YC2: New Dances
Choreographer Kate Wallich remains dedicated to an expansive view of dance, curious to explore how her art interacts with our contemporary world and vice versa and committed to dance-as-healing as high priestess of Dance Church. She cofounded dance company YC2, the company in residency at Velocity Dance Center, in 2017. YC2 dancers work with Wallich and artists from her dance company the YC to develop new work while also receiving consistent training, rehearsal and performance opportunities. On this bill, the company take on new work by Wallich and former Batsheva dancer Tom Weinberger, as well as work set by Lillian Barbeito of the Los Angeles-based company BODYTRAFFIC.
Sept. 20–23 / Velocity Dance Center
Solo: A Festival of Dance
In dance, the solo is a component part so fundamental that its function, not to mention form, is often taken for granted. This new festival, featuring both national and local artists, investigates the concept of the choreographic solo in an effort to explore and expand its strictures, to rethink what defines “dance” and contemporary performance as we conceive of them. A festival setting, which allows an audience the see many works in quick succession, is a great opportunity to see commonalities and unique factors among solo dance, to better foster focused discussion. New OtB artistic director Rachel Cook curates along with associate producer Clare Hatlo and longtime OtB staffer and director of program management Charles Smith.
Oct. 4–7 / On the Boards
Compagnie Käfig
A lifetime of influences, including years studying circus acrobatics and martial arts, coalesce in choreographer Mourad Merzouki’s work. Merzouki is also a renowned hip-hop artist, and he blends those influences and many more in his work with his contemporary dance company Compagnie Käfig. The French company makes a fitting Seattle debut with Pixel, a work that combines dance and video art to explore the intersection of virtual and organic environments, “a startling integration of real and digital worlds.” It’s the kind of exploration that earned Käfig the pull quote “one of the most innovative troupes on the experimental dance scene” in a New York Times review. No big deal.
Nov. 8–10 / Meany Theater
