Merry Everything!

2011 Round up!

Dear friends of expandance,

Whoa - 2011 has been a busy year! We've worked hard, expanded and grown. Thank you, you who supported us by coming to see shows, by 'liking' and sharing videos and photos we posted on social media, by your kind donations, by giving up your time to help us out with events, and by generally being the wonderfully supportive and loving people that you are. 

This year, we performed new works at:

Bushwick Starr, Brooklyn, NY as part of SITE Fest
I.F.O.N.L.Y. Festival, Birr, Co. Offaly
Backstage Theatre, Co. Longford as part of LD Dance Fest
Fusion Dance Platform, Waterford, as part of Imagine Arts Festival
The Church Bar, Dublin (completely improvised performance)Back Loft, Dublin as part of Mamuska 
Block T, Dublin as part of TransversalCourthouse Arts Centre, Tinahealy, Co. Wicklow as part of Bealtaine

We hosted a dance talk at Riverbank Arts Centre as part of Culture Night 2011.

We gained a fiscal sponsor in the US, meaning you can now make tax deductible donations to expandance at any time through our 501(c)3 Non-Profit umbrella, The Field.

We volunteered our time to help raise awareness about Dance/NYC's census, the results of which were published last week. 

We took part in NACHMO - National Choreography Month.

We produced 4 short films:

* International Dance Day video for UNESCO I.D.D., edited by Lauren Auricchio and shot in Dublin, New York and Wicklow
* 'Úll' by Laurie Schneider (currently in post-production) 
* A video showing our Over 60s group Ré Órga, generously supported by The George Bernard Shaw Theatre, performing new work in Carlow. 
* A short dance film, 'Black Monday', made in collaboration with our Riverbank Arts Centre teenage group and film maker Joe Cleere.

We auditioned in Ireland and NYC for new dancers, and gained some new and lovely people to work with - two of those dancers - Irish Independent dance artist Ailish Claffey, and new Rock Om cast member Matthew Cichon, will be performing with us and Zoe Dance in Boston in the new year. 

We also turned 5! Founding members Laurie Schneider, Rachel Wynne and Alicia Christofi-Walshe managed to be in the same country, in the same city, and in the same bar on the same day we founded expandance 5 years ago. It was a special evening, and had some of been less jet lagged it might have gone on later than it did. I can't quite believe all that we've created and accomplished in those five years, it's remarkable, and I'm so grateful to all of you for your continued interest and enthusiasm in our work. 



The National Dance Archive in Ireland (University of Limerick) has begun a collection of expandance studio and choreographic notes, sketches, promotional materials and reviews from the last five years, and we're excited to continue to share our work with them. As a company, we're mad about documenting our process, so we were honored when the N.D.A. asked if they could archive some of our materials.

Thank you to The Field, Wickow Arts Council, Dance Ireland, Culture Ireland and all our donors for supporting us through our IndieGoGo campaign this year. 


We look forward to meeting more of you in 2012 - we have some exciting things coming up including performances in Boston, New York and Ireland, and more opportunities to meet the dancers in person.


Here's to a fabulous New Year for everyone!


- Rachel, Alicia, Laurie, Krista & co.

The singing bowls recording.

Happy (only slightly belated) Solstice everyone! Here is a wee video of Guy Yair Beider in Frank Spitznagel's New York studio while we recorded the singing bowls for Rock Om this week. It was a new and exceptionally beautiful experience for all three of us.

And your donations helped make it happen. 

Thank you all for helping us in this campaign. The IndieGoGo bit is officially over, and yet your generous donations keep arriving through the mail and through The Field website. Your faith in this work, your enthusiasm in Rock Om and in what we’re creating is heart warming, and we are all so immensely grateful.

Over the last 31 days, through IndieGoGo and The Field, we’ve raised $3,020. It's almost half our goal, and is a huge help.

Thank you!

We look forward to keeping you updated through our expandance mail-outs, with postcards / videos / mp3s for those of you who chose the perks, and we look forward to seeing you at a performance sometime soon.

