DanceWatch Weekly: Time for that coffee break

January 17, 2018

Jamuna Chiarini

Dance, DanceWatch

I LOVE coffee, and I equally love coffee descriptions. They are full of wonderfully descriptive adjectives like dark, rich, smooth, and robust (to name a few), and describe hints of additional/other flavors that you might taste or smell in the coffee like citrus, chocolate, toffee, or vanilla (also to name a few), and whisk you away to far off locals like Ethiopia or Costa Rica where the beans were grown. These descriptions, for me, create a sense of romance, nostalgia, adventure, and the promise of an extraordinary experience; all in a cup of coffee. You can only imagine how many cups of coffee I drink in a day. This is how I feel about this week’s dance performance offerings.

Photo courtesy of Narcissa Productions LLC.

Beginning Thursday, Zoe Jakes & Special Guests: A Dance & Variety Revue (for one night only) will showcase some of the region’s most talented belly dancers from classic to contemporary styles. Featured artists include: musician and singer/songwriter Eric Stern; burlesque beauty Sandria Doré; the “raucous, nerdy, rollicking musical comedy” of The PDX Broadsides; the exquisite mistress of theatrical fusion belly dance Zoe Jakes of Beats Antique; The Allegro Dance Company; The Eshta Divas; and the divine lady Claudia, Ashley López, and Heather Powers.

The Fertile Ground Festival of New Works and its dance-centric arm, Groovin’ Greenhouse hosted by Polaris Dance Theatre, kick off on in various venues around town this week beginning on Thursday. Both Bob Hicks and A.L. Adams break down the festival performances in Fertile Ground: get set, go and DramaWatch Weekly: Fertile Ground, Playing Favorites. This 11-day festival, runs through January 28, and features new performance works in various stages of development, from the fully staged to workshops, in theater, comedy, dance and film, and everything in between.

Portland dance artist Alexander Dones. Photo courtesy of Alexander Dones.

Groovin’ Greenhouse will play host to new dance works by six Polaris Dance Theatre company members, Polaris Jr. Company, Neo Youth Company, Vitality Dance Collective, A-Wol Dance Collective, Galexi, NW Fusion, and Alex Dones r:ad.

Also performing as a part of the Fertile Ground Festival of New Works will be Stranger than Fiction, a collaborative work between Tempos Contemporary Circus and Echo Theater Company that explores the overlap of circus arts, dance, narrative and physical theatre as a medium to explore themes of social justice, consider our commonalities, and question the essence of truth.

The Black Lives Masquerade. Photo by Jay Adams

Global Street Dance Masquerade #GSDMQ8 presents an interactive presentation about the performance work of Rashad Pridgen and The Black Lives Masquerade project on Friday, January 19, at the Portland Art Museum. The program will include a community movement exercise, a screening of the short film The Black Lives Masquerade, and a post-screening conversation between Rashad Pridgen and Libby Werbel, artistic director of We.Construct.Marvels.Between.Monuments.

The We.Construct.Marvels.Between.Monuments. is an ongoing exhibition series at the Portland Art Museum that encourages audiences to think critically about how museums have traditionally granted access to art and knowledge. The exhibits create a platform for artists to ask questions about institutional representation, exhibition models, and what it takes to see themselves and their concerns reflected regularly in their city’s art museum.

Sponsor

Portland Columbia Symphony Adelante Voices of Tomorrow Beaverton and Gresham Oregon

Marissa Rae Niederhauser and Michele Meloni in *Two Love Stories*. Photo courtesy of Marissa Rae Niederhauser.

Closing out the weekend on Sunday evening (also for one night only) at Performance Works NW, will be Two Love Stories, an evening of two works from Marissa Rae Niederhauser, an American-born artist based in Berlin. Niederhauser focuses on body based work in dance, film, performance and installation. Niederhauser will perform alongside Aaron Swartzman from Seattle in a duet called M/f duet, a romantic work that focuses on the power dynamics embedded in male/female relationships, and a solo called Teething that addresses the painful process of ‘cutting teeth’ and swings from soft, bleeding, pink (gums) to the hard, strong, and capable of inflicting harm (teeth).

In case you missed it, last week I recapped my Dear Santa letter from December, discussed Oregon dance in terms of ecosystems, and Oregon ArtsWatch’s newest dance writer Elizabeth Whelan reviewed Lil Buck and Jon Boogz’s performance of Love Heals All Wounds at the Newmark last Friday.

Enjoy!

Performances this week

Zoe Jakes & Special Guests: A Dance & Variety Revue
Presented by Narcissa Productions LLC
7 pm January 18
Funhouse Lounge, 2432 SE 11th Ave.
See above.

Groovin’ Greenhouse/Fertile Ground Festival of New Work
Participating artists are; Polaris Dance Theatre, Polaris Jr. Company, Neo Youth Company, Vitality Dance Collective, A-Wol Dance Collective, Galexi, NW Fusion, r:ad
January 19-27
Polaris Dance Theatre, 1826 NW 18th Ave.
See above.

