Program 2
Saturday, November 14 @ 7pm
Performed by
Stacey Carlson, NY
HR Dance, NY
Jiemin Yang, China
The Feledi Project, Hungary
Zehnder Dance, MA
Cara Diaz Collective, NY
Ruri Watanabe, Japan
MotISparsi, Italy
Matilda Mackey, NY
WHITE WAVE Dance, NY
Click HERE to read and download Program Information for Program 2.
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Stacey Carlson is a multi-disciplined artist; a choreographer, dancer, creator, aerialist who is digging deeper into storytelling, clowning and puppetry to merge disciplines that blur the lines and broaden the understanding of physical theater. Most recently she has completed her MFA in Dance from the University of Maryland where she was honored with receiving the Jim Henson Family Fund for Puppetry in 2017 & 2019. Having had the opportunities to travel and perform around the globe on small and large stages alike, each experience continues to fuel her desire to create visceral stories through various mediums. The solo presented here is part of a larger work dwelling that is a surreal journey of perspective, self, and home; the internal/external are not always as they appear to be. This aerial chair piece embodies the introspective feeling of constantly spinning, swirling, turning around as in one’s own mind. Aside from her own work, she has choreographed for Hamlet replayed (Leslie Felbain) and Hysterical (Alter Circus); performed with Orange Grove Dance, Mamela Nyamza, Cavalia (aerialist/dancer), Cirque Eloize’s ID, Cirque du Soleil’s Delirium, Li Chiao Ping Dance, Gail Gilbert Dance Ensemble and Anti-gravity.
Stacey Carlson © Jonathan Hsu
Heather Roffe (MFA) is an Associate Professor/Program Director of Dance at Nazareth College. She is an active scholar in the field of dance, presenting on, teaching and creating choreography that deals with current political and social issues. She has toured with the Garth Fagan Dance Company, Bill Evans Dance Company, FuturPointe Dance (performer/choreographer/co-director), and Assemblage Dance, as well with her own company, HR Dance. Recently, her choreography has been presented in the International DUMBO Dance Festival, the Rochester Fringe Festival and MAD Festivals, and she was awarded the New York State Dance Association’s “Outstanding Educator in a Post-Secondary School.” Sirena/Sirena Contrario was developed in 2019, as a creative investigation of female empowerment. This duet exposes the contrast of the beauty, grace and power of two women who can accomplish unconventional athletic and physical feats, blending fantasy with the reality of women's “voice” in the 21st century.
Heather Roffe © Ralph Thompson
Jiemin Yang © Madison McGain
Jiemin Yang, Jiemin, originally from China, is a dancer, choreographer, and graphic designer based in Queens. Jiemin holds a MA in Contemporary Dance from London Contemporary Dance School. He is an awardee of CUNY Dance Initiative 2020-2021 and a recipient of 2020 New Works Grant from Queens Council on the Arts. He has performed in multiple cities in Europe, the UK, and the US. He was commissioned to create dance works for the Making Moves Dance Festival 2019 hosted by Jamaica Performing Arts Center (JPAC) and Emerging Choreographer Series’17 hosted by Mare Nostrum Elements and LaGuardia Performing Arts Center. He also presented his works at Ailey Citigroup Theatre, The Mark O’Donnell Theatre, Auditório do Parque da Devessa in Portugal. He is currently a dancer with Kinesis Project and has performed at Arts on Site, the Riverside Park and Snug Harbor Cultural Center with the company.
The piece Configuration of Us is based on a fictional story concept drawing inspiration from my personal story and Chinese mythology Nezha. It explores the relationship between a mother figure and a child centering on the topics of love, expectations, identities, individuality, and responsibilities.
The Feledi Project (Hungary, Budapest), my own company was established by by myself in 2011. I appeared with my first independent choreography in 2010. That motivated me to start the Feledi Project. The ensemble of the Project is known about their high level of technical knowledge, excellent artistic presence, professionalism, and the unique level of energy. The choreographies demonstrate each time the mature individual style and expression and the creative world of the participants. The quality of work and the various productions gained the love and appreciation of national dance professionals, as a result in 2014 the Feledi Project was elected as a full member into the Association of Hungarian Dancers and Choreographers Society.
In Memoriam... When a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist. Death smiles on each and every one ofus. Man can’t do anything but smile back.
The Feledi Project © Károly Csorba
Zehnder Dance © Matthew Yeoman
Sarah Zehnder, Artistic Director of Zehnder Dance, and Assistant Professor and Director of Dance at Springfield College, is a New England based dance artist originally from Ohio, where she began her training as a hip-hop dancer. Zehnder Dance, established in 2010, is known for commanding physicality, boldness and architectural precision, and has been produced internationally, performing in such prestigious festivals as Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Florence Summer Dance (Italy), Reverb International Dance Festival, Pasadena Dance Festival, DUMBO Dance Festival, the MAD Festival, Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival, the Women in Dance Project (NYC and Chicago), and Buffalo Dance festival. Her work has been presented at Dixon Place, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, Gowanus Arts, Triskelion Arts, 92nd Y, Greenspace, and the Center for Performance Research (CPR). For more information on workshops and future performances visit www.zehnderdance.org or follow us on Instagram @zehnder_dance
"Permeating Voices that Linger" presents and challenges various gender stereotypes that permeate throughout American society as well as in the world of dance.