- Rachel 

55 Hours left...

Update on the Rock Om fundraising...

We've done well so far, thanks to your help. As well as the $1,840 raised through IndieGoGo, we've raised $550 directly through tax deductible donations made possible through our fiscal sponsor, The Field.

However, we still need to pay our costume designer, lighting designer and dancers! If you have yet to make a donation to help us cover the production costs for our great new show Rock Om, please do so today! 

To get great perks directly from the dancers, donate through our IndieGoGo page within the next 55 hours and choose your perk! Or to make a tax deductible donation (it is that time of year!) click here anytime before midnight Dec 31st (for a 2011 deduction), and choose 'expandance' in the drop-down menu. 

The donor gratitude wall goes live on our website on Dec 20th. 

Again, thank you for everything you're doing to help us spread the word. We promise to use every dollar wisely and effectively.

12 DAYS LEFT TO RAISE $5,440

Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far. We appreciate every dollar.

 

If you love our work, please consider telling 10 of your friends about our campaign to bring Rock Om to Oberon in MA in January. Help us get this piece, that we've been working on for over 12 months, out of the studio to the public! We're using every dollar wisely and effectively.

A note from Rachel: 

It's time to get personal, and let you all know what this means to us.

I've been personally funding the development of Rock Om for over a year. I've sourced and paid for hundreds of hours of studio rental, black and white clothes that could pass as costumes, and poured well over a thousand hours (yes) into developing this work for the company - all this while continuing to run the company, and all this outside my 'day job'. The dancers have given up paid work time and again in order to come into the studio and rehearse, because they believe in this piece and it's ability to enlighten and inspire. 

If we don't reach this goal, our lighting designer, our costume designer, I and the dancers don't receive our fee of $500 while we're in Boston. What this means for the dancers is, each of us will give up money we'd usually receive through our day jobs in New York in order to come to Boston and perform this piece. It's incredibly important that we reach our fundraising goal. Please help us by spreading the word. Thank you. 

http://www.indiegogo.com/Rock-Om

Help Matt bring Rock Om to Boston!

Here is one of the Rock Om dancers, Matt Chicon, talking this week about the piece, our rehearsal process and what it means to him. We have 18 days left on our campaign - please spread the word and donate today!

http://www.indiegogo.com/rock-om

 

If you'd like to make a tax deductible contribution, click here and select 'expandance' from the drop-down menu.  

 

The Field is our fiscal sponsor.

The Field is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization serving the New York City performing arts community. Contributions made to The Field and earmarked for expandance are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. For more information about The Field contact: The Field, 161 6th Avenue, New York NY 10013, (212)691-6969, fax: (212)255-2053, www.thefield.org. A copy of The Field's latest annual report may be obtained, upon request, from The Field or from the Office of the Attorney General, Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.

COMFORT DANCE!

December is nearly here and we have a lovely event, Comfort Dance, coming up to start off the holiday season! This will be a shared evening of contemporary dance work with Folded Productions at the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge, Thursday, December 8th.

 

Photo credit:  Mary Hutton 

It's going to be a delicious evening of candlelight, mulled wine, and hot chocolate in the Riverbank's cosy theatre café. We'll be performing new work, company repertoire, premiering a dance film, and there will be some delightful surprises.

Here's the link to Riverbank's website for further information and bookings: http://www.riverbank.ie/shows/comfort-dance

Hope to see you there!

-Alicia

We are up to $1,230! Help us raise $5,770 in the next 22 days!

Performance today!

Laurie and I will be performing our new duet tomorrow in Birr, County Offaly as part  of Mamuska at I.F.O.N.L.Y. (International Festival of a Necessarily Lonely You). 

 Photo Credit:  Maria Nilsson Waller

This is a work we've been developing over the last two months and we'd love to have your support  and to hear your feedback.  The event is free of charge and is comprised of a programme of short diverse work by various artists. You can find out further information about the festival here.

