Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Upcoming event: Friends/Family/Dance/Festival with NEDT

At the end of this month, Nancy Evans Dance Theatre, a modern dance company based in Pasadena, California, will be hosting its semi-annual festival which is always a lot of fun. They are an exciting, young and vibrant company, generously including top-notch talent in their programs. Before I ever had the opportunity to work with them, I loved attending their shows. They have a wonderful mix of humor and gravitas and they are master storytellers.
That, in fact, is one of the primary reasons I approached them about collaborating with me on my Sweet Sorrow zombie ballet. Nancy and her dancers are intelligent and thoughtful and they bring experience and their own ideas to a project, specifically their characters. I knew they would be ideal to work with. So as much as I say I'm setting the ballet on them, I'm actually collaborating with them. In the nearly four months I've been working with them, I have never once heard anyone say they couldn't do something. They try everything I ask and if my ideas don't work the way I thought they would, they are quick to help fix the problem. They don't impose their will on my material or me; rather, they seek ways to make my ideas come to fruition in the best way possible.

So mark your calendars for Saturday, January 31 and Sunday, February 1, Porticos Art Space in Pasadena. You can see a tremendous program - remarkable work from Nancy herself and other talented contemporary and modern dance companies. And you'll see 2 pieces from my zombie ballet: a group work titled Infection and a pas de deux titled Plague Pit. I'm so excited for people to see them! They are still works-in-progress but I'm thrilled about how they're developing.

More information can be found at Nancy's website: www.nancyevansdancetheatre.com

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