Full length premiere
Nov. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 2009
Major Fundraising Campaign now reving up - special events coming soon
Deep discounts on advanced ticketing www.ArtixPdx.com
New choreography by ALD and IA Directors, Agnieszka Laska and Curtis Walker, to a new score by ALD Resident Composer,
Jackie Gabel composed around excerpts from the Missa pro defunctis - Requiem of Roman Maciejewski, with projected montages by video artist, Takafumi Uehara. Poetry is from "POEMS FROM GUANTANAMO, THE DETAINEES SPEAK," edited by Marc Falkoff, U. of Iowa Press, 2007 and "HERE, BULLET" by Brian Turner, A. James Books, 2005. Performance video footage will be edited/authored to DVD and submitted to international film festivals.
LAMENTATIO is a companion piece to THE FALL '01 - (premiered 09/11/06), a dance-theatre epic about the empire at the precipice of its fall. It focuses on the suicidal Global War Of Terror. LAMENTATIO examines the emotional and physical damage to victims on all sides. As for polemics, LAMENTATIO is a call for re-humanization of all victims. Any veteran and any refugee of any armed conflict from anywhere in the world will be freely admitted to any showing in this premiere run, as well as all persons of mixed abilities.
Like THE FALL '01, LAMENTATIO is not a poster piece for the peace movement, but a keening for our collective soul at a time of historical crisis and a document of our collective pain, shame, loss and suffering. THE FALL '01 is perhaps an 'Iliad' for our time... LAMENTATIO possibly an 'Odyssey'- a wending homeward for some, through emotional straits, across seas of grief - likely as much for scholars millennia from now.
Along with other guest artists, such as Dream Science Circus (pictured) ALD brought new commissions Star and Clouds Pass By from Cherry Blossom to the W.C. Fields performance stage.
JUNE 19, 20, 21
THE TERROR THAT IS NAMED THE FLIGHT OF TIME
photo - Christine Zachery
RECENT PERFORMANCES
June 20, 2009
A TASTE OF PORTLAND DANCE
Imago Theatre;
Portland
Dance Coallition of Oregon presented in the
Imago Theatre space, with Agnieszka Laska as executive and technical producer, a heaping helping of Portland Dance - details below:
Agnieszka Laska (ALD - modern) Founding Artistic Director of Agnieszka Laska Dancers, Portland, OR
The Agnieszka Laska Dancers have come together gradually over the last four years, originating with Laska's initial choreography of three movements from Dreams of a Dancer to the music of Portland-based composer Tomas Svoboda. In April of 2003, for composer Jack Gabel's Dog Star CD release event, the ensemble marked a solid presence on the artistic stage in Portland as the most musical dance company in town.
The company's performances with live music include the (2003) Dreams of a Dancer production with Trio Spektrum, the (2004) Songs of Eva with fEARnoMUSIC, PSU Percussion Ensemble, chamber choir and guest soloist Diane Syrcle; Tessa Brinckman's (2005) Glass Sky CD release event at Portland's First Presbyterian Church, (2005) Peace is Every Step with Phil Hansen - cello, Janet Jones - piano, Erin Furbee - violin and (2006) Mozart Now and Then with Oregon Symphony String Quartet: Chien Tan - violin, treble violin, Amy Schwartz-Moretti - violin, Joel Belgique - viola, Nancy Ives - cello and guest cellist: Justin Kagan .
Agnieszka Laska is now developing new talent through a Repertory Group and performing regularly throughout the region at diverse venues. After the company's successful April-2005 festival tour to Baja California, Mexico, a fall '07 festival tour is now being planned.
Northwest Dance Project
(modern)
Choreography by Aszure Barton - free-lance choreography from Alberta - recent New York debut performance of Come In danced by Mikhail Baryshnikov
Founded in 2004, the Northwest Dance Project is dedicated to the creation and performance of innovative, contemporary new dance works from established and emerging dance makers. In order to produce the next wave of significant dance works, we are also committed to advancing the training and mentoring the next generation of professional dancers though our various projects, intensives, workshops and classes. Because dance cannot survive without new audiences and a deepened appreciation of the art form, we strive to engage individuals and communities with dance through accessible performances by our Project Company, open studio sessions and special events, as well as bringing the experience of dance to youth in-need through our interactive Dance Moves community outreach program.
more info.