When:  Saturday, November 26th (Tomorrow!)
Time:  8pm
Cost:  Free of charge

Hope to see you then or at a performance soon!

- Alicia

Rehearsal shots from today

Clare, Matt and I worked on one of their duets today, and on Matt's solo. We were at the Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn. A great rehearsal, we definitely worked off tomorrow's Thanksgiving turkey :)

In related news: THANK YOU to everyone who has supported our Rock Om campaign so far - we are over the $1k mark in our fundraising! Keep telling everyone you know - we still have 6k to go before December 19th! Thank you! Rachel.

 

 

We are LIVE!

Great news everyone :D

Our 30 days of fundraising for Rock Om has officially begun - we're now live at 

http://www.indiegogo.com/Rock-Om

Please pass this on to anyone you know today, thank you!

- Rachel, Erica, Krista, Matt, Clare, Hunt, Alicia and Laurie.

Help us raise $7,000 in 30 days!

We need to raise money to bring the evening length work Rock Om, which we've poured our hearts (and personal funds) into for the last 12 months, to Boston in January. Please help us!

This campaign runs from Nov 19th - Dec 19th 2011 only. 

How you can help:

1. Right now, bookmark this page: http://www.indiegogo.com/Rock-Om

2. Set a reminder on your phone for this Saturday Nov 19th, to log on and donate.

3. Share! Tell your colleagues! Tell your high school drama teacher! Tell your investment banker!

Remember: we're nearing the end of the year - do you need to get any Tax Deductible Donations out of the way? We can help with that!

In return for your support, we have some great rewards lined up (see the indiegogo page) and our eternal gratitude and love is just ONE of them!

The next few months herald a huge step in our performances as a company and our audience reach. We've been invited to perform at larger venues than ever before, and we're more than ready to step up to the plate. In one significant area - funding - we need your help.

Gone are the days of studio showings, where we could get away with dancers performing in rehearsal clothes, where 'studio lights' could be rationalized with "it's a work in progress."  With Oberon in Boston holding an audience of 300, this 50-minute, high energy, high quality piece now requires of us higher production values - our own music, actual lighting design, and costumes that aren't held together with twine!

The last 12 months have been a labor of love. We have torn the skin on our feet, spent precious rehearsal hours mopping flooded studio floors, and sobbed into our partners' arms.  We have marveled at all the little choreographic miracles that sometimes happen when we thought we'd hit a wall. Now, we've reached a point where cannot continue making this piece with a ''New York budget - i.e. zero'' (as our composer so eloquently put it).

Thank you, in advance, for your help!

- Rachel, Krista, Hunt, Clare, Matt and Erica. 

If you'd like a reward that's way more immediate, we're having our launch party for this campaign THIS SATURDAY Nov 19th 

8pm - 11pm at

The Producer's Club lounge
358 West 44th Street; New York, NY 10036
(at 9th Avenue)

There is no cover charge and no drink minimum. We will have a raffle ($2 tickets) where you could win some awesome prizes - including: 3 free guitar lessons with the composer of Rock Om, free private yoga and Pilates sessions, a 1/2 box of artisan chocolates from the lovely people at Li-Lac in New York, and many other awesome things. Come and meet the dancers, choreographer, lighting designer, and composer! Come and experience our excitement for this piece! Come and get some hugs (if you're feeling Om) and some bum-slaps (if you're feeling Rock!) No RSVP required - See you there!

Adult Dance Classes this November in Kildare

Are these long winter's evenings getting you down?  Looking to get fit and challenge yourself with a new activity?  Well then get yourself moving and grooving down at the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge and join me for a series of contemporary dance classes for adults! 

Learn contemporary dance techniques, methods to develop choreography and re-ignite your creativity all in a relaxed and social environment.  Throughout this series you'll gain physical fitness, flexibility, strength, balance and co-ordination.  All levels welcome and no experience necessary. All exercises can be adapted to suit your physical ability.   

