Inside Dance Conversation with Rennie Harris Puremovement

Celebration Barn – Bates Dance Festival

In the days leading up to their performances at the Bates Dance Festival, choreographers and performers will fan out across Lewiston-Auburn and as far away as Portland to reveal the secrets and stories behind their work in a series of free Inside Dance Community Conversations.

Celebration Barn is proud to partner with Bates Dance Festival to present one of these conversations with Rennie Harris Puremovement on Monday, July 16 at 7:00 PM. The event is free. Box Office: 207-743-8452

Rennie Harris has taken hip-hop dance from inner-city streets to a mainstream audience. In so doing he has transformed both art form and audience, and has proven that hip-hop can transcend boundaries of race, religion, gender and economic status. With his company, Rennie Harris Puremovement, this North Philadelphia native is internationally known for such works as the spiritually driven “Facing Mekka” and the critically acclaimed “Rome and Jewels,” a hip-hop opera that transports “Romeo and Juliet” into the world of rival B-boys and street gangs which premiered at the Bates Dance Festival in 1999.

“There’s the option to buy a ticket and sit in the theater to watch beautiful, dynamic contemporary dance,” explains Bates Dance Festival director Shoshana Currier, “but with our new program, there’s now the option to meet a dance artist at the public library or the YWCA and chat about their work. So the festival can be meaningful in different ways to different people.”

Additional conversations will also take place July 2 to August 1 in Lewiston, Auburn, and Portland.

For the full schedule of free Bates Dance Festival events, visit batesdancefestival.org/performances/more-events.

For mainstage performances, visit batesdancefestival.org/performances/. Information about Concerts on the Quad appears at bates.edu/conference/summer-lakeside-concert-series.

In Today’s News

Son Long Laura Faure

Laura has directed the Bates Dance Festival and put Maine on the map when it comes to excellent dance learning opportunities. From young children through adults for 30 years Laura has watched them come and go from Lewiston. I have fond memories of meeting Laura and my visit to the festival. Thank you Laura for your commitment to dance in Maine and good luck as your journey continues!

You can read the entire article from the Portland Press Herald written by Bob Keyes by CLICKING  HERE.

 

In Today’s News

Next director Bates Dance Festival

Shoshona Currier, director of performing arts for the city of Chicago, has been appointed as the next director of the Bates Dance Festival, an internationally renowned teaching and performance series held every summer at Bates College. Shoshona was born in Fort Kent and graduated from Windham High School.

You can read the entire article in the Bates news by CLICKING HERE.

In Today’s News

Bates Dance Festival

Dance Review: Artistic and athletic, Kate Weare Company wears it well. CLICK HERE for the article from the Portland Press Herald.

Bates Dance Festival

Brand new website

Bates Dance Festival is an amazing organization that offers a ton of opportunities for dancers and those who appreciate and support dance. Their doors are open to any and all who’d like to participate.

Visit their brand spanking new, responsive website for details on our upcoming winter workshops and summer training programs.

Darrell Jones teaches class

 

“Founder” of Bates Dance Festival

TEDx Houston

Thank you to Nancy Salmon for sending this TED talk given by Jane Weiner, the Executive and Artistic Director at Hope Stone. Jane is the “founder” of Bates Dance Festival’s program for local youth, Youth Arts Program held each summer at Bates College. Jane left Maine years ago but her legacy thrives at the Bates Dance Festival.

In this TEDx talk that Jane gave in Houston she speaks eloquently about the importance of arts education. As Nancy said: “Jane is such a perfect Arts Education advocate”. Take a look for yourself and hear this inspiring talk that likens art to salt and salt to art and what life would be like without art (and salt!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=exkZGmSJOx8

Dancing and Children

Sigh…

Recently Karen Montanaro sent me a photo (posted below) of a young child dancing in front of a painting by the Irish painter, John Lavery. The painting of Anna Pavlova was created in 1911. A further search lead Karen to a blog post with information about the painter and the artwork. It reminded me of a book called Dancing in the Streets by Barbara Ehrenreich that includes the traditions of dancing that are embedded in many cultures around the world. Our need as human beings to come together and celebrate through dance is a natural part of development. We can’t locate the origin of the photograph but is certainly is wonderful!

And from there another email this week from Anne Kofler with a short video of dancers who move into the shape of an elephant. Turns out it was a commercial. I sent it on to Karen Montanaro who confirmed that the dancers Pilobolus had a performance that includes the elephant. You can check it out at this blog as it was performed on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, July 2008. I know they’ve performed at Bates Dance Festival and Portland Ovations. I understand Pilobolus has other connections to Maine. The work dates back to the early 1970s. You can learn more about them in this Portland Press Herald article from 2010.

Speaking of Bates Dance Festival I just received their electronic newsletter. They’ve celebrated their 30th year and had quite a summer with wonderful performances. You can read all about it on their site. They have amazing opportunities for Maine students, along with young and veteran dancers from around the world. If you are not familiar with the program: Founded in 1982, the Bates Dance Festival is a summer program of Bates College whose mission is: to bring an artistically and ethnically diverse group of outstanding contemporary dance artists to Maine during the summer months to teach, perform, and create new work; to encourage and inspire established and emerging artists by giving them a creative, supportive place in which to work; and to actively engage people from the community and region in a full range of dance performances, workshops and discussions. Maine arts educator Nancy Salmon has been with Bates Dance Festival for many years along with dedicating many years to promoting arts education in Maine!

Bates Celebrates 30 Years

July 13 – August 12

This is the Bates Dance Festival 30th year and year after year they provide wonderful opportunities for dancers and dance appreciators of all ages. To view full details please click here. You can watch videos of the work; read interviews with the artists; and see what the critics have to say! To purchase tickets please call the box office at 207-786-6161 or purchase tickets on line.The main stage series features new works by acclaimed choreographers Rennie Harris Puremovement, Kyle Abraham/Abraham.in.Motion, Kate Weare Company and Keigwin & Company as well as emerging artists from the U.S. and Africa.

In addition the Festival offers a selection of free demonstrations and Inside Dance lectures, as well as low-cost events including, the annual Musician’s Concert and the Festival Finale, a showcase of student talent.

Available is a dine and dance deal that you can learn about by clicking here. Enjoy a delicious dinner at one of our fine local restaurants, Fishbones or Fuel, and get a 10% discount on your meal.

Keigwin + Company

Bates Dance Festival

Theater performance – April 27 & 28 at 8:00 pm

Bates College and Bates Dance Festival collaborating to present “red, black & GREEN: a blues”. A hybrid performance of hip hop theater, poetry, movement, music and visuals that brings together big ideas and moving personal stories to jumpstart a conversation about environmental justice and social ecology.

Marc Bamuthi Joseph is the conceiver/director and performer and has assembled a small cast of contemporary music/dance/theater greats. For more information click here.

Bates Dance Festival

Successful opportnities

The Bates Dance Festival that calls Bates College home had a successful summer with opportunities for all ages. You can see the highlights of the summer captured in this youtube video http://www.youtube.com/user/BatesDanceFestival You can read about the summer program in the newspapers at http://www.batesdancefestival.org/BDFnews.php. The Bates Dance Festival blog has stories from participants that you can read at http://bdfblog.org/. And you can read about the resident artists at http://www.batesdancefestival.org/artistnotes.php. And all other information Bates Dance Festival related can be seen on their website http://www.batesdancefestival.org/.

Also on iTunes are interviews with students and staff from the Bates Dance Festival 2009 season.

If you couldn’t be at any of the events this past summer, 2011, plan on attending in 2012. It is amazing what Bates Dance Festival brings to Maine!