DanceWatch: Flights of February Fancy

The month brings a range of dances from "Carmen" to Goya to Polynesian to the Trocks, flamenco, a world-premiere "Giselle," a dance on death, a spot of Jane Austen, a dance film festival and a Dragon Day parade.

I’ve just returned from India, and I find myself in a strange in-between place, suspended between the two worlds, experiencing both simultaneously: the life-changing intensity of one and the familiarity of the other. I can never unsee this, and I can no longer view my current world in the same way. The experience was transformative. It is an unsettling and exhilarating space, making me question my beliefs, the world around me, and my place in it.

February’s dance performances echo these transformative feelings. They have the power to shift perspectives, upend the ordinary, and make us see ourselves and the world differently. Like India, they transport and immerse us in raw beauty and complexity, changing us in ways we can’t unfeel or unsee.

February Dance Performances

The inevitability of death and the ephemerality of performance are central to a new music and dance work by Linda Austin titled In Preparation for Disappearance to Come, premiering February 6-8 at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. Photo courtesy of Linda Austin Dance.
The inevitability of death and the ephemerality of performance are central to a new music and dance work by Linda Austin titled In Preparation for Disappearance to Come, premiering February 6-8 at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. Photo courtesy of Linda Austin Dance.

In Preparation for Disappearances to Come (World Premiere)

  • Choreography and performance by Linda Austin Dance in collaboration with dancers Allie Hankins and Danielle Ross
  • Feb. 6-8
  • Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, 15 N.E. Hancock St., Portland
  • Feb. 7 Post-show talk with artist/death doula Nan Curtis
  • 4 p.m. Feb. 8 free will-writing workshop with artist/educator Amanda Leigh Evans
  • ASL upon request by 11:59 p.m. Friday for Saturday matinee

The inevitability of death and the ephemerality of performance are central to this music and dance work by Linda Austin, who collaborates with dancers Allie Hankins and Danielle Ross and musicians Chris Cochrane and Kevin Bud Jones. The piece is a prompt to help us consider how our lives and work will dissolve and how we can nurture the future even when we are no longer a part of it. Trailer available on Vimeo.

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Sponsor

Portland Center Stage at the Armory Portland Oregon

"Enraptured" dance visual. Photo courtesy of BodyVox Dance Center.
Photo courtesy of BodyVox Dance Center.

Enraptured

  • Choreographed by Theresa Hanson 
  • Feb. 7-8
  • BodyVox Dance Center, 1201 N.W. 17th Avenue, Portland

Celebrate love and its many expressions through dance with BodyVox dancer and choreographer Theresa Hanson and dancers Asteria Atombomb, Anika De Vore, Anna Ellis, Kenny Frechette, Brian Nelson, Chauncey Parsons, Kennedy Sizemore, and Haiou Wang. Complimentary drink with your ticket purchase.

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Pictured is the dragon featured in the yearly Dragon Day Parade as part of the Lunar New Year celebration. Photo courtesy of The Portland Chinatown Museum.
Pictured is the dragon featured in the yearly Dragon Day Parade as part of the Lunar New Year celebration. Photo courtesy of The Portland Chinatown Museum.

9th Annual Lunar New Year Dragon Day Parade and Celebration

  • Presented by The Portland Chinatown Museum
  • 10 a.m. Feb. 8
  • 127 N.W. Third Avenue, Portland

The Portland Chinatown Museum celebrates the Year of the Snake with a Dragon Dance Parade and Celebration in downtown Portland. Local lion dance teams and community performers will kick off the ninth annual parade and celebration in front of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association at the corner of N.W. Third Avenue and Davis Street in Old Town Chinatown. 

Sponsor

Seattle Opera The Magic Flute Seattle Washington

The parade will be led by the Portland Chinatown History Foundation’s impressive 150-foot dragon and will proceed through the China Gate, march down Southwest Third Avenue, and continue to Southwest Jefferson Street and Park Aenue, concluding at the Oregon Historical Society Park Plaza. Along the route, lion dancers will “pluck the green” for good luck at designated locations, and volunteers will distribute traditional red envelopes to participants and onlookers.