Mizu Desierto (Water in the Desert - Butoh) Founding director of the Headwaters: Kinesthetic Laboratory and Center for International Exchanges in the Arts - in Portland, Oregon.
the dances of mizu desierto lean often towards an invocation of memory, absurdity, place, cultural reality, and the feminine.
We are American Butoh, dancing our personal ancestry, our plasma, and our particular North American identity.
Our home is at the Headwaters: Kinesthetic Laboratory and Center for International Exchanges in the Arts-- in Portland, Oregon. One of our annual projects is the Water in the Desert Festival: a participatory festival honoring art, ritual, performance and ecology....
more info.
Mizu Desierto, photo by Norm Shrewsbury
Laura Edson, photo by Jaycob DesRosier
Lauren Edson (NW Fusion - modern/fusion) Currently the associate director and resident choreographer of NW Fusion, a pre-professional dance company based in Portland, Oregon. She recently won NWPDP's choreography competition, "Pretty Creatives" and will be choreographing for it's summer intensive. In December, her work will be presented in Seattle at On the Boards, as part of the A.W.A.R.D. Show. She has received grants from the Regional Arts and Culture Council to perform her choreography and her work has been featured at the American Dance Guild Festival in New York, Conduit: Charged, AWOL, Bluesky Choreography Series, Regional Dance America, Ten Tiny Dances, Portland State University, Idaho Dance Theatre, Balance Dance Company, Portland Gay Symphonic Band and DROP Dance Collective, to name a few. Mia Michaels has described Edson's choreography as "classic modern, well-crafted with excellent staging."
more info.
Russell Capps
(ex OBT and Washington State Ballet)
Russell Capps began his ballet training with Eric Hyrst of London's
Royal Ballet, in Longview, Washington. Early experience includes dancing
with the Jefferson Dancers and Oregon Festival Ballet before launching his
professional career with Eugene Ballet Company. His dancing success
continued with Pacific Ballet Theatre, Ballet Oregon, Los Angeles Classical
Ballet, Nevada Dance Theatre and Oregon Ballet Theatre. He has performed
principal roles in numerous ballets. His choreographic credits include The
Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, One Second, Eye to Eye, Glass House,
The Velveteen Rabbit, and Tijustme. His creative vision also produced works
for the Jefferson Dancers and Dance West of Beaverton Arts and
Communication School. He further collaborated with Bravo! Vancouver to
choreograph a commissioned work called, St. Paul- An Oratorio by Felix
Mendelssohn, and excerpts from George Gershwin's An American In Paris.
The works featured a live chorus, orchestra, and a broadcast on local public
television. In Vancouver, Washington, he directed Vancouver Dance Theatre
for nine years before starting Washington State Ballet in 2001. Currently he
is head of the ballet department at Schell Dance Studio.
more info.
Gavin Larsen
(OBT principal soloist) in Jilted to music of Robert McBride
Though Gavin Larsen grew up in New York, she seems to be a Westerner at heart. From the moment she arrived in Portland it has felt like home, perhaps because she danced with Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle for several years. Now she?s busy exploring Oregon?s natural wonders and enchanting OBT audiences with her artistry. more info.
Richard Mensah Sokpor trained in contemporary dance and theatre as well as tribal dance. He is a former member of the National Dance Company of Ghana that toured both nationally in Ghana and internationally to England, Germany, France, Zimbabwe and beyond. Richard joined Agnieszka Laska Dancers in 2008. Richard also performs with Obo Addy - teaches at Lewis and Clark College, Portland
Richard Sokpor
Impetus Arts
Based in Portland, Oregon, Impetus Arts produces performances and teaches dance and theater classes. We will add more visual art and writing events this fall.
Our goal is to remove physical and social barriers so that communities can create art together on the same stage or in the same room.
We reach out to communities and individuals who have limited access to training because of discrimination and other barriers. We also include experienced performers and strive to bridge gaps between mainstream and other art worlds. At Impetus Arts, we work to ensure that people are welcome, not in spite of their disabilities, race, culture, gender, class, age, sexuality or other identity, but because their perspectives will add to the power of our work.
more info.
