DanceWatch Weekly: The beginning of the beginning

September 5, 2018

Jamuna Chiarini

Dance, DanceWatch

Welcome, to a shiny, glittery, brand new season of dance! Listed below are 85 dance performances that will take place throughout Oregon from now through June 2019. The list will grow of course as new performances pop up, so check back often. Spend time with the list, ogle its greatness, click the links, and research at will. There is a lot to choose from and you don’t want to miss a thing!

This week? It’s TBA time as the Portland Institute For Contemporary Art’s annual Time-Based Art Festival turns 16! This 11-day festival of performances, workshops, artist talks, visual art exhibitions, and after-hours parties is inherently interdisciplinary and champions local, national and international artists who reflect and respond to our times. It’s a mind-altering, opinion-changing, heart-opening extravaganza of the senses. Below I have highlighted just the dance-centric TBA events, because that’s what we do here at DanceWatch. For the full schedule of events go to PICA’s website. Enjoy!

Performances this week

Dancers of The Beautiful Street. Photo courtesy of PICA.

The Beautiful Street: 16th Annual TBA Festival Opening Night
Presented by: Portland Institute For Contemporary Art, The Beautiful Street (Katie Janovic), Find A Way (Jesus Rodales), and PDX Ball (Brandon Harrison)
Starring, DJ Gaan and MC Brandon with battle Judges Icon, Shady, and Tracey Wong
Dance Battle Invites: Button, Bradass, Chris Moua, DonnaMation, Tomb, Liz, Protoman, and a wildcard
8 pm September 6
PICA, 15 NE Hancock St.
FREE
Workshop: 10:00 am September 8, Hip Hop and Popping with Katie Janovec and Jesus Rodales

TBA’s opening night festivities include a 7-to-smoke, freestyle dance battle, with dancers competing round-by-round, in the styles of breakdance, hip-hop, house, locking, popping, vogue, waacking, and more. The evening also includes performances by Decimus, JuJu Nikz, Lockstatic, Yen Boogie, Daniel Girón, Dae Dae, Alia Lux, with an epic dance party to follow.

The dancers of #Instaballet. Photo courtesy of Suzanne Haag.

#Instaballet at First Friday ArtWalk
Artistic directors Antonio Anacan and Suzanne Haag
Featuring dancers: Sara Stockwell, Sarah Kosterman, Will Robichaud, and Kenta Taniguchi
5:30 pm September 7
Capitello Wines Barrel Room, 540 Charnelton, Eugene
FREE

Reimagining who creates ballets, #Instaballet, directed by Suzanne Haag and Antonio Anacan of Eugene Ballet, gives artistic control to the audience. If you have ever wanted to choreograph a ballet but aren’t a dancer or a choreographer, now is your chance. Head on over to First Friday ArtWalk in Eugene and be a part of the process and make a ballet on the spot. The creative process begins at 5:30 pm and a performance of the final product will happen at 8 pm. This month’s performance will feature Eugene Ballet dancers Reed Souther, Vivien Farrell, and Erin Johnson, and will be facilitated by Antonio Anacan.

Sponsor

If you are interested in learning more about #Instaballet and how it came to be, ArtsWatch’s Eugene correspondent Gary Ferrington wrote about them in 2015 in Crowd-sourced Choreography.

Anthem by Milka Djordjevich. Photo by Gema Galiana.

Anthem (TBA 2018)
Milka Djordjevich
September 7-10
PICA, 15 NE Hancock St.
Workshop: 10 am September 9, Practice Practice with Milka Djordjevich

In this quartet for four women, Los Angeles choreographer Milka Djordjevich questions contemporary dances’ tendencies toward neutrality, authenticity, and the desexualization of the female body. By embracing theatricality, virtuosity, and sass, Djordjevich weaves those together with vernacular dance forms to explore labor, play, and feminine posturing.

Dancers jumatatu m. poe and Jermone Donte Beacham. Photo by Theo Cote.

Let ‘im Move You Series Works: A Study and This Is A Success (TBA 2018)
jumatatu m. poe and Jermone Donte Beacham
September 7-9
PICA, 15 NE Hancock St.
Workshop: 10:00 am September 7, Big Body: Experimental J-Sette Performance Workshop
Conversation: 12:30 pm September 9, jumatatu m. poe and Jermone Donte Beacham

In this series of three live performances and an installation, jumatatu m. poe and Jermone Donte Beacham use their research on J-Sette performance (a performance style popular in the southern United States practiced by majorettes and drill teams at historically Black colleges and universities) and teams of queer men who compete in gay clubs and pride festivals, as a jumping off point and lens, to examine a variety of concepts and feelings.