Choreographer Cara Diaz is interested in story telling through many languages and dynamics of movement. This will be the second year she is openly showing her work to the public. Her first production was premiered two years ago under the name "Empathy Project", opening up the possibility of an alter world where everyone is in their highest potential and through their coexistence they are at peace; creating waves that sometime meet our world in what we know of as De ja vu. In this world premiere of "U vs You" company member Kerime Konur brings to the forefront simple solitude, and the stages of grief within. A solitude that brings a heavy heart, a dark stillness, a blank space. However in this solitude there is so much room for a satisfying breath, gratitude and exploration in stillness, and a blank space to hold light. I want to express that it is okay to live and be alive in that solitude. It is okay to grieve and shed your skin to allow room for new beginnings. To take a moment after the dust is settling and just be, knowing and surrendering and showing gratitude to the fact that this moment will not last forever...however; this is the moment nevertheless.
Cara Diaz © Theik
Ruri Watanabe is
After graduating from high school, she studied abroad at The Ailey School in New York. I am currently teaching dance in Japan as an outside instructor.
The work "Not Mines But Flowers" is about citizens who have nothing to do with the war are still suffering from land mines. Some people lose their lives or loved ones due to land mines that they don't know where they are hiding. We need to know that reality. © TOKYO METROPOLITAN HIGH SCHOOL OF ARTS”.
Ruri Watanabe © Tokyo Metropolitan High School of Arts
MotISparsi was born inside the "Accademia di Danza e Spettacolo di Ivrea" (Italy); in 2010 as a collective for dance theater diffusion.
Over the years the company presented countless artistic projects in national theaters and won many important awards in international competitions. The work we present here is a duo created by the resident choreographer Cristina Ruberto. "CI STO PENSANDO DA UN PO - IT’S BEEN ON MY MIND is performed by Sara Ugorese and Alice Mistretta members of MotISparsi Company.
The piece starts from this assumption: Among the rubble of a Earth that’s falling apart open us, two lucky splinters got to meet, to recognize each other on the mirror and to finally take their hands. A primordial perfection was born. Through this dance we find ourselves caught in a time before the very beginning, when time and space did not exist. These reality and dream.
MotlSparsi © Sara Spallarossa
Matilda Mackey ©
American-Italian performer and 2020 Juilliard graduate, Matilda Mackey is a burgeoning professional dance artist specializing in the sensory language of movement and choreography. Raised in Iowa, Matilda received her foundational training at the Nolte Academy and an early high school graduation led her to The Juilliard School. There, she rounded out her formal education and gained a depth of intrigue, prowess and levity within dance and media. Matilda has danced under the masterful training of Shamel Pitts, Risa Steinberg, Bobbi Jene Smith and Alexandra Wells, among many other greats. Beyond the scope of the physical realm of dance, Matilda has been involved in leadership as the Co-Founder of Juilliard’s first Women’s Empowerment Club, and has won awards for her poetry, the most recent being a publication in Iowa’s annual book of local poetry called Lyrical Iowa. Her recent endeavors include delving deeper into the world of dance-on-film, a journey of discovery which she is thrilled to embark upon.
This solo "Glimpse" is an expression of my personal interpretation of what femininity means to me. The movement comes from a raw, deep place emanating from my womb to my extremities and beyond: this locomotive impetus is inspired by the region of the female body which holds history as well as the future. The beauty and prowess of bringing the focus towards this vulnerable location is endlessly fascinating to me.
A pioneer of “Hallyu (한류): Korean Wave”, Young Soon Kim, an internationally acclaimed choreographer whose work has been hailed for its exhilarating, visually stunning, and emotionally rich. Formed in 1988, WHITE WAVE Young Soon Kim Dance Company strives to inspire audiences through multi-dimensional dance productions reflecting themes and philosophies both modern and timeless. For nearly four decades, Ms. Kim and WHITE WAVE have appeared globally on principal stages including Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Joyce Theater, Kennedy Center, Dance Theater Workshop, Jacob’s Pillow, American Dance Festival, National Theater of Seoul (Korea), National Theater of Taipei (Taiwan), Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts, as well as Theatre de la Ville in Paris, Maison de la Culture in Le Havre, France; Teatro Nazionale in Milan, Teatro Tendu Striscie in Rome, Italy; Schauspielhaus in Cologne, Germany; as well as the Festival d’Avignon in Avignon, France, among others. In 2003 Ms. Kim was featured in the documentary film Arirang: The Korean American Journey, which was premiered at the Smithsonian Institute and broadcasted nationwide by PBS. In 2013 and 2014, Ms. Kim was nominated twice for the Annual KBS Global Korean Award.
2019 has been invigorating for WHITE WAVE Dance, including a highly successful tour to Korea & China! In August, we performed at the Opening Celebration of the ‘19 FINA World Championship Masters' Games, an international sporting event that rivals the Olympics. The Asian Cultural Center, one of the most prestigious arts complexes in Asia and Asia Culture Institute presented ‘Eternal NOW’ with 14-member casts. In China, we performed at Ningbo Cultural Plaza as part of a China-US Cultural Exchange program.
WHITE WAVE Dance © Alexander Sargent