Agnieszka Laska Dancers
Spring 2009 Fundraiser
with guest artist
Nancy Wood
BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME
May 30th @ 7:00 pm
Polish Hall
3832 N. Interstate Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97227
An evening of dining and dance in the classic American Depression Era
Gramophones of the era provide music for dance
Dinner, dance, silent auction and stage entertainment by ALD and friends, including vocalist Nancy Woods in the tradition of "the girl singer" of the popular entertainment of the 1930s. Dress period, wear your dancing shoes.
Perhaps its a bit crass to throw a party on such a theme, but if you think about it, during the Great Depression, people found a way to pull together and help one another out of sheer strength of heart.
That's what we're hoping you'll feel when you drop in for a tasty hot Polish meal, modest cheerful libation, ballads of the era from the gorgeous voice of Nancy Wood and dancing to tunes of the day played on Stan Stanford's great old gramaphones.
An evening not to be missed - one of a kind this season in Portland.
Heidi Nelson of ALD - Pastures of Plenty by Connie DeNault
Dance for a Reason is an annual dance performance and benefit that showcases the variety of talented dancers, choreographers and movement specialists in our area. It also provides a financial boost to one of the many nonprofit groups working in our community.
This show sells out! Get your tickets now!
Reserved Seating | All seats $15.00
This Year's Performers:
This showcase of local talented dancers and eclectic choreographers, sponsored by The EDGE and including EDGE performers, provides a financial and publicity/citizen-education boost for a different local, non-profit group every year. The next show will be February 27, 2009.
History
Dance for a Reason was conceived by Geni Morrow in 1992. She had been dancing with several companies in Eugene for many years and often wished she could get all of her friends together for one big performance. Thinking beyond friends, she reached out into the vast community of dancers, asking them to give their time and expertise to help create an eclectic and exciting dance extravaganza in which the profits would be donated to organizations that benefit our community. Call it Dance for a Reason! After a lot of hard work, the first Dance for a Reason was staged in 1993. Held at the University of Oregon campus in Agate Hall, the audience numbered just over 100. As it grew throughout the years, Dance for a Reason moved to the Performing Arts auditorium at Lane Community College. And then, in 2006, it made its debut in the Silva Concert Hall at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts with an audience of over 1800 people.
Agnieszka Laska Dancers Nectar - music by Paul Safar and Nancy Wood
To honor Oregon's 150th anniversary of statehood, "fear no music" participated in this historic event in its "fear no music" way by adding a fresh, musical twist to the excitement, festivities and pride associated with the anniversary.
fEARnoMUSIC gave the world premieres of four new works, written especially for this grand occasion. Welcome emerging composer Ryan Francis, one of the promising graduates of fNM's Young Composers Project; hear supernatural sounds created by composer Bonnie Miksch, Professor of Composition at Portland State University; experience acoustical journeys by the daring Robert Kyr; explore new sounds by Robert Priest, Artistic Director of Marzena; and revel in the ballet version of Jilted by Robert McBride and Mama's Song by ALD Resident Composer Jack Gabel.
fEARnoMUSIC collaborated with the Agnieszka Laska Dancers and Gavin Larsen, a lead dancer for the Oregon Ballet Theater, moving to the music of Tomas Svoboda, Jack Gabel, and Robert McBride. Also, featuring works by John Peel and David Schiff. This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust, investing in Oregon's arts, humanities and heritage.
Repeat performances
EUGENE:
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 8:00 P.M.
Presented by Vanguard Concert Series
Beall Concert Hall, University of Oregon map
$8 general admission; $5 students.
SALEM:
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Presented by New Music at Willamette
Hudson Concert Hall, Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center, Willamette University map
Admission to this concert is free.
What's up for this month? Considering the recent cold snap, we thought it
would be good to get the collective blood flowing again with a little
movement. So January's show is going to be dancentric. Dancerrific even.
Featured performances include:
- a collaboration between Agnieszka Laska Dancers and Impetus Arts
- modern/acrobatics/tribal belly dance by Gemini Project
- Great House of Music (with choregraphy by Angelle Hebert and music by
Phillip Kraft)
To further raise the temperature we'll have a house band with the very
torch-y Paula Byrne on vocals. Add a bit of comedy, some performance art,
lots of "made from scratch" goodies and the usual silliness - it's the
recipe for another fun, exciting show. Come help us start the new year on
the right foot.