Dates:  Wed 16th Nov / Wed 23rd Nov / Wed 30th Nov / Wed 7th Dec  

Time:  7pm - 9pm

Price:  €15 per session or €40 for entire workshop series

On street parking available

   

Bookings:    http://www.riverbank.ie/workshops/adult-dance-classes  or ring 045 448 330  

                                          Photo credit:  Mary Hutton

Also, while you're at it...why not book your tickets TODAY for Comfort Dance? Join us for a shared evening of contemporary dance, mulled wine, and mistletoe with Folded Productions at Riverbank Arts Centre, December 8th.

Go on, treat yourself!  For futher information on the evening and to book tickets check out,  http://www.riverbank.ie/shows/comfort-dance.

- Alicia

I don't do this often, but...

I'm putting a video up on the blog that's not ours.

It's not a video with choreography, or dance, or theatre. It's not a video by expandance. It doesn't even have one of us in it.

But it shows one of nature's marvels, the one that happened to be the inspiration for expandance technique: Birds flocking. And boy, these starlings flock the flock out of flocking...


http://vimeo.com/31158841


The expandance technique is based on this premise: Birds / fish / animals move in sequence with each other all the time, without thinking about it, talking about it or planning it. They don't bump into each other, they just move together, completely harmoniously. If we were to get out of our human intellects long enough to let the infinite intelligence of our bodies be in charge, perhaps nature would allow us to move in close proximity to each other without injury.


(Here's a secret: it does! And soon we'll be improvising more outside of the confines of the rehearsal studio, so you can see what we mean when we talk about ''improvising from our centres instead of our heads'')

"Murmuration"
A film by Liberty Smith and Sophie Windsor Clive

Enjoy!

- Rachel

A trip home, and a visit to Ré Órga

As many of you know, expandance celebrated 5 years in existence last week. To celebrate, I flew home to Ireland from my current digs in NYC in order to be with Laurie and Alicia, and to meet with a couple of venues we may perform in in 2012. (More on that soon!) It was lovely to be back in Dun Laoghaire and to be able to catch a performance and a ballet class at Dance Ireland while in Dublin.

One of the highlights of the trip turned out to be my visit to Alicia's Over 60s expandancers Ré Órga at the George Bernard Shaw Theatre in Carlow. Alicia speaks highly of this group - it's been going strong now with over 25 regulars in attendance for over a year - and I was looking forward to meeting them. What I didn't expect was their overwhelming welcome, nor their joyous and obviously solid rapport as a group.

I spoke with many of the dancers over their tea break and without exception they thought Alicia was 'full of enthusiasm' and great to work with, and enjoyed their weekly classes with her. I was also delighted to see them rehearse a couple of their fabulous, and quite beautiful performance pieces. 

Ladies: It was so lovely to meet you, after writing blog posts about you, hearing about you all for so long, and working with Alicia and GB Shaw on the administration required to get this programme off the ground. Thank you for such a generous welcome, and for your commitment to expandance!

- Rachel 

p.s. did you notice the new name? After months (and months!) of deliberation, Alicia, along with our Over 60's group has decided on a name: Ré Órga - literally translated from Irish it means "Golden Age" - but as our very own Donnacha MacAodhagáin explains, it's more than that: 'Ré is a lovely word - doesn't just mean an age, or period of time, but is an old Irish word for the moon, too - which they used to measure time, long long ago....'

Dancing down South....

 Photo credit:  Maria Nilsson Waller

Alicia had a great day performing at the Fusion Dance Platform in Waterford yesterday.  Thank you to Libby Seward and Animated State Dance Theatre for the wonderful opportunity!  Alicia showed a solo excerpt of a new work she's developing in collaboration with Laurie.  The audience was interested, supportive, and full of feedback, which added to the success of the performance.  Alicia and Laurie will perform the piece December 8th at Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge as part of Comfort Dance, a shared evening of contemporary dance by expandance and Folded Productions.  Check out this link to book your tickets, http://www.riverbank.ie/shows/comfort-dance

Happy 5th Birthday expandance!

