the 21st century” and was among the “seven who will not be stopped,” named by Women’s E-News, a national women-centered news organization.

Jazz master Cathy Young and modern dancer Niles Ford will share a sizzling new duet. Young has danced with the companies of Zenon Dance Company and Danny Buraczeski’s JAZZDANCE, touring extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe, and performing in prestigious venues such as the Joyce Theater in New York and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.  The founder of Urban Dance Collective. Ford has performed with artists and companies including Boston Ballet, Bill T. Jones, Ron Brown, Danny Sloan and Co., the Rod Rogers Dance Co., Dance Theatre of Harlem and Philadanco.

Also on the program is an excerpt of new work by the contemporary dance duo Nugent + Matteson Dance, known for their fearless and breathtaking dancing. Nugent danced with David Dorfman Dance from 1999-2007 and received a “Bessie” New York Dance and Performance Award in 2006 for her performances with the company. A native of Cumberland, Maine, Matteson was a member of David Dorfman Dance and Race Dance from 2000-05, receiving a “Bessie” in 2002 for performance. A member of David Dorfman Dance from 1999-2007, Nugent received a “Bessie” in 2006 for her work with the company. She has been a guest artist at universities throughout the US, as well as the American Dance Festival, Florida Dance Festival and Bates Dance Festival.  Nugent and Matteson formed their company in 2006 and have performed at Rhode Island College, Middlebury College, Velocity Studios in Seattle, Florida Dance Festival in Miami and Danspace Project in New York City.

Chris Aiken and Angie Hauser perform an improvisational duet, “The Unrepeatable Moment.”  A leading international performer of dance improvisation who has collaborated with Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith and Andrew Harwood, Aiken has received numerous awards for his artistic work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as commissions from the Walker Art Center, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Dance Theater Workshop and the National Performance Network.  Hauser has been a member of the Bebe Miller Company since 2000.

Yutaka Joraku is a Hiroshima-based movement artist who describes his work as physical theater based on the familiar movements of everyday life. He showcases an individual style that crosses the boundaries of dance, mime, performance art and drama. His work has recently captured the attention of dance critics and audiences in Japan and throughout Asia.

Rounding out the evening are the remarkable emerging choreographers Christopher Williams and Heather Maloney. Williams presents excerpts from his latest evening length work, “The Golden Legend.”  Based on a 13th-century work by the blessed Jacobus de Voragine, the piece consists of portraits of 17 male saints. A dancer, choreographer, and puppeteer based in the New York City area, Williams currently dances with Tere O’Connor Dance. He has worked with the award-winning master puppeteer Basil Twist and toured in the acclaimed work of Dan Hurlin. Williams received a New York Dance & Performance “Bessie” Award in 2005 for his work Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins.

Maloney, a riveting performer, draws on improvisational structures to create movement magic. She is a Miami-based choreographer, dancer and co-director of InKub8. Her work has been presented at Bates Dance Festival, Florida Dance Festival, New World School of the Arts and in Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela. In 2002 Maloney’s evening-length work entitled, “We Live in Rooms inside of Rooms” was listed as one of the top ten dance events in Miami by the Miami Herald.
Information on tickets, event locations and further details are available on our website at: http://www.batesdancefestival.org