DanceWatch Weekly: Bollywood zombies and Bowie ballet

October 24, 2018

Jamuna Chiarini

Dance, DanceWatch

It’s almost Halloween, which means it’s time to dress up like a zombie and join Thrill the World, in which thousands of people gather in cities worldwide to dance the choreography from Michael Jackson’s famous 1983 music video Thriller.

Thrill The World was created by Canadian Ines Markeljevic in 2005 with the goal to unite the world through dance. The event happens on the Saturday before Halloween. You don’t need to be a professional dancer or even have a zombie costume: just learn the dance in one of the group lessons, or online, and get out there and dance.

Portland’s Thrill The World takes place at 3 pm; registration begins at 2:40 pm Saturday, October 27 at Irving Park’s covered basketball court. The event will be emceed by Portland Bollywood dancer extraordinaire DJ Prashant and radio host Contessa de la Luna; Prashant’s Jai Ho! Dance Troupe will perform a Bollywood version of Thriller at 2:45 pm.

Performances this week

Thrill The World Portland 2018
3 pm October 27
Hosted by Thrill the World Portland
Irving Park, Covered basketball court, 707 NE Fremont St.
See above.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet in “Star Dust” mode. Photo courtesy of White Bird.

Star Dust
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Presented by Eugene Ballet
8 pm October 26
Hult Center for the Performing Arts, 1 Eugene Center, Eugene
7:30 pm October 27
Craterian Theater, 23 S Central Ave, Medford
In this tribute to David Bowie, New York’s Complexions Contemporary Ballet (co-directed by former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancers Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson) thoughtfully explore new layers to Bowie and his music. Star Dust, choreographed by Rhoden, features dances to nine well-known Bowie songs: Lazarus, Changes, Life on Mars, Space Oddity, 1984, Heroes, Modern Love, Rock and Roll Suicide, and Young Americans.

Flamenco Pacifico dancer Elena Villa. Photo by Mary Landberg.

Flamenco Pacifico
Presented by Berto Boyd
7:30 pm October 26
Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th Ave.
In the spirit of convivencia (“coexistence” in Spanish), Flamenco Pacifico’s acclaimed guitarist and composer Berto Boyd integrates Brazilian samba and American jazz with traditional Spanish flamenco in this one-night-only performance. Boyd, with guitarist/singer Grant Ruiz, percussionist Terry Longshore, and bassist Randy Tico, will accompany dancers Elena Villa and Melissa Cruz.

Sponsor

Young Peruvian dancers. Photo courtesy of the Peruvian Cultural Festival.

Matices Criollos
Peruvian Cultural Festival
3 pm October 28
Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy.
This first-time festival celebrates the kaleidoscope of influences on coastal Peruvian culture with dance and music performances by an array of Portland artists.

Dancers Adrianna Audoma and Nicole Osbon of Tongue Dance Project. Tongue Dance Project will be teaching a modern contemporary dance class as part of Steps PDX’s one-year anniversary celebration. Photo by Elliot Petenbrink.

Full Circle
Steps PDX
9 am- 9 pm October 28
Troy Laundry Building, 221 SE 11th Ave. Suite 220
Celebrate the one-year anniversary of Portland’s newest dance studio, Steps PDX, with a full day of FREE dance classes, snacks, raffles, and giveaways (admission is by donation). The studio, owned and directed by Kathryn Harden, kicks off the event at 9 am with an open ballet class taught by Harden herself, and winds it down with the all-abilities movement class Dance Church at 5:45 pm, taught by Allison Jacks. The anniversary event concludes with party.

Harden trained with Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Professional Division, performed with Ballet Idaho, and received a degree in Exercise Science for Kinesiology and Dance Performance from Towson University. With Steps PDX, her goal has been to create a safe, comfortable space for students of all skill levels and ages to experience professional-quality training.

Upcoming Performances

November
November 1, Windows 11, Beth Whelan and Roesing Ape, Night Lights-Regional Arts & Culture Council
November 2-4, A Midsummer Night at the Savoy, Rejoice! Diaspora Dance Theatre
November 4, civilized-Happy Hour, Catherine Egan
November 8-17, Future Voices, Willamette University Theatre Department, Artistic Director Michele Ainza
November 9, ¿LISTEN?, ELa FaLa Collective and Polaris Dance Theatre
November 9-11, Cloth, PDX Contemporary Ballet
November 11, Unfolding, a dance film premiere by Muddy Feet Contemporary Dance, SubRosa Dance Collective, and director Dylan Wilbur
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 17, The Nutcracker, Oregon International Ballet Academy, Choreography by Xuan Cheng / Ye Li after Marius Petipa / Lev Ivanov
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 16, Fiesta Flamenca Navideña, Presented by Espacio Flamenco
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 3, Fertile Ground Festival of New Work/Groovin Greenhouse
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

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.