Happy Birthday to us!
Laurie, Alicia and I managed to be in the same country, the same city AND the same restaurant this evening to celebrate 5 years together as a company. We had a good time, as you can see...

Thank you to all of you who have supported us over the last five years: to all our dancers, collaborators, families, friends, our teachers, our mentors, our supporters, our funders, to the people who showed up at performances even when it was raining, to those of you who helped us with technological things we didn't understand, with websites and lighting and music and costumes and marketing questions and everything in between.  

You're all amazing and we love you.

- Rachel Wynne, Laurie Schneider, Alicia Christofi-Walshe

Upcoming Performance Sat Oct 29th

Alicia Christofi-Walshe performs a solo section of a duet currently being made with Laurie Schneider at FUSION - part of the Imagine Arts Festival this year.

Date: Saturday 29th October 2012 at 2 pm 

Location: The Large Room, City Hall, the Mall, Waterford.

Entry: €5

FUSION showcases original works by Irish choreographers in an informal setting, with audience Q&A afterward.

FUSION Choreography Platform is an initiative of Animated State Dance Theatre Company, promoting the next generation of Irish based dancers and choreographers. This dance platform celebrates collaboration, fusion and experimentation across all arts disciplines.

Culture Night is this Friday September 23rd

expandance will be holding a short performance and leading a talk on contemporary dance at Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge this Friday, September 23rd at 7:30pm.  The event is free of charge and is part of Culture Night 2011.

After our performance there will be a showing of the 3D dance film PINA by Wim Wenders. Here's the trailer:



We're super excited, for three reasons: We love to perform our work, we love to talk about dance, and we love love loved the late Pina Bausch.
See you there!

New Rock Om Rehearsal shots NYC

Some recent Rock Om rehearsal pics, from Gina Gibney's studio 6, and Anna Sperber's 'Brazil' studio in Bushwick!

 Brazil studioin Bushwick (Brooklyn, New York) - Clare, Hunt, Matt and Erica

 In studio 6 at Gibney Dance - Krista, Alicia (over from Ireland!), ChristinaNoel and Clare working on one of the Rock Om travelling sequences.

 In studio 'Brazil' - Hunt and Clare, Matt and Erica.

 In Studio 6 at Gibney Dance - Krista, ChristinaNoel, and Clare being creative on paper after an improvisation.

Brazil studio - Matt, Erica, Hunt, Clare and Krista our rehearsal director.







 p.s. Our apologies - our website will be down for a day or so while we do maintenance - Rachel 

Audition NYC - male dancer

We are looking for a male dancer over 21 years old for a continuing project with strong improvisational & partnering skills, along with solid modern / ballet training. A background in martial arts, yoga, or meditation is a plus. You should be open to working in a process-oriented way as the work is extremely collaborative, and based in meditation and improvisation. Dancer must be available to commit to Tuesday night and Thursday morning rehearsals beginning August 23rd - end of Sept, totaling 4 hours a week, and rehearsals in Nov, Dec & Jan (times TBD). expandance has booked performances in Boston in January and a tentative week long Ireland tour in April 2012. All performances are paid and travel expenses covered.

Audition will be Wednesday August 17th from 12-2PM. If interested, please email your resumé in PDF format, headshot, and a cover letter introducing yourself to info@expandance.com with 'Audition' as the subject line. We will respond with further information.

Sunday's surprise playlist

Hello all,
Here is the playlist Alicia and I put together for Laurie's performance on Sunday. These are all available to download on iTunes -  we've linked to You Tube here for you -

1. The Cat Empire - Miserere
2. Mika - I See You
3. The Cat Empire - Down at the 303
4. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
5. Jem - It's Amazing
6. Florence + The Machine - Cosmic Love
7. First Aid Kit - Heavy Storm
8. Ani DiFranco - Evolve
9. Laura Love - Mahbootay
10. Rufus Wainwright - Oh What a World

Laurie danced to number 7. The video is up somewhere on Facebook - we'll get it here soon!

