PROGRAM 1
Sunday, February 6 @ 6 pm
CoreDance Contemporary, NY
Corian Ellisor Dance, GA
Yu.S.Artistry, NY
THE MARK dance company, NC
sk|dancers, IN
Santiago Rivera, CA
Kevin Toyo, NY
Li Chiao-Ping Dance, WI
Obremski/Works, NY
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CoreDance Contemporary © Amanda Tipton
CoreDance Contemporary is an Australian modern dance company residing in New York City. Founded by Artistic Director Rebecca McCormac in 2011, the company is comprised of five female identifying dance artists who bring different cultural and dance backgrounds to the fore, to form a hardworking and dedicated ensemble. At “CORE”, our mission is to empower the female voice by merging artistry and athleticism through the medium of dance performance. CoreDance Contemporary has been presented at; APAP New York City Center, The ODC Theatre San Francisco, The Dairy Arts Center Boulder, The ArtsHub Colorado, Wake Forest Dance Festival North Carolina, The Dance Complex Boston, CHI Movement Arts Center Philadelphia, Your Move NJ, Alvin Ailey, New York City Center, Steps on Broadway, DANY Studios, PMT, Dixon Place, White Wave, Triskelion Arts, The Actors Fund Arts Center and Green Space. The duet you will see tonight is an excerpt from an evening length piece titled; “Where the Small Changes Lie”. It is about the evolutionary process and questions if the diversity of form happens by chance or by design.
Charmed Ones ignites social change by shining light on queer joy; it is a protest against the awful things that inundate society’s queer community constantly. The process and the performance ultimately brings people together in celebration of chosen family by sharing how, through community, individuals are lifted up by each other. They possess the power to charm each other, and be charmed by others. It is that very charm that is the guiding light that keeps Corian Ellisor and Alex Abarca creating together after 15 years. They are both Atlanta dance artists and educators working at Oxford College of Emory.
Corian Ellisor Dance © Laura Kay Mercer
Yu-S-Artistry © Suzanne Roberts Theatre _ Koresh _ Philadelphia _ Contigo
This piece was originally created during the pandemic. We kept social distance and tried not to use any partnering.
That Social distancing due the pandemic has dramatically affected how dancers can and cannot interact with each other, including the inability to perform hands on partnering. These limitations inspired me to create a piece that explores boundaries, incorporating each dancer’s personality, and examining how they struggle with their own boundaries, while still keeping their relationships interact.
After vaccinated we started to recreate the piece by using partnerings. explaining how we can get back to getting closer.
THE MARK dance company (Charlotte, NC) was founded in 2012 by Artistic Director, Arlynn Zachary. THE MARK’s mission is to elevate the concert dance experience for both the viewer and the performer. Their performance works explore social, anatomical, and structural themes, as they aim to present work that evokes an engaged interest in aesthetic qualities and architectural movement as presented by the human form and emotional experience. It is their desire to leave a positive mark on every individual they come into contact with, as stated in their company motto, “With each step we take, there is a mark left behind.” THE MARK is excited to present Jouska, a piece depicting hypothetical conversations you compulsively play out in your head, at White Wave’s SoloDuo Dance Festival. Jouska has also been presented at the Charlotte Dance Festival, Detroit Dance City Festival, Emergence Showcase, Loose Leaves Showcase, and at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
THE MARK Dance Company © Arlynn Zachary
Susan Koper cultivates her craft and artistry through her work in many different areas of dance. She started the dance ensemble sk|dancers in 2012 as a means to share her unique and personal choreography with others. The company has performed in regional, national, and international festivals including Mexico, Ireland, New York, Chicago, Michigan, and Indiana. Susan received her MFA in Dance from Hollins University/ADF and currently mentors and guides young artists as an Assistant Professor of Dance at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. Her latest work, A History of Knowing: Part III, investigates a common dialogue and understanding between two individuals across time and space. Memories and histories revealed in moments of stillness as well as the dancers’ movements expose a shared story that intertwines and unites them on their journey.
