September DanceWatch: Summer’s last tangos

As the fall performance season approaches, there’s still time to catch some of the best dance summer has to offer, including performances by Linda Austin, NW Dance Project, B. Movement Project, and more.

August 29, 2023

Jamuna Chiarini

Culture, Dance, DanceWatch

Welcome to the soft start of the 2023-24 performance season. The September performances express the waning summer’s wild and expansive outdoor spirit with two performances in vineyards with Ballet Fantastique and NW Dance Project; a long and winding adventure with Linda Austin; Portland’s all-star rock band Love Gigantic performing classic Led Zeppelin songs, accompanied by aerial performance artist Brandy Guthery and the B. Movement Project; and a new choreographic work by Portland Bharatanatyam dancer Jayanthi Raman. Take it easy now because the dance season hits the ground running in October and, thankfully, doesn’t let up.

Dance Performances in September

*Dancing in Vineyard with Ballet Fantastique. Photo courtesy of Ballet Fantastique.*

Ballet in the Vineyard
Presented by Ballet Fantastique
5:30 pm, September 2
Silvan Ridge Winery, 27012 Briggs Hill Rd, Eugene

Join Ballet Fantastique at the Silvan Ridge Winery for a late-summer outdoor concert. The event features live music by The Whiteaker Hot Club, site-specific choreography by Ballet Fantastique’s international dancers, globally inspired food from Lily Belle Bistro, and delicious wine!

*NW Dance Project’s Nieto and Parson; Samantha Campbell in the background. Photo by Blaine Truitt Covert*

Sequitur Solos
NW Dance Project’s 20th Anniversary Celebration
4 pm, September 9
Sequitur, 14865 NE North Valley Road, Newberg

Enjoy the serene “backyard” meadow of Sequitur Winery, nestled amongst 17 other wineries in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, while the NW Dance Project dancers perform outdoors and up close to the music of cellist Scott Allen. Relish the superb wines of Sequitur and the creative appetizers developed by chef Erick Caballero while mingling with NW Dance Project founding directors Sarah Slipper and Scott Lewis, Sequitur hosts Michael Etzel and Carey Critchlow, as well as NW Dance Project artists and staff.

*Portland performer Linda Austin in her new work, “3 miles of possible.” Photo by Hannah Krafcik.*

3 miles of possible
Linda Austin
September 14-24
Performance Works NW, 4625 SE 67th Ave., Portland

Sponsor

Mile 1 — Thursday, September 14 // 4:30-6 pm
Mile 2 — Friday, September 15 // 6-7:30 pm
Mile 3 — Saturday, September 16 // 8-9:30 pm
ALL 3 Miles performed consecutively — Sunday, September 17 // 4:30-9:30 pm (About halfway through mile 2, 6:50-7ish, there is a 40 min. break for food and beverages)
Mile 1 — Thursday, September 21 // 4:30-6 pm (ASL Interpreted)
Mile 2 — Friday, September 22 // 6-7:30 pm (ASL Interpreted)
Mile 3 — Saturday, September 23 // 8-9:30 pm (ASL Interpreted)
ALL 3 Miles performed consecutively — Sunday, September 24 // 4:30-9:30 pm (About halfway through mile 2, 6:50-7ish, there is a 40 min. break for food and beverages)

“3 miles of possible” is a long-form performance by Performance Works artistic director Linda Austin exploring what is possible in a world of fluctuating personal, material, political, and artistic contingencies. Austin will travel along spatial paths envisioned as a giant map. She will wander three miles, interacting with guest artists, animating objects, creating text and sound, and choreographic compositions that touch upon ideas of utopian longings, possible world theory, and modal logic.

The Mile series began in 2021 with the first mile, followed by the second mile in 2022; the third and final mile will be performed during the fall equinox. You can experience every mile individually or as one long consecutive performance, with the the freedom to come and go during any of the segments. Please note that only 20 people are allowed per performance, so seating is limited.

An accompanying catalog/artist’s book designed by Noelle Stiles, with contributions from Austin, Kate Bredeson, Allie Hankins, and Hannah Krafcik, will be available for $15 if ordered with your ticket or purchased at the performance.

*Portland Bharanatayam dancer Jayanthi Raman. Photo courtesy of Jayanthi Raman.*

Navarasa Kalinga Nardana
Jayanthi Raman
4 pm, September 24
Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, 12625 SW Crescent Street, Beaverton

Award-winning Bharatanatyam dancer Jayanthi Raman will present a new work featuring the dance styles of Bharatanatyam, Chau, folk, and contemporary dance with a troupe of dancers from India and the U.S. The performance will feature an original score with English narration. Raman is a renowned Bharanatayam dancer, choreographer, author, and scholar whose career spans over three decades. Her choreography is rooted in classical dance, but incorporates modern themes, concepts, and technology to showcase her Indo-American identity. She has choreographed 25 full-length evening works, published two books and several articles, and holds an M.D. in Internal Medicine and a Master’s in Computer Science and Informatics.

*Brandy Guthery, aerialist and artist director of B. Movement. Photo courtesy of Brandy Guthery.*

Fool in the Rain — Featuring Love Gigantic
Presented by B. Movement
8:00 pm, September 30
Alberta Rose Theater, 3000 NE Alberta Street, Portland

Sponsor

Portland’s all-star rock band Love Gigantic will perform classic Led Zeppelin songs accompanied by aerial performer Brandy Guthery and the B. Movement Project. Guthery was the co-director and founder of Portland’s AWOL Dance Collective and now directs her company, B. Movement Project, a contemporary dance company specializing in aerial dance. Love Gigantic features Sarah King, Arthur Parker, and David Langenes (The Nowhere Band), Chet Lyster and Joe Mengis (Eels), Jenny Conlee-Drizos (The Decemberists), Michael Nelson (Climber), and Kristi Evans and Jon VanCura (Marchfourth).

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.