- Rachel  

Improvised Performance this Sunday in Dublin - YOU choose the music!

THIS SUNDAY Aug 7th

Laurie Schneider will perform a completely improvised piece using the expandance technique as her starting point. Laurie is a gorgeous improviser, so this in itself will be a beautiful show. But...what? Not exciting enough for you? How's this: Not only will she not know her movements before she steps on stage, she won't know the music she will dance to either. 

Alicia and Rachel (both currently in New York City) have created a playlist of 10 songs for Laurie, each of which contains a message from us to her. Some are literal - in the lyrics of a song, for instance. Others are pieces of music that represent a shared history between the three of us.

Laurie hasn't seen the playlist (we're sending it directly to the event's organisers) - nor will she see it until after her performance. The first time she will hear the music will be when she is already standing in front of you, in her first moment of performance. And YOU dear audience, will get to choose what Laurie dances to. When you enter the performance space on Sunday, you'll be asked to choose a number between 1 and 10. Don't think about it, just blurt out the first number that comes to mind. Laurie will dance to whatever song corresponds to the number on the playlist most popular with the audience. In the event of a tie, a coin will be flipped to determine the song.

The playlist will also be available to audience members after the show, should any of you be interested in viewing it and talking to Laurie about the meaning behind our choices. And we'll put it up here on the blog.

Laurie's intention behind this work is in essence to have Alicia, Rachel, and her audience in charge of the piece. Vulnerable? Yup. Courageous? We think so. Magical? It just might be!

Check it out.

The Church Bar

Junction of Mary St & Jervis St, Dublin 1, Ireland

Sunday 7th August 2011 at 8pm

Performance takes place in The Cellar of Church Bar as part of 'Celebrating the body in dance' - A summer evening of dance filled with belly dance, flamenco, tango performances, live music and dancing, hosted by Junonia Dancemble . This event aims to celebrate a positive body image through dance and to promote a familiarity with the work of Bodywhys! There is no cover charge at the door and audience will be given the opportunity to make a donation if they so wish! http://www.bodywhys.ie/

Come make a dance film with us!

Are you a young person interested in dance & film?   Want to collaborate with other young people on an exciting dance project? 

Then come join us at Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge for a week-long contemporary dance workshop for teens from July 18th through 22nd.  The workshop will be run by expandance founding member Alicia Christofi-Walshe and will include daily technique class, choreographic session, and video viewing of contemporary dance work.  Over the course of the week the participants will develop a dance film through collaborations with a local filmmaker.  All levels and abilities welcome!

photo credit:  Mary Hutton

Date:  July 18 through 22nd 11am to 4pm daily

Venue:  Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co. Kildare 
Cost:  75 euro for entire week, 
Bookings:  www.riverbank.ie or (045) 448327 
Further information: Alicia@expandance.com

News: Mhuintir Chríonna at NUI Maynooth

expandance Over 60s have been invited to take part in Kildare County Council's Dance + Movement Summer School July 13th at NUI Maynooth.  


The group will be taking part in workshops and sharing an excerpt of their most recent work Mhuintir Chríonna at a showing with Macushla Dance Club and CoisCéim's THE PERFORMANCE GROUP. 

expandance Over 60s are supported by The George Bernard Shaw Theatre and Dance Ireland.

'little Time little Space' at Mamuska night!

What a night, what a crowd, what a performance!

As a prelude to the performance and to add to the high drama of getting to the space the heavens above roared with thunder and the streets were engulfed with rivers of rain and hailstone. Not to be detered we made it to La Cathedral and got down to buisness
. 
A big thank you to Ailish and Kathleen for their open, smiling, connected performance they gave of 'little Time, little Space', to Brigit at the Back loft who organised the night and the audience for their connection and willingness to come along for the ride!

So many memories and a great sense of being home was felt in the Back loft. This was the space were expandance was born in ICNWP 2006. Almost 5 years on in different continents, 3 new children, a marriage and so much more in between... I am looking forward to what comes of the next 5!