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This photo represents a workshop led by artist Amanda Leigh Evans in conjunction with Linda Austin Dance's performance of In Preparation for Disappearance to Come. Participants will draft, discuss, witness, and sign their own legally valid wills using a poetic template created by the artist.
This photo represents a workshop led by artist Amanda Leigh Evans in conjunction with Linda Austin Dance’s performance of In Preparation for Disappearance to Come. Participants will draft, discuss, witness, and sign their own legally valid wills using a poetic template created by the artist.

Workshop in Conjunction with “In Preparation for Disappearance to Come” by Linda Austin dance

  • When I Die: A Will Writing Workshop
  • Led by Amanda Leigh Evans
  • 4 p.m. Feb. 8 
  • Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, 15 N.E. Hancock St., Portland

Join artist and author Amanda Leigh Evans for a free, practical, yet playful will-writing workshop. Using her poetic template from “When I Die Will Template,” participants will draft, discuss, witness, and sign their own legally valid wills. Through humorous exercises, attendees will reflect and explore their identities, how they want to live their lives, and the legacies they wish to leave behind. (In the state of Oregon, you must be at least 18 years old and of “sound mind” to make a will. Your will must be in writing and must be signed by you, as well as two witnesses.) Although this workshop is a practical preparation for one’s death, organizers say, “it won’t be a downer!” Sign up for the workshop HERE.

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Celebrate Polynesian dance, music, and culture Feb. 8 at the 17th Annual Hōʻike fundraiser featuring traditional Polynesian dancing by Hula Hālau ʻOhana Holoʻokoʻa’ at The Patricia Reser Center For The Arts. Photo courtesy of Ka'ana 'Ike A Ka 'Ohana Foundation.
Celebrate Polynesian dance, music, and culture Feb. 8 at the 17th Annual Hōʻike fundraiser featuring traditional Polynesian dancing by Hula Hālau ʻOhana Holoʻokoʻa’ at The Patricia Reser Center For The Arts. Photo courtesy of Ka’ana ‘Ike A Ka ‘Ohana Foundation.

The 17th Annual Hō’ike Fundraiser

Sponsor

Seattle Opera The Magic Flute Seattle Washington

  • Presented by Ka’ana ‘Ike A Ka ‘Ohana Foundation
  • 5 p.m. Feb. 8
  • Raffle in the lobby opens at 3:30 pm
  • Patricia Reser Center For The Arts, 12625 S.W. Crescent St., Beaverton

Celebrate Polynesian dance, music, and culture at the 17th Annual Hōʻike fundraiser, featuring traditional Polynesian dancing by Hula Hālau ʻOhana Holoʻokoʻa’ 4 years old to 83 years young. Money raised through show tickets and raffle sales will help fund a local Hawaiian Immersion Summer Camp for children and provide scholarships for hula dance students and Hawaiian cultural workshops. 

Advance ticket sales are available at www.KIAKO.org.

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Grace meets humor in Ballerina Boys, a tribute to the artistry and activism of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Join White Bird to screen this journey through dance, equality, and inclusion. Photo courtesy of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.
Grace meets humor in Ballerina Boys, a tribute to the artistry and activism of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Join White Bird to screen this journey through dance, equality, and inclusion. Photo courtesy of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.

Screening of “Ballerina Boys” in Conjuntion with the performance by Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

  • Presented by White Bird
  • A documentary about Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.
  • 7 p.m. Feb. 10
  • The Auditorium at 900 S.W. Fifth Avenue, Portland

A documentary titled Ballerina Boys, produced by PBS as part of its American Masters series, explores the history of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. The film features original interviews, as well as contemporary and archival performance footage, to highlight the company’s remarkable journey. After the screening, company artists will provide insights and commentary on the unique style of Trockadero and its commitment to themes of equality, inclusion, and social justice. This screening is open to the public and operates on a pay-what-you-can basis.

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The fabulous dancers of Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo. Photo courtesy of Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo.
The fabulous dancers of Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo. Photo courtesy of Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo.

Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo

Sponsor

Portland Opera The Shining Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is an all-male ballet company founded in 1974 in New York that features classical ballet with a comedic twist. The company performs classical ballet on point, taking on male and female roles, cleverly parodying traditional ballet conventions while paying homage to the renowned Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo.