Inspired performances, energized crowds, and Hipbone's intimate atmosphere
have combined to create
this uniquely Portland-style event.
Agnieszka Laska Dancers with Impetus Arts at IFCC photo by Jason E. Kaplan
November 28-30
Museo de la Ciudad
Queretaro, Mexico
THE TERROR THAT IS NAMED THE FLIGHT OF TIME
in collaboration with
Las Pleyades Danza Contemporanea and Danscoreo
What's war? What's plague? We know they'll pass
Judgement is passed, we see an end to them.
But which of us can cope with this fear, this -
The terror that is named the flight of time?
Anna Akhmatova
Music of Dimitri Shostakovich, his String Quartet No. 8 and music of Tomas Svoboda, 3 of his Nine Etudes in Fugue Style for piano solo
Cobalt Glance at
The Interstate Fire House Cultural Center (IFCC)
Portland OR
Perfomance collaboration between Agnieszka Laska Dancers and Impetus Arts in an original performance that uses the singular rich hue of cobalt blue as a jumping off point for a suite of dances exploring: mood, elements, pigment, and kobolds (mischievous imps). A night of sound, images and movement by diverse groups from four cities.
This show will be Cabaret style, with tables set up for the enjoyment of dessert and a beverage, with pre-show music. Then at 8 pm Visual Music, the Art Music Vaudeville Show will commence! Featuring Agnieszka Laska Dancers, Paul Safar and Nancy Wood, Ben Farrell, Alli Bach, Roger Fountain, Andrew the great, Izzy Whetstine and Quint Ehley, and more!
Featured attraction at the Nov. 7, 2008 CD release event with Portland's intrepid new music ensemble fEARnoMUSIC performing 2 quartets from this latest release String Quartets - Vol. 2, No. 5-8 and a single quartet from Svoboda's previous release String Quartets, Vol. 1, no. 1 - 4. - both on the North Pacific Music label.
Polish Hall
3832 N. Interstate Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97227
This event pulls double duty, and double the reward for anyone lucky enough to attend, as the CD release concert is also a benefit for Agnieszka Laska Dancers in its effort to meet a $6000 cash-match grant for the City of Krakow, Poland - to tour and perform there in the coming year.
Expect a first-rate evening of fine food, fine wine, world-class music and attractive silent-auction items - ALD Fundraisers are not to be missed. Seating is limited, so reserve in advance.
RSVP - $25 per person admission (all inclusive, appetizer, wine, dinner + desert)
by phone: 503.715.1866
online at www.artixpdx.com
Cherry Blossom co-directors Paul Safar and Nancy Wood
performed with ALD in new commissions from Cherry Blossom just premiered at the Oregon Country Fair.
JUNE 19, 20, 21
THE TERROR THAT IS NAMED
THE FLIGHT OF TIME
What's war? What's plague? We know they'll pass
Judgement is passed, we see an end to them.
But which of us can cope with this fear, this -
The terror that is named the flight of time?
Anna Akhmatova
Another ALD signature performance, with music of Dimitri Shostakovich, his String Quartet No. 8, performed live by The Dickson String Quartet[June 19-20 only] and music of Tomas Svoboda, 3 of his Nine Etudes in Fugue Style for piano solo, performed live by Christopher Schindler, all to fresh choreography of Agnieszka Laska set on her ever more exuberant company, plus a restaging of Diameter IX, a perennial favorite, to music of Resident Composer Jackie T. Gabel, performed live [June 19-20 only] by flutist Jung-Wan Kang and percussionist Joel Bluestone with the dancers Sumi Wu and Richard Sokpor.
Joining ALD for this performance is Dancing People Company from Ashland, Oregon. Their program includes:
More Immediate Than Reality - Choreography: Robin Stiehm - a hard-edged, stripped down look at the blindness we allow ourselves when faced with the discomfort of confronting reality.
Letters To Tillie - Choreography: Peggy Paver - a provocative and emotional depiction of the personal consequences of war. It embodies one family's experience of World War II; the pain of separation, the passion of love reunited, the individual heartbreak, and ultimately the life altering decisions that emerge. Represented in a series of vignettes, Letters to Tillie takes the audience on a journey that leaves them pensive about the war experience, then or now.