Pics and video links to the night coming soon :)

little Time little Space rehearsal shots, Dublin!

Shots from tonight's rehearsals with Kathleen Doherty and Ailish Claffey at Studio 99 ( expandance's Dublin home!) for tomorrows performance of 'little Time, little Space'.

Connection, joy, laughter, listening and moving without judgement..... Roll on tomorrow night!

Doors open at 7pm, Admission free (donations optional) at Mamuska @ the Back loft, La cathedral, St Augustine street, Dublin 8.

Performance Friday 10th June, Dublin

Mixing it up expandance stylie we are delighted to perform ‘little Time, little Space’ at MAMUSKA DUBLIN on Friday 10th June. This will be the second time ‘little Time little Space’ will be performed since its development by Alicia with new expandance members Ailish Claffey and Kathleen Doherty.

Mamushka Night features a packed line-up of exploratory performance and film to challenge and inspire. Audience and artists get to mingle in an atmosphere of play and discovery. Admission is free (Donation optional.)  For more information and full list of who is performing check out  http://thebackloft.blogspot.com/

NOTE I have also mentioned to Alicia that our next piece should be called ‘ Loads of Time, Loads of Space, Fully Funded and Child care covered!’ …. and then hopefully it will be as a self fulfilling a prophecy as ‘little Time little Space’ has turned out to be! Hope to see you this Friday 

Culture makes you healthier

An Irish Times article today says so.

Get thee to a dance performance!

Rock Om rehearsal footage May 2011

Some bits we're working on at the moment.

In this video Krista Racho-Jansen and Hunt Parr

Be counted! The Dance NYC census is open until May 27th

As someone who lives in New York City and is involved in dance, I felt it was important to take 10 minutes to fill out the Dance NYC Workforce Census. It is online, and is completely anonymous. If you are a dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, or a lighting designer / manager / costume designer / administrator who works with dance companies, and you live and / OR work in the 5 boroughs, please take 10 minutes to complete this important census, so the Dance NYC Junior Committee can advocate for YOU.

Thanks!

- Rachel

Over 500 people who worked in the dance field in NYC in 2010 have already participated in the Census. Have you? BE COUNTED. http://ow.ly/4Ry8Y

Performance May 21st 8pm!

Join us for an evening of contemporary dance in Wicklow!  

As part of Bealtaine 2011 throughout May we'll be working with professional dancers and older residents in Tinahely, County Wicklow at the Courthouse Arts Centre http://www.tinahely-courthouse.ie/

On May 21st we're holding an all day workshop and an evening performance.  We have a lovely evening planned of new pieces performed by the community alongside professionals as well as company repertoire.  Come join us and see what we've been up to!

When:  May 21st 8pm
Where:  Courthouse Arts Centre, Tinahely, County Wicklow
Cost:  10 euro
Bookings:  (0)402 38529 9.30am to 6pm, Tuesday to Friday or email bookings@tinahely-courthouse.ie

Seating is limited so book quickly!  

On street parking available and wheelchair accessible.
This project is generously supported by the Courthouse & Wicklow County Council

A little light relief from royal weddings...

Happy International Dance Day 2011!

A video from expandance's three founding ladies to you, the four or five people who regularly read this blog :D

Mucho grá,
Rachel, Alicia and Laurie



More on UNESCO International Dance Day - the wikipedia article is here.

p.s. don't forget! Alicia performs her new solo '12 Steps' at the gorgeous Backstage Theatre in Longford, Ireland today at 4pm as part of LD Dance Fest 2011.

Rock Om teaser is online :)

Check it!  See for yourself how we Rocked SITE Fest 2011.  Thanks to editor virtuoso Lauren Auricchio Rock Om is now online.  Choreographed by Rachel Wynne, with Hunt Edward Parr, Krista Racho-Jansen, Clare Cook, Erica Frankel and Megan Kennedy, if this doesn't get you going, well....

A special shout out to Bushwick Starr Theatre, NYC and Arts in Bushwick, you guys Rock! 