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Ballet Fantastque's Pride & Prejudice, in Eugene. Photo courtesy of Ballet Fantastique.
Ballet Fantastque’s Pride & Prejudice, in Eugene. Photo courtesy of Ballet Fantastique.

Pride and Prejudice: A Parisian Jazz Ballet

  • Ballet Fantastique, artistic directors Donna Marisa and Hannah Bontrager
  • Feb. 13-16
  • Hult Center for the Performing Arts, 1 Eugene Center, Eugene

Experience the charm of Jane Austen set against the backdrop of 1920s Paris in this original ballet by choreographer-producers Donna Marisa and Hannah Bontrager of Eugene’s Ballet Fantastique. The Gerry Rempel Jazz Syndicate will perform live, playing authentic French jazz music from the 1920s while Ballet Fantastique brings to life Austen’s vibrant characters—spirited women, determined bachelors, deceitful cads, and the complexities of society—within the smoky streets of Montmartre.

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Sponsor

CMNW Hagen Quartet

Join the Lincoln City Cultural Center and the Lincoln Pops Big Band this Valentine's Day for the Sweetheart’s Dance. Photo courtesy of Lincoln City Cultural Center.
Join the Lincoln City Cultural Center and the Lincoln Pops Big Band this Valentine’s Day for the Sweetheart’s Dance. Photo courtesy of Lincoln City Cultural Center.

Sweetheart Dance with the Lincoln Pops

  • 7 p.m. Feb. 14
  • Lincoln City Cultural Center, 540 NE Hwy 101, Lincoln City

Join the Lincoln City Cultural Center and the Lincoln Pops Big Band this Valentine’s Day for the Sweetheart’s Dance, featuring music by Louis Prima, Cole Porter, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, and other Big Band favorites. The event on Feb. 14 is a fundraiser for the Piano Fund of the Lincoln City Cultural Center, with a raffle and other ways to support the nonprofit.

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Fall in Love with Flamenco. Photo courtesy of Espacio Flamenco Portland.
Fall in Love with Flamenco. Photo courtesy of Espacio Flamenco Portland.

Fall in Love with Flamenco

  • Presented by Espacio Flamenco Portland
  • Feb. 14-15
  • Imago Theatre, 17 S.E. 8th Ave., Portland

Join Espacio Flamenco this Valentine’s weekend at Imago Theatre for two captivating nights of flamenco. The performances will feature guest singer Juan Murube from Seville, Spain, alongside talented Portland dancers Lillie Last, Nela McGuire, Shiho Travis, and the Espacio Flamenco Student Ensemble. The evening will be accompanied by live music from Juan Murube (vocals), Christina Lorentz (vocals), Nick Hutcheson (percussion), Brenna McDonald (guitar), and Yeshe Wingerd (guitar). 

Sponsor

Portland Playhouse Notes From the Field Portland Oregon

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Lose yourself in the ethereal beauty and mystique of the otherworldly in Oregon Ballet Theater Artistic Director Dani Rowe and San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancer Tiit Helimets' new "Giselle" featuring live music played by the OBT Orchestra. Photo courtesy of Oregon Ballet Theater.
Lose yourself in the ethereal beauty and mystique of the otherworldly in Oregon Ballet Theater Artistic Director Dani Rowe and San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancer Tiit Helimets’ new Giselle featuring live music played by the OBT Orchestra. Photo courtesy of Oregon Ballet Theater.

Giselle (World Premiere)

  • Tiit Helimets and Dani Rowe, after Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot
  • Performed by Oregon Ballet Theater, featuring the OBT Orchestra
  • Feb. 14-22 
  • Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay Street, Portland
  • Performance Perspectives, a free informative and interactive 30-minute discussion, begins one hour before each show.

Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Artistic Director Dani Rowe and Principal Dancer Tiit Helimets from the San Francisco Ballet have reimagined the classic romantic ballet Giselle, a tale of love, hope, revenge, and forgiveness. Giselle, a naive young woman from a small town, falls in love with a mysterious visitor, only to be betrayed and driven to madness. Dying of a broken heart, she returns from the dead as a vengeful spirit, joining the Wilis — ghosts of unmarried women who died after being betrayed by their lovers. These spirits force men to dance to exhaustion, ultimately leading to their demise.

