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Event
Storm
Dances on a current perfect storm of political themes: continuing wars, gender oppression, and environmental collapse.
Included are several dances from our show Mosaic set to Jewish Diaspora and Arabic folk songs recorded by Santa Cruz world music group Zambra. The mathematics of Islamic tiling designs will be portrayed through live video tessellations, or video mosaics, of dancers.
Dance works include:
Machine Gun, a tap dance to the rapid-fire machine gun sounds of a Jimi Hendrix song, about the relentless march of death of contemporary warfare.
"Prisoner" - a trio about the struggle of a prisoner of conscience.
The Mourning After a solo set to Bach depicting the loss of a child in war, performed by Maria Basile, co-director of sjDANCEco.
"Bombingham" - a solo by Karl Schaffer exploring his growing up Jewish in the Deep South during the civil rights era and his connecting of these experiences to the situation in Palestine and Israel.
"A Circle Has No Sides" - a duet about the possibilities for people to live together no matter their differences.
All are welcome to attend and experience the power of dance -- to inspire peacemaking and provoke conversation.
"MOSAIC moved me, inspired me, even saddened me in unexpected ways. Rarely have I seen a performance so human, so provocative and so relevant to our times. Not only were individual performances compelling, but the whole of it spoke to the struggle, the hard and demanding struggle, of Palestinians and Israelis for lasting peace. Im reminded all over again how essential the arts areevoking, imagining human engagement; touching something real inside us; inviting new visions and new risks taken for peace, for justice, for our shared humanity. I was blown away by the courage it must have taken to put this together, to imagine it, and to call it out of a gifted group of musicians and dancers. Thank you!!!" - Dave Grishaw-Jones, Senior Pastor, First Congregational Church, Santa Cruz, CA
Karl Schaffer is a dancer, choreographer, and mathematician who co-directs MoveSpeakSpin and the Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble with Erik Stern. The Ensemble has toured internationally for over 30 years and has received five National Endowment for the Arts awards for work linking dance and mathematics. Schaffer's recent concerts include The Daughters of Hypatia, celebrating women mathematicians throughout history; Pitter Pattern, exploring beautiful and enchanting patterns in dance, rhythm, and shape; a mathematical dance show The Pythagorean Trio; a food, dance, and song celebration Choreocopia. He and Stern co-authored the book Math Dance with Scott Kim and are on the Kennedy Centers Partners in Education Teaching Artist roster, teaching professional development workshops on math and dance at major arts venues around the US. Schaffers math and dance writing with sarah-marie belcastro was featured in Best Writing on Mathematics 2012, he has a PhD in mathematics, and teaches at De Anza College. He was a Performing Artist in Residence at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History for the year 2014-15 and a Djerassi Resident Artist in their 2015 Scientific Delirium Madness session.
Dancers in the concert are:
Maria Basile, co-artistic director of sjDANCEco, has danced with Limon West, Spector Dance, and many others and teaches social dance at De Anza College. She has choreographed for Cabrillo Music Festival, San Jose Opera, and the Midsummer Mozart Festival, and was a recent Isadora Duncan Award nominee for the best dance performance in the Bay Area.
Jane Real has an MA in Dance and a MS in Elementary Education, has been Rehearsal Director and performer with Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane and Co. and Director of the Dance Network of Brooklyn, NY, and teaches dance at Starlight Elementary School.
Lila Salhov has a B.F.A. in Dance from Boston Conservatory, has performed as a member of the Windhover Dance Company in Boston and Jessica Danser/dansfolk in New York City, has been on faculty at Ballet Hispanico and the Marymount School in Manhattan, and currently teaches at the Dancenter.
Laurel Shastri served 17 years at Ballet Tennessee in Chattanooga, as Associate Director, company dancer, and faculty. She has an MS in Geology, and is a teaching artist specializing in dance integrated curriculum based lessons, teaching with the Arts Council Santa Cruz, Montalvo Arts Center, and Dancenter.
Mercedes Johnson grew up in Hawaii where she started dancing at a young age and earned her BA in dance at The University of Hawaii at Manoa. Currently she teaches and choreographs at Mount Madonna School, Tannery World Dance Cultural Center, Pacific Arts Complex, and dances with local dance companies.
Michelle Voorhees danced competitively as a child and discovered her love of modern dance at the Arts High School of Minnesota. Michelle currently teaches 5th grade at Watsonville Charter School of the Arts, where she enjoys teaching visual and performing arts integrated with academic subjects.
The concert includes music recorded by
Zambra. Based in Santa Cruz, Zambra sings global vocal music in over 15 languages. Founded in 1994, Zambra was originally a bilingual community womens choir, but has since evolved into a smaller performing ensemble of ten accomplished singers who mostly perform a capella. Past performances include the Cabrillo Music Festival, First Night Santa Cruz, First Night Monterey, Santa Cruz Acapellafest, and Harmonious Equations with NPR Math Guy Keith Devlin and Karl Schaffer.
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LocationDancenter (View)
810 Bay Avenue
Capitola, CA 95010
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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