Stay tuned for the next performance :)

- Alicia

Next performance Friday 29th April

We're delighted to be presenting the next installment of '12 Steps', Alicia's solo about her process in dance-making. This piece has been performed at Riverbank Arts Centre, Kildare and at the George Bernard Shaw Theatre in Carlow, and we're happy to be bringing it to LD Dance Fest at the Backstage Theatre on Friday.

Over the last couple of months we've developed the text and movement of this piece via Skype rehearsals between Alicia (on Donard Mountain in Wicklow) and Rachel (in New York City) and that process alone has been enlightening and hugely beneficial to both of us as dance artists. Come see the result on April 29th, 4pm at the Backstage Theatre, Longford, Ireland.

Please note! LD Dance Fest ALWAYS sells out, so get your tickets in advance. Remember our piece 'Sephiroth / The Forest Piece' for this festival a few years ago? Remember how packed it was? :)

Thanks to Anica Louw at Shawbrook and Fred Walshe for their support of this piece.
Photo credit Mary Hutton.

Thank you Wicklow County Council!

Dear Wicklow County Council,

Thank you for supporting us with a bursary this spring to continue developing our work and our technique. Because of you, we've been able to take on two new and incredibly talented professional dancers - Kathleen Doherty and Ailish Claffey - to engage in studio research with us and on a new project at The Courthouse Arts Centre, http://www.tinahely-courthouse.ie/ in May. By supporting us in this way, you are not only providing the space and time for three professionals to collaborate, develop and expand as artists, you are highlighting the importance of contemporary dance in rural Ireland and enabling dance communities to grow.

You make us feel all warm and fluffy inside.

Alicia, Laurie & Rachel

Teen Dance Day at Riverbank

Our Teen Dance Day at Riverbank Arts Centre was a huge success! The participants amazed me with their creativity and energy.  By day's end they had taken part in a technique class, learned the expandance approach to improvisation, choreographed their own movement phrases, created a dance piece, contributed to their own tech rehearsal, and performed their own work on the Riverbank stage!  WELL DONE to you all and a big THANK YOU to Riverbank Arts Centre for their continued support.  -Alicia

  

Teen Dance Day this Sunday 13th March

We're back with a high-energy contemporary dance & performance workshop for TEENS at Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge, County Kildare this Sunday 13th March.

Dance technique, choreography, and performance all in one day!  Over the course of the workshop participants will choreograph a dance and get a chance to perform their choreography on the Riverbank stage  for family and friends.

All levels welcome - this workshop is nearly full, quick book book! Plus, we were in the Leinster Leader yesterday so those last couple of spots will most likely fill up fast.

Family and friends please join us at 5:45pm for a showing of a piece created by the participants over the course of the day. 

When:  Sunday March 13th
Time:  10am to 6pm
Cost: 20 euro
Bookings:  Ring 045 448 330 or  http://www.riverbank.ie/workshops/expandance-teen-dance-day


Note: Wear comfortable loose fitting clothing & bring a packed lunch.


Check out the below photos of past workshops!

See you on Sunday! Thanks to Riverbank Arts Centre for their support of this, and our other workshops.
- Alicia

Rock Om - the final rehearsal shots

Our performance of Rock Om at Bushwick Starr yesterday went wonderfully. Thank you to the fabulous dancers - Krista Racho-Jansen, Hunt Parr, Clare Cook, Erica Frankel, and Megan Kennedy. Thanks to Damon at Bushwick Starr, to Sarah Lowndes and Chloe Bass at Arts in Bushwick / SITE Fest, and to all the lovely people who braved the rain and came to see the show. 

We'll have video up on YouTube / Vimeo soon, but for now - here are a few rehearsal shots taken down the street at Anna Sperber's studio just an hour before we went on stage. - Rachel

Rock Om Technical rehearsal this morning

Some pictures from Bushwick Starr this morning. Thanks to Damon for helping us create some great lights. Looking forward to seeing you all this Sunday!