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Pictured along with former collaborator Susan Banyas is Portland dance artist Vincent Martinez-Griecois, who is this month’s interviewi of Linda K. Johnson’s PASTfuture Long-Form Archival Conversation Series. Photo courtesy of Performance Works NW.

PASTfuture Long Form Archival Conversation with Vincent Martinez-Grieco

  • Presented by Linda K. Johnson/Mycelium Dreams Project
  • 11 a.m. Feb. 16
  • Performance Works NW, 4625 S.E. 67th Ave. Portland
  • FREE

Sponsor

Orchestra Nova Reynolds High School Troutdale Oregon and The Reser Beaverton Oregon

The Mycelium Dreams PASTfuture Long-Form Archival Conversation Series, conceived and curated by Portland dance artist Linda K. Johnson to document the histories of veteran Portland dancers and dance-adjacent artists, continues with Vincent Martinez-Grieco. In her new podcast, ArtsWatch contributor Dmae Lo Roberts talks with Johnson about her project to “map” the voices and experiences of important figures in Portland’s dance and performance scene. You can read about it or listen to the conversation here. 

Martinez-Grieco is a choreographer, dancer, dance educator, and creator of Soul Motion. Founder of Body Moves Studio with his wife, Anna, Vincent was very active and influential in Portland as a performer and choreographer in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, dancing and collaborating with Jann Dryer/Portland Dance Theater, Susan Banyas, Josie Moseley, Louise Steinman, and many others.

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Grace and strength in harmony in Eugene Ballet's Carmen by Artistic Director Toni Pimble. Photo courtesy of Eugene Ballet.
Grace and strength in harmony in Eugene Ballet’s Carmen by Artistic Director Toni Pimble. Photo courtesy of Eugene Ballet.

Carmen

  • Choreography by Toni Pimble, artistic director of Eugene Ballet
  • Feb. 22-23
  • Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Silva Concert Hall, 1 Eugene Center, Eugene

Intense, forbidden love, jealousy, and betrayal ignite in Toni Pimble’s ballet Carmen, accompanied by live music played by Orchestra Next. Originally a novella by Prosper Mérimée and later adapted into opera by Georges Bizet, Carmen centers on a fiery, independent woman who refuses to be constrained.

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Sponsor

CMNW Hagen Quartet

Searching for Goya, a new work by Noche Flamenca Artistic Director Martín Santangelo and Bessie Award-winning choreographer and principal dancer Soledad Barrio. Photo courtesy of Noche Flamenca.
Searching for Goya, a new work by Noche Flamenca Artistic Director Martín Santangelo and Bessie Award-winning choreographer and principal dancer Soledad Barrio. Photo courtesy of Noche Flamenca.

Searching for Goya

Practice the basics of flamenco, a traditional, emotionally intense dance style that originated in southern Spain and further your understanding of flamenco dance in these two workshop led by Noche Flamenca artist Paula Bolaños.

Conceived and directed by artistic director Martín Santangelo and choreographed by Bessie Award-winning principal dancer Soledad Barrio and Martin Santangelo, Searching for Goya blends the theatricality of flamenco with the imagination of Spanish painter Francisco de Goya. The production features 10–12 vignettes inspired by Goya’s famous paintings, highlighting his political critiques and insights into the human condition. Original music, costumes, lighting, and masks by artist Mary Frank bring Goya’s and flamenco artistry to life.

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The 8th annual CineVox Dance Film Festival. Photo courtesy of BodyVox Dance.
The 8th annual CineVox Dance Film Festival. Photo courtesy of BodyVox Dance.

CineVox Dance Film Festival

  • Presented by BodyVox Dance
  • Feb. 28-March 2
  • BodyVox Dance Center, 1201 N.W. 17th Ave., Portland

Hosted annually by BodyVox Dance, and now in its eighth year, the CineVox Dance Film Festival will feature three days of innovative new dance films from around the world. 

Sponsor

Seattle Opera The Magic Flute Seattle Washington

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.

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