The Walker Art Center presents Choreographers' Evening Curated by Megan Mayer
Photo: Megan Mayer (curator) Photo: Gene Pittman
“A welcome—and very accessible—bouquet of performances showcasing some of the area’s many talented dancemakers.” —Twin Cities Daily Planet
From established dancemakers playing with new ideas to the freshest emerging talent, Choreographers’ Evening has, over the course of 45 years, become an honored rite of passage in Minnesota dance circles. Grab your friends and get the lowdown on a thriving and diverse local scene through this snappy sampler of works lasting seven minutes or less. This year’s guest curator brings an expansive view and unique generational twist to a program destined to celebrate, spark debate, and chart new directions in the art of movement.
Performances are Saturday November 25th at 7pm and 9:30pm in the McGuire Theater.
Choreographers’ Evening 2017 features: Gabriel Anderson, Charles Campbell with Ted Moore, DaNCEBUMS, KUDETA, Pedro Pablo Lander, Billy Mullaney, Alys Ayumi Ogura, Jordan Rosenow, Erin Search-Wells, and Vie Boheme & Maleek Washington.
Curator Megan Mayer is a widely respected local choreographer, photographer, and video artist.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Gabriel Anderson is a freelance dance artist and performer. In addition to performing and making, Anderson is the Director of the Dance Department at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists.
Charles Campbell is an interdisciplinary artist and co-founder of Skewed Visions and Fresh Oysters Performance Research. He has made many performance works over 22 years, most of which were made in places not made for performance.
DaNCEBUMS is a group of five making dance collaboratively and non-hierarchically in Minneapolis. Their work straddles the arty and the party as they knowingly move between precise technique and casual pop sensibility. Currently, DaNCEBUMS is realizing their dream of becoming a dance band – taking their work out of the theater and into bars, music venues, and parties.
KUDETA (from the French word coup d’état, meaning uprising) is a competitive and storytelling Hip Hop & Street Styles dance crew that performs, community organizes, breaks stereotypes, and always brings the hype. Herbert Johnson III, Frankie Hebres, and Joelle Fernandez are the lead choreographers for this piece.
Pedro Pablo Lander/Doña Pepa is a Minneapolis based, Venezuelan performing artist. Lander is currently a teaching artist with the Pillsbury House Theatre and with Upstream Arts.
Billy Mullaney is a Minneapolis-bred choreographer and theater maker, performing nationally and internationally as a solo artist, as well as with frequent collaborator Emily Gastineau under the name Fire Drill. He is currently a master’s candidate at DAS graduate school, and an artist in residence at WOW Amsterdam.
Alys Ayumi Ogura is a dancer/performer who has worked in the Twin Cities since 2010. She now dances for Sarah LaRose-Holland’s Kinetic Evolutions Dance Company and is a fellow at the Pangea World Theater’s Arts Organizing Institute.
Jordan Rosenow is a visual and performance artist who focuses on the relationships of objects through simple gestures such as touching, bending, leaning, and standing. Her choreography explores dance as sculpture by activating the body’s postures, limitations, and vulnerabilities.
Erin Search-Wells most often creates interdisciplinary performances as one-third of SuperGroup. She has presented collaborative work at the Red Eye Theater, Walker Art Center, Southern Theater, Public Functionary, Bedlam, and Bryant Lake Bowl. Her last solo work was in 2009.
Vie Boheme was born in Motown, developed in Pittsburgh and refined in Minneapolis. She is a former dance artist with TU Dance in St. Paul, Minnesota, a founding member of The August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble and a soul, funk, jazz vocalist and choreographer of her own solo dance work.
Maleek Washingtonis a native New Yorker from the Bronx. In 2014, Washington co-founded dance collective “Flying.Under.The.Radar” and is currently the Associate Director. He is also the first African American male performing in the immersive show “Sleep No More.” After signing to CESD talent agency Maleek, has performed for musical sensations SIA on “Good Morning America”, and Rihanna for an immersive experience for her AntiDiary Campaign.