Philadelphia Dance Projects

PDP Presents

Calendar Archive

SCUBA National Touring Network for Dance

March 19, 2010 - 7:30pm
March 20, 2010 - 2:30pm

SCUBA National Touring Network for Dance, now in its eighth year, is a co-operative enterprise which supports the growth and expansion of the country’s next generation of contemporary dance artists through touring and the development of relationships with other artists and presenters. The consortium of sister cities includes Philadelphia Dance Projects, SCUBA founders Velocity Dance Center of Seattle, ODC Theater in San Francisco and The Southern Theater in Minneapolis. From the beginning, SCUBA has met the ambitious goal of supporting tours for regionally established and nationally emerging artists to and from the participating cities. The PDP Presents 2010 SCUBA program will feature The BodyCartography Project, Megan Mazarick and Jacinta Vlach/Liberation Dance Theatre.

“A kind of Whitney Biennial of dance, this mobile showcase taps the country’s best emerging talent… and sends them on the road.” – Minnesota Monthly

Red Thread (World Premiere)

March 12, 2010 - 7:30pm
March 13, 2010 - 7:30pm
March 13, 2010 - 2:00pm

In the spirit of exploring the relationships between generations of dancers, PDP Presents will feature the World Premiere of Red Thread, a collaborative dance made by Lisa Kraus, Eva Karczag and Vicky Shick. A cross-generational piece, Red Thread pairs the trio with emerging Philadelphia-based dancers/choreographers Meg Foley, Gabrielle Revlock and Michele Tantoco.

Master Class with Red Thread project artists

March 10, 2010 - 6:00pm

Part of Philadelphia Dance Projects Presents 2010, a Master Class with Red Thread project artists Lisa Kraus, Eva Karczag and Vicky Shick will be offered at the Performance Garage on Wednesday, March 10 beginning at 6 p.m. Taking time to sense and reflect on breathing, to embody weight and lightness, we will awaken our awareness and lay the foundations for complex moving.

Local Dance History Project + Next Up Program II

March 5, 2010 - 7:30pm
March 6, 2010 - 2:00pm
March 6, 2010 - 7:30pm

Each Local Dance History Project program is paired with a Next Up performance, providing a unique look at contemporary dance, past and future. Program II features Local Dance History Project artists Jano Cohen, Terry Fox and Next Up artist Chris Yon.

The Local Dance History Project offers an informative look at the development of contemporary dance in Philadelphia by showcasing the work of five dance and movement artists who were among the first to explore post modern, improvisation and performance genres in the city during the late 1970s and early 80s. In 1980, dancers Dan Martin and Michael Biello, Jano Cohen, PDP’s Terry Fox, and Ishmael Houston-Jones were featured in Dance & Dancers, a sold-out presentation at the Harold Prince Theater at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts. Now, in PDP Presents 2010, these five dancers will reunite to revisit and reconstruct their work, which will be performed by young Philadelphia dance artists. Next Up features work by some of the freshest emerging choreographers – Chris Yon and Otto Ramstad, visiting from Minneapolis. Both choreographers represent a younger generation of dance artists who are not only building on the canon of what comprises contemporary dance, but who are widening its definition by asking questions of why we dance, and what roles or purpose dance artists’ work has in the lives of others.

MOTION PICTURES Annual Shorts Program screening with Kate Watson-Wallace

March 4, 2010 - 7:30pm

The Annual Shorts Program will feature clever, poetic, and animated dance videos from around the world. The program will preview Everywhere, an online video project by Philadelphia-based choreographer Kate Watson-Wallace and award-winning shorts from the Dance On Camera Festival 2010 at Lincoln Center in New York.

Now in its 9th year, Motion Pictures explores how film and video serve as a natural collaborative medium for dance, highlighting the power of image and motion in both. The festival features experimental and innovative shorts, documentaries, “moc”umentaries and animations.

MOTION PICTURES Beyond the Mainstream screening

March 4, 2010 - 6:00pm

The dance film series Motion Pictures, which in previous years has been presented by Philadelphia Dance Projects as a stand-alone series, will now be offered in conjunction with PDP Presents. Motion Pictures will feature a special screening of Beyond the Mainstream, the rarely seen PBS Great Performances: Dance in America series featuring postmodern, avant-garde dancers from 1980.

Local Dance History Project Forum

February 28, 2010 (All day)

An all-day event, the Local Dance History Project Forum will feature a dance class led by project artists, two panel discussions exploring Philadelphia’s contemporary dance scene in the late 1970s and early 80s, and a presentation of archival video clips, photos, flyers, and more. The panels, moderated by Lisa Kraus, will feature project artists Dan Martin and Michael Biello, Jano Cohen, PDP’s Terry Fox, and Ishmael Houston-Jones, alongside Jeff Cain, musician, playwright and performance artist and co-founder of Old City Arts; Gerry Givnish, visual artist and co-founder of the Painted Bride Art Center; Wendy Hammarstrom,  who appeared with the project artists in Dance & Dancers; and Bruce Schimmel, journalist, founder of Philadelphia City Paper, and editor of Dance Dialog, a journal of critical writing circa 1980.

Local Dance History Project + Next Up Program I

February 26, 2010 - 7:30pm
February 27, 2010 - 2:00pm
February 27, 2010 - 7:30pm

Each Local Dance History Project program is paired with a Next Up performance, providing a unique look at contemporary dance, past and future. Program I features Local Dance History Project artists Dan Martin and Michael Biello, Ishmael Houston-Jones and Next Up artist Otto Ramstad. The Local Dance History Project offers an informative look at the development of contemporary dance in Philadelphia by showcasing the work of five dance and movement artists who were among the first to explore post modern, improvisation and performance genres in the city during the late 1970s and early 80s. In 1980, dancers Dan Martin and Michael Biello, Jano Cohen, PDP’s Terry Fox, and Ishmael Houston-Jones were featured in Dance & Dancers, a sold-out presentation at the Harold Prince Theater at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts. Now, in PDP Presents 2010, these five dancers will reunite to revisit and reconstruct their work, which will be performed by young Philadelphia dance artists.