skdancers © Simon Alleyne
Santiago Rivera © Benjamin Rivera
Santiago (Santi) Rivera is a M.F.A student at California State University, Long Beach. He is a dance educator and choreographer in the Southern California area. He started dancing and training in the competitive world when he was in eighth grade. In 2016 he received his B.A. in Drama and minor in Educational Studies from the University of California, Irvine. In 2021 he received his Certification in Dance Instruction from Orange Coast College and completed the 2020/2021 Jose Limon Technique Certification Training Program. His training, choreography and teaching methods/styles is heavily informed by the Jose Limon technique and Gaga Movement Language. He made his Off-Broadway debut as a choreographer and performer in 2016 as part of UCI’s New York Satellite Program and his works have been shown in California, New York, Arizona and Texas. His choreography and mission focuses on equal opportunity for the LatinX and BIPOC Queer community in “safe” dance spaces.
Kevin Toyo is a NYC-based Japanese folk dancer, and serves as the Assistant Director of The Japanese Folk Dance Institute of NY (JFDINY). Mr. Suzuki is an expert in the Tsugaru 5 Dances (Aomori Prefecture), as well as the only dancer outside of Japan to receive permission to perform Nameshida Onikenbai (Demon Mask Dance from Iwate Prefecture), a National Intangible Cultural Property.
His solo work outside of JFDINY is influenced by his training in Japanese folk dance. His work includes composer Riyo Saito’s chamber opera, “Dojoji” (2019), which premiered at Carnegie Hall, as well as Ronald Richardson’s play “Kamioroshi” (2019), which premiered at Boston University. Mr. Suzuki choreographed scenes of Kagura, an ancient style of devotional performance, while also creating new interpretations of traditional folk dance movement for the play. Nai/Gai is a solo piece about being biracial and how confusing it is... especially when one side is Japanese.
Kevin Toyo © Shintaro Ueyama
LLi Chiao-Ping Dance© Maureen Janson Heintz
Li Chiao-Ping Dance (LCPD) was founded in 1991, the year Li premiered her renowned, solo evening work, “Yellow River,” in the Mozart and His Time Festival at Theater Artaud in San Francisco. Critics called it a “...marvelously imaginative...engrossing, intelligently put-together piece of work.” (The San Francisco Bay Guardian) LCPD gave its first company concert in Madison in 1995 at the Isthmus Playhouse. As a resident company at Overture Center for the Arts, LCPD produces two to three major performances each year. Reflecting and supporting the artistic vision of Li Chiao-Ping and promoting acceptance and respect through our work, LCPD pushes the edges of contemporary/modern dance while producing and presenting highly original performance works. The company offers stimulating, thoughtful, creative, and educational workshops and touring programs for community and pre/professional dance artists, including diverse populations, youth, and older adults.
“herenowhere” interrogates identity from multiple perspectives. Performed by Alfonso Cervera and Piper Morgan Hayes, the dancers’ fluid motions, spoken text, and physical entanglements work in concert with ideas of how we are shaped—who we are, are told we are, think we are, and know we are.
Obremski/Works © Vanessa Gonzalez-Bunster
Jesse Obremski, a Japanese-American native New Yorker, graduated from LaGuardia High School and The Juilliard School. Obremski, an Eagle Scout Rank recipient, Jadin Wong Dance Awardee (2016), Interview En Lair’s “Dancer to Watch” (2017), and Dance Magazine’s March 2019 Dancer “On The Rise” has been a company member with Lar Lubovitch Dance Company (2014-2016), Buglisi Dance Theatre (2016-present), WHITE WAVE (2017-present), has performed ensemble, soloist, and principal roles with The Limón Dance Company (2016-2019), and is an Artistic Associate with Gibney Company (2018-present).
Obremski/Works was founded in 2018, to explore the collaboration between film and movement and as another choreographic house for Obremski's works. Notably, in 2019, Obremski/Works premiere dance film, No Words, was presented by HBO at Lincoln Center through The Dance Films Association's Festival. The company has toured across New York City and has been presented internationally including Hungary, Canada, Malaysia, and America.
Obremski/Works © Vanessa Gonzalez-Bunster