*Soft Goods* by Karen Sherman. Photo courtesy of PICA.

Soft Goods (TBA 2018)
Karen Sherman
September 8-9
Portland State University, Lincoln Performance Hall, 1620 SW Park Ave.
Conversation: 12:30 pm September 7, Karen Sherman and Erin Boberg Doughton

Laying bare the bones of backstage culture, Soft Goods, performed by an ensemble of stage technicians and dancers, is structured as a live load-in and technical rehearsal for a performance that never happens. Equally funny and heartbreaking, “the show illuminates the lonesomeness of theaters, the spectral elegance of a lighting focus, the choreography of labor, and the labor of dance. Soft Goods is a meditation on work, life, loss, and occupational self-obliteration.”

Sponsor

*Pushit! [Exercise 1 In Getting Well Soon]* by Nic Kay. Photo courtesy of PICA.

Pushit! [Exercise 1 In Getting Well Soon] (TBA 2018)
NIC Kay
3:30 pm September 9
5:30 pm September 11
Exact addresses for performances to be announced 24 hours in advance
Conversation: 12:30 pm September 10, NIC Kay

PUSHIT!, is a site-responsive performance by Bronx artist NIC Kay, and “a meditation on emotional labor and the impossibility of the stage as a place of freedom for the Black performer.” The performance requires walking and two hours to travel about three miles. The exact location of the performance will be announced 24 hours in advance. Please contact PICA’s box office at 503-224-PICA with any access or accommodation questions or concerns.

Upcoming Performances

September
September 13, Workshop: Release-Receive-Become with Nacera Belaza, TBA 2018
September 13-15, Album, Mariana Valencia, TBA 2018
September 14-16, La Nuit, La Traversée, Sur Le Fil, Compagnie Nacera Belaza, TBA 2018
September 16, Emerging Artists Showcase, Espacio Flamenco
September 16, In The Mood: a 1940s musical revue, Presented by Portland’5
September 16, 23, Miranda, Eleven Dance Co.
September 21, 22, Aureum, Produced by Halcyon
September 22, Autumn Moon Festival, Lan Su Chinese Garden
September 22, 29, Some Are Silver, Carlyn Hudson
September 22, Hillsboro ArtFest on the Plaza, City of Hillsboro
September 23, 8th Kelucharan Guna Keertanam/Odissi dance festival, Presented by the Odissi Dance Company
September 26, Bricolage, Performance Works NW Visiting Artist
September 27-29, Carmen + World Premiere, NW Dance Project
September 29-30, Ahmet Luleci, Presented by Ruby Beh
September 30, China In Dance, Presented by American Asian Performing Arts Theatre

October
October 4-6, Come to your senses, Pilobolus, Presented by White Bird
October 5-6, Shiny Angles in Angular Time, Melinda Ring and Renée Archibald
October 6-13, Napoli, Oregon Ballet Theatre
October 6-7, Hamlet, Eugene Ballet, Eugene
October 9, The New Chinese Acrobats, Eugene
October 11-16, Circa, Presented by White Bird
October 11-20, Bloody Vox: Deadline October, BodyVox
October 12-13, Change(d) Together, The Circus Project
October 12-20, A Spine Tingling Soiree, Wild Rumpus Jazz Co.
October 18-20, Lucy Guerin Inc, Presented by White Bird
October 19, Everything’s Copacetic, The Skylark Tappers
October 20, As You Like It-A Wild West Ballet, Ballet Fantastique, Eugene
October 20-21, The Man Who Forgot, The Portland Tap Company
October 26, Star Dust, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Eugene
October 26, Flamenco Pacifico, Presented by Berto Boyd

November
November 2-4, A Midsummer Night at the Savoy, Rejoice! Diaspora Dance Theatre
November 4, civilized-Happy Hour, Catherine Egan
November 9-11, Cloth, PDX Contemporary Ballet
November 11, La Sylphide, Bolshoi Ballet in cinema-Live from Moscow, presented by Fathom Events, BY Experience, and Pathe Live
November 13-14, The Hip Hop Nutcracker, Jennifer Weber
November 14, Tangueros del Sur, Presented by White Bird
November 16-18, Perceiving The Constant, Jessica Hightower
November 23-25, A Midsummer Night’s Dream with PSU Orchestra, The Portland Ballet

