I LOVE watching freestyle street dancers perform/improvise. It’s like all of their pent-up emotional stuff is forcing its way out of their bodies and they are fighting to control it, to redirect it, and shape it into something beautiful and meaningful. I love the risk, the tension, the mystery, the physicality, and the explosive, full-out, emotional expression of it all. I can physically feel what they are feeling and my body is compelled to move and respond to it. For me, watching them dance shifts my own experience as a dancer away from serving others with my art to serving myself. I don’t mean that in a self-absorbed kind of way, I just mean that it reminds me not to lose myself in trying to dance for others but to dance for myself, in a self-fulfilling, spiritual kind of way.

On Thursday, TBA’s opening night festivities included a 7-to-smoke, freestyle dance battle, with eight dancers competing round-by-round, in the styles of breakdance, hip-hop, house, locking, popping, vogue, waacking, and so much more. TBA, or Time-Based Art, is the Portland Institute For Contemporary Art’s (PICA) annual, multidisciplinary performance festival. The battle, called The Beautiful Street, curated by Katie Janovic, Jesus Rodales, and Brandon Harrison, was electric.

The evening began with a freestyle battle in the middle of PICA’s new warehouse space, which allowed the dancers to warm up as the audience filtered in. It also gave the judges—Icon, Shady, and Tracey Wong—a chance to pick the eighth competitor. That lucky dancer was Alfred Trinidad. The other competitors of the evening were: Button, Bradass, Chris Moua, DonnaMation, Tomb, Liz, and Protoman.

Before the competition officially began, MC Brandon and DJ Gaan led the audience through a history lesson of hip hop/street dance styles with performances by Portland dancers Decimus (house), JuJu Nikz (wacking), Lockstatic (locking), Yen Boogie (popping), Daniel Girón (vogue fem), Deadshot (krump), and Alia Lux (dancehall).

Deadshot’s (or Dae Dae Middleton) performance of krumping was particularly moving to me, a genuine, unbridled expression of anger. That’s an emotion we rarely get to see in contemporary dance performances, and definitely not often in public life, especially not from people of color and women, who are rarely allowed to express it at all without major repercussions. Serena Williams’ historic week at the U.S. Women’s Open is a perfect example. Deadshot’s performance stirred the audience so much that towards the end of his dance, friends of his rushed the staged and finished out the song with him.

K.R.U.M.P. is an acronym for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise, and was pioneered in the early 2000’s by Tight Eyez/Ceasare Willis with a community of dancers in the South Central Los Angeles neighborhoods of Compton and Watts. The movement is frenetic and fast-paced and is equally informed by hip-hop, African dance, pantomime, and martial arts. “Krumpitude? It’s the power of the warrior unleashed,” said Tight Eyez in an interview for the film Rize, a documentary film about the Los Angeles subcultures of clowning and krumping made by David LaChapelle in 2005. The dance was a way for kids to escape gang life, to release anger, frustration, and aggression in a positive, non-violent way.

The winner of The Beautiful Street, hands down, was Robin Rojas, aka Protoman. His movement style seemed to encompass just about everything in the book. He was cool and calm, kept his cards close to the vest and surprised us all with new moves at every turn. He would begin slowly and unassumingly and then unwind, picking up speed and completely blow his opponent out of the water with something crazy and unexpected at the end of each round. He was the master of tension and surprise. I believe we witnessed greatness that night.

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It was an epic night with so many unforgettable moments. All of the dancers offered themselves up completely to the dance. The audience, who circled tightly around the dancers vying to see every step, was totally and completely engaged. To be able to improvise and do it as well as these dancers did under such pressure, is an incredible feat, and I am in awe.

Performances this week

Album (TBA:16)
Mariana Valencia
September 13-15
PICA, 15 NE Hancock St.
This solo performance, by Brooklyn-based dance artist Mariana Valencia, functions as an album—a picture album, a song album, an autobiographical album, a herstorical album conveying the herstory that Valencia would like to be remembered by. Through text, song, and dance, Valencia weaves a comical, poetic, and eloquent work that touches on many, many, subjects including her love of rice, vampires, and “The Lesbian dilema,” to name just a few.

La Nuit, La Traversée, Sur Le Fil ( TBA:16)
Compagnie Nacera Belaza
September 14-16
Dolores Winningstad Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway
September 13, Workshop: Release-Receive-Become with Nacera Belaza, (TBA:16)
This solo triptych (translated as, “The Night, The Crossing, and The Wire”) by Algerian/French choreographer Nacera Belaza, reveals the evolution of the works themselves. It is Belaza’s hope that the audience will view the dance performance like they are viewing three different paintings by a single artist in a gallery, and over time the viewers’ gaze will become honed and the inner workings of the artist’s mind will be revealed. Here Belaza talks about her process and who she is as an artist.

Emerging Artists Showcase
Espacio Flamenco
6:30 pm September 16
Imago Theater, 17 SE 8th Ave.
Everyone needs an opportunity sometime, and that time is now! Espacio Flamenco, Portland’s premier flamenco producer, will showcase emerging dancers, singers, and guitarists in the flamenco tradition in a series of solos, duets, and ensemble pieces developed by Espacio Flamenco. As part of the flamenco tradition audience members clap along and shout out words of encouragement to the performers as they perform. This is called jaleos. So, if you attend a flamenco event, don’t forget to bring your jaleos! Olé!

In The Mood: a 1940s musical revue
Choreography by Alex Sanchez
Presented by Portland’5
September 16
Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway
Between 1930 and 1950, America entered the Great Depression and World War II began and ended. Music, like always, offered solace and escape and acted as an anthem for soldiers everywhere. In The Mood, is a musical review that aspires to promote this significant period of American history through the era’s most popular music. The evening will include the String of Pearls Orchestra and choreography for the In The Mood dancers and singers by Broadway veteran, Alex Sanchez.

Miranda
Eleven Dance Co.
Choreography by Bb DeLano made in collaboration with the company dancers
September 16 and 23
Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy
“If the disintegration of everything is inevitable, is there any hope?” This is the question that 11 Dance Co. poses in their new three-act, full-length production, Miranda. Combining urban and classical dance forms, Miranda will be performed in a gallery setting with the audience moving from “exhibit” to “exhibit.”

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Performers include a who’s who of Portland’s vibrant dance scene: Brandon M. Avant, Ruby Guenther, Kristalyn Gill Earley, Brittany Hortert, Jamae Ann Sabangan, MacKenzie Schuller, Sonja Jean, Jessica McCarthy, Simeon Jacob, Ryan Houlberg, JuJu Nikz, Raven Jones, Daniel Shinseki, Amanda Hoban, Jassa Gunn, Andrew de la Paz, Claire Novick, Joshua Alexander Bonifacio, Bethany Giurlani, Casey Holzman, and Brianna Nerud.

Upcoming Performances

September
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

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

Sponsor

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