Dance Houston 2015

Dance of Asian America
Heavens and Earth
Dance of Asian America
Restaged by: Joel Rivera, Yifan Zheng and Janie Yao
Dancers:  Jesus Quezada, Derrick Demouy, Shamond Powell, Jeffrey Godinez, Christian Leal, Aaron Miller, Frederick Ezeala, Floyd Worsley, Antonio Olivares, Jessica Shyi, Molly Lin, Isabella Mao, Angel Chen, Angela Gao, Ashley Lam, Ivy Nguyen, Emily Wang, Kaitlyn Shi, Kailin Shek, Karen Lu, Kristina Zhou, Michelle Chen, Morgan Fu, Winnie Chang, Isabella Truong, Nadia Truong, Magen Zeng, Serena Hou, Saranna Zhang
Music: Kung Fu Panda/ The Dark Knight
In the Han Dynasty, thousands of painted clay sculptures were created in the Makao Caves depicting goddesses descending from the Heavens.  An entire army of Terracotta Warriors were created during the Qin Dynasty.  Today the heavens and earth will collide with goddesses and warriors.

FrenetiCore Dance
Dancing with the Machine (excerpts)
Choreographers: Rebecca French and Lauren Hurstell
Dancers: Danielle Artis, Brenda Baez, Lauren Burke, Adam Castaneda, Dorianne Castillo, Rebecca Demotte, Rebecca French, Jaime Garcia, Carlos Guzman, Lauren Hurstell, Mollie Miller, Holly Moran, Lyric Williams
Music: Graham Reynolds and Parov Stelar
Film and Costumes: Ashley Horn
Narration: Dave Brown, written by Adam Castaneda
Special thanks to Dominic Walsh for his guidance, insight, and inspiration. See the full length production of Dancing with the Machine this March at Frenetic Theater. 

SonKiss’d Dance Theatre
A Perfect Love Story
Choreographers: Jane  Weiner and Christopher Thomas
Poet: Outspoken Bean
Dancers: Angelita Rozier, Belle Alexanderia, Brittany Jones, Corey Greene, Courtney Ned, Deborah Pineda, Kelsie Jones, Lathasia Collins, Marlene Desiree, Nicole Burnett, Richard Phuong, Ryan Hollaway
This is excerpt from the upcoming concert “A Perfect Love Story pt2” happening on March 2^nd.

Hope Stone
Suspicious Fisherman
Created by Jane Weiner
Dancer: Shohei Iwahama
Music: Tin Hat Trio, Montovani, Alexandre Desplat

Urban Souls
My Seat at the Table
Choreographers: Harrison Guy, Walter Hull, & Dancers
Artistic guidance provided by Leslie Scates
Dancers: Stacey Allen, Alexis Anderson, Mayra Bullock, Clarissa Castleberry, Stephanie Dunlop, Paris Kent, Leonard Price
Music: Greg J. Smith
“I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t.” Audre Lorde

METdance
THAWING (An Excerpt)
Choreographer: jhon r.stronks
Dancers: Mia Angelini, Julie DeGregorio, Risa D’Souza, Patti Hogan,
Genene McGrath, John Michael O’Neill, Danielle Snyder
Music: Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons: Spring 0, 1, 2 and 3
“Thaw with her gentle persuasion is more powerful than Thor with his hammer. The one melts, the other breaks into pieces.”- Henry David Thoreau

Urban Movement
All Play, No Work
Directors: Cameron Pratto, Wes Hamner
Choreographers: The UMove Team
Dancers: Juan Cernada, Ra, Desmund Mitchell, Ryan Boren, Danny Ho, Orlando Tehuitzil, Najee Beckum, Devon Weston, Cameron Pratto, Wes Hamner
Parkour practitioners are making their own path on their way to class. They’re a bit hyper and there’s a couple of instigators in the group. As the coach tries to get his students to practice the basics, some of them can’t help but to practice their “flashy” skills. In order for the coach to manage the disruption, some students need to be sat out. But, even that gets out of control.

Nritya Dance Company
Liberation
Choreographer:  Padmini Chari with artistic direction from Dominic Walsh
Dancers:  Maya Iyer, Meera Naehr, Roopa Nagarajan, Shruti Natarajan, Varsha Sathappan, Shubha Soman, Preethi Srikanth, Meenakshi Venkataraman, Surabi Veeraragavan
Liberation explores the inner demons that exist in all of us – fear, feelings of betrayal, insecurity, loneliness – and assures us that we can summon the benevolent forces of the universe to helps us accept these parts of ourselves.  In breaking free from resisting the duality within and accepting all the parts of our journey, we find liberation.  

Inertia Dance Co
FUNK
Choreographers: Sharon Roberts and Joel Rivera
Dancers: Jesus Quezada, Derrick Demouy, Shamond Powell, Jeffrey Godinez, Christian Leal, Aaron Miller, Frederick Ezeala, Floyd Worsley, Antonio Olivares, Carly Cramer, Kendra Fernandez, Sarah Mcbride, Abbey Wright, Stephanie Ibe, Edrienne Agustin, Beata Purvina, Nadia Bejdaoui, Mallory Hansen, Kiara Guyton, Danna Tao, Hannah Clark
Music: Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars 

Compania Folklorica Alegria Mexicana
Mexico Magico
Director: Isidro Salas
Choreographer: Isidro Salas
Dancers: Victoria Alberto, Leslie Andrade, Leyla Cantu, Raul Figueroa, Samantha Hernandez, Aimee Kerschen, Karla Lopez, Kassandra Lopez, Jenifer Mendoza, David Navarro, Julianna Rameriz, Janeth Reyes, Irene Salas, Isidro Salas, Tanya Sanchez, Pedro Trujillo
Mexico is a magical country, being ceremonial since pre-Hispanic times, where rituals were made, since before the birth of a person, until his death.   Myth or reality, Santeria, cleansings and healers, are characteristics of our people.  Within the ancient gods’ rites and crafts of the pre-Hispanic Mexico, these are some selected exchanges and sacrifices, the potters of Veracruz, to name one.  In this region, Veracruz, the Jarocho style of dance is the principal manifestation of the fiesta Veracurzana, which is a mixture of Spanish influenced by African rhythms and those who practiced it were mulattos, sailors and the people of the towns that co-existed with them.

Photography by Lynn Lane