December
December 2, Don Quixote, Bolshoi Ballet in cinema, presented by Fathom Events, BY Experience, and Pathe Live
December 6-8, Winter Performance, NW Dance Project
December 8, So You Think You Can Dance Live! 2018, Eugene
December 8-25, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, Oregon Ballet Theatre
December 14-16, Babes in Toyland (World Premiere), Ballet Fantastique, Eugene
December 21-23, The Nutcracker, Eugene Ballet, Eugene
December 23, The Nutcracker, Bolshoi Ballet in cinema-Live from Moscow, presented by Fathom Events, BY Experience, and Pathe Live

Sponsor

January 2019
January 9-20, The Lion King, Eugene
January 20, La Bayadère, Bolshoi Ballet in cinema-Live from Moscow, presented by Fathom Events, BY Experience, and Pathe Live
January 24-February 2, The Cutting Room, BodyVox
January 31-February 2, Shay Kuebler/Radical System Art, Presented by White Bird

February
February 9-10, Romeo and Juliet, Eugene Ballet, Eugene
February 13, Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo, Presented by White Bird
February 16-23, Cinderella, Oregon Ballet Theatre
February 20, Beijing Dance Theater, Presented by White Bird
February 28-March 2, Compagnie Hervé Koubi, Presented by White Bird
February 29-March 2, Trip The Light Fantastic, NW Dance Project

March
March 1-3, The Odyssey, Ballet Fantastique, Eugene
March 1-3, Materialize, PDX Contemporary Ballet
March 7-9, Compagnie Marie Chouinard, Presented by White Bird
March 8-10, Interplay, Eugene Ballet, Eugene
March 9, Painted Sky Northstar Dance Company, Walters Cultural Arts Center
March 10, The Sleeping Beauty, Bolshoi Ballet in cinema, presented by Fathom Events, BY Experience, and Pathe Live
March 29-31, New Expressive Works Residency Performance

April
April 4-6, Parsons Dance, Presented by White Bird
April 4-13, The Pearl Dive Project, BodyVox
April 7, The Golden Age, Bolshoi Ballet in cinema, presented by Fathom Events, BY Experience, and Pathe Live
April 9-10, Savion Glover, Presented by White Bird
April 11-14, Director’s Choice, Oregon Ballet Theatre
April 13-14, The Firebird, Eugene Ballet, Eugene
April 24, Philadanco, Presented by White Bird
April 25-27, Spring Performance, NW Dance Project

May
May 9-11, Contact Dance Film Festival, BodyVox and NW Film Center
May 10-12, Shaun Keylock Company
May 10-12, Current/Classic, The Portland Ballet
May 10-12, Cleopatra (World Premiere), Ballet Fantastique, Eugene
May 17-19, Undone, PDX Contemporary Ballet
May 19, Carmen Suite / Petrushka, Bolshoi Ballet in cinema-Live from Moscow, presented by Fathom Events, BY Experience, and Pathe Live
May 26, Derek Hough: Live! The Tour, Eugene

June
June 7-15, The Americans, Oregon Ballet Theatre
June 7-9, Up Close, The Portland Ballet
June 13-15, Summer Performances, NW Dance Project

Jamuna Chiarini

Jamuna Chiarini is a dance artist, producer, curator, and writer, who produces DanceWatch Weekly for Oregon ArtsWatch. Originally from Berkeley, Calif., she studied dance at The School of The Hartford Ballet and Florida State University. She has also trained in Bharatanatyam and is currently studying Odissi. She has performed professionally throughout the United States as a dancer, singer, and actor for dance companies, operas, and in musical theatre productions. Choreography credits include ballets for operas and Kalamandir Dance Company. She received a Regional Arts & Culture Council project grant to create a 30-minute trio called “The Kitchen Sink,” which was performed in November 2017, and was invited to be part of Shawl-Anderson’s Dance Up Close/East Bay in Berkeley, Calif. Jamuna was a scholarship recipient to the Urban Bush Women’s Summer Leadership Institute, “Undoing Racism,” and was a two-year member of CORPUS, a mentoring program directed by Linda K. Johnson. As a producer, she is the co-founder of Co/Mission in Portland, Ore., with Suzanne Chi, a performance project that shifts the paradigm of who initiates the creation process of new choreography by bringing the artistic vision into the hands of the dance performer. She is also the founder of The Outlet Dance Project in Hamilton, N.J.