Tempos: Stranger than Fiction – Fertile Ground Festival
Tempos Contemporary Circus and Echo Theater Company
January 19-28
Echo Theater, 1515 SE 37th Ave.
See above.

Sponsor

The Global Street Dance Masquerade Presentation and Film
Global Street Dance Masquerade #GSDMQ8 and We.Construct.Marvels.Between.Monuments
5 pm January 19
Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Ave. (Contemporary wing, 4th floor)
$5 museum entry fee
See above.

Two Love Stories (M/f duet + Teething)
Marissa Rae Niederhauser (Berlin)/Performance Works NW Alembic Artists
7:30 pm January 21
Performance Works NW/Linda Austin Dance, 4625 SE 67th Ave.
See above.

Upcoming Performances

January 18-28, Fertile Ground Festival of New Work/Groovin’ Greenhouse
January 25-27, Rennie Harris Puremovement, presented by White Bird
January 28, Garden of Earthly Delights with Salem Concert Band (World premiere), Rainbow Dance Theatre, Independence

February
February 1-10, The skinner|kirk DANCE ENSEMBLE, presented by BodyVox
February 2, The Shore of Endless Worlds, A solo by Nathan Montogomery
February 3, Nrityotsava 2018: An evening of Indian Classical & Folk Dances, Presented by Kalakendra
February 3-25, Chitra The Girl Prince, NW Children’s Theatre, Anita Menon
February 4, The Lady Of The Camellias, Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema Live from Moscow
February 15, Faculty Dance Concert featuring guest artist Vincent Mantsoe, Hosted by University of Oregon School of Music and Dance
February 16-March 4, Left of Center, A-WOL Dance Collective
February 17-18, Pink Martini, Eugene Ballet Company, Eugene
February 18, Chapel Theatre Open House, Chapel Theatre
February 21, Mark Morris Dance Group, presented by White Bird
February 23-25, Configure, PDX Contemporary Ballet
February 24-March 4, Alice (in wonderland), choreography by Septime Webre, performed by Oregon Ballet Theatre
February 26, Rejoice! at AWMC Regional Finals, Rejoice: Diaspora Dance Theater
February 27-March 1, Kinky Boots, Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Eugene

March
March 2-4, Zorro: The Ballet, Ballet Fantastique, Eugene
March 1-3, Urban Bush Women, presented by White Bird
March 4, The Flames Of Paris, Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema Live from Moscow
March 8-10, Jessica Lang Dance, presented by White Bird
March 14, Compañia Jesús Carmona, presented by White Bird
March 15-17, HEDDA, NW Dance Project
March 22-24, To Have It All, choreography by Katie Scherman, presented by BodyVox

April
April 4, iLumiDance, Rainbow Dance Theatre, Corvallis
April 5, Earth Angel and other repertory works, Rainbow Dance Theatre, Corvallis
April 5-7, Stephen Petronio Company, presented by White Bird
April 8, Giselle, Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema Live from Moscow
April 9, Noontime Showcase: Jefferson Dancers, Presented by Portland’5
April 12-14, Contact Dance Film Festival, presented by BodyVox and Northwest Film Center
Apr 14-25, Peer Gynt with Orchestra Next, Eugene Ballet Company, Eugene
April 12-21, Man/Woman, choreography by Mikhail Fokine, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Nicolo Fonte, James Canfield, Jiří Kylián, performed by Oregon Ballet Theatre
April 19-28, Early, push/FOLD, choreographed and directed by Samuel Hobbs
April 20-29, X-Posed, Polaris Dance Theatre, Robert Guitron
April 24-25, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, presented by White Bird
April 24-25, The Wind and the Wild, BodyVox and Chamber Music Northwest

Sponsor

Portland Playhouse Passing Strange Portland Oregon

May
May 4-5, Current/Classic, The Portland Ballet
May 10-12, New work premiere, Rainbow Dance Theatre, Western Oregon University, Monmouth
May 10-19, Rain & Roses (world premiere), BodyVox
May 11-13, Compose, PDX Contemporary Ballet
May 11-13, Alice in Wonderland, Ballet Fantastique, Eugene
May 14, Noontime Showcase: OBT2, Presented by Portland’5
May 16, Ballet Hispȧnico, presented by White Bird
May 17-20, CRANE, a dance for film by The Holding Project
May 23-June 3, Closer, original works by the dancers of Oregon Ballet Theatre

June
June 8-10, Up Close, The Portland Ballet
June 10, Coppelia, Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema Live from Moscow
June 14-16, World Premiere – Ihsan Rustem, MemoryHouse – Sarah Slipper, NW Dance Project
June 15-17, New Expressive Works Residency Performance
June 24, Salem World Beat, Rainbow Dance Theatre, Salem

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.