Dance Charlotte!
November 14 and 15
Booth Playhouse


Dance Charlotte! is a repertory concert that consists of highly talented and innovative local and national emerging choreographers and companies. The adjudication process to select the performers for this event has toughened every year with the number of quality applications that the festival receives.

Information on 2008 Performers coming in July!

2007 Performers

At Arm’s Length // alban elved dance company/KAROLA  LÜTTRINGHAUS // Wilmington, North Carolina // www.albanelved.com

alban elved dance company presents live performances of contemporary dance and engages in a broad range of residency activities, touring nationally and internationally. Featuring the works of German choreographer Karola Lüttringhaus the company creates athletic works, which seek to shape meaning from the rich array of emotional experience. Ms Lüttringhaus' work is fiercely physical, tracing the changeable electricity of thought and sensation that underlies human interaction and interpersonal relationships. Frequently incorporating cross-disciplinary collaborations, other media and technologies, the company expands the boundaries of dance performance, creating startling and evocative psychological landscapes. Ms Lüttringhaus created over 40 works (14 full evening length) for the company in 10 years, ranging from solos to larger group works, for traditional stages and site specific locations. alban elved dance company/KAROLA  LÜTTRINGHAUS has gained a national reputation for an outstanding artistic integrity, solid choreographic work and a desire to delve into the unknown by embracing collaborations with university scientists and by involving aerial works and unconventional performance venues into the very diverse repertoire. The company  offers, master classes, lecture demonstrations and organizes an annual arts in education project with high schools. This year alban elved dance company presents the first annual SARUS DANCE FESTIVAL in Wilmington, NC. Ms Lüttringhaus is the proud recipient of the 2006  North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship. The company was featured on the cover of the Dance Spirit Magazine in February 2005 including an 8-page article.

F.D.P. // Amaranth Contemporary Dance // Richmond, Virginia //
www.amarantharts.com
           
Amaranth Contemporary Dance’s vision is to be a catalyst and sponsor for creativity within its social and artistic community.  It is our goal to create opportunities of support through the creation of new work, education financial gifts to local, regional, national and international charitable organizations.  We are an artistic goodwill ambassador engaging in creative partnerships with other non-profit groups to assist in the development of programs and social initiatives through the creation of dance.

Che Tango (excerpt) // Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama // New York City, New York // www.anabellalenzu.com

With her bold and intimate style, Anabella Lenzu breaks down the wall separating the artist from the audience.  She explores topics such as identity, memory, social conscience, spirituality, the role of women and the relationship between the individual and society.  Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama is based in New York.

Her mission is to establish and develop cultural, educational and artistic exchange between the communities of the United States, Argentina and Italy.  To achieve this, she crosses sociopolitical and cultural barriers, teaching and performing shows, promoting dance and education.

New Work // Caroline Calouche & Co. // Gastonia, North Carolina // www.carolinecalouche.org

Founded in 2005, Caroline Calouche & Co. developed from an independent project called Dimension that produced a great success drawing college football players to professional artists into the University Theater at Texas Christian University to see an evening-length dance work in October 2000.  Since then Caroline Calouche has continued to produce her choreography in festivals and for dance companies within North Carolina, Texas, Germany and Austria.  Her unique genuine and physical choreographic voice has been praised by many throughout her artistic career.

Caroline Calouche & Co. was formed with the mission of creating an arts organization dedicated to producing and promoting contemporary dance choreography in conjunction with multi-disciplinary artistic collaborations.  The goal is to build cross-cultural dialogs with dance as a means to unite and educate the global community through an exchange of philosophies and methods. 

MIYA // Robert Kitsos // Athens, Georgia // www.robkitsos.com

Rob Kitsos is an acclaimed dancer, dance instructor, performing artist and choreographer who has appeared with dance companies across the United States, Europe and Asia. He has a strong grounding in classic and contemporary dance techniques, and continues to experiment with new blends of dance that combine movement and text, digital sound and video and more.

In addition to choreographing and performing, Rob has been teaching dance in universities for eleven years. He was a full time faculty member at the University of Washington from 1998-2002. In 2002, Rob began a two-year Senior Lecturer position at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Last fall Rob joined the faculty of Simon Fraser University as an Assistant Professor in the School for the Contemporary Arts. He has taught all levels of Modern/Contemporary Dance, Composition, Hip Hop, Dance Aesthetics and Movement and Music Collaboration.

Rob has been a member of more than fifteen performing companies which cover a broad range of styles from mime to hip hop to ballet, including Doug Elkins Dance Company, Gina Gibney Dance, Pat Graney, the Chamber Dance Company and the Berkshire Ballet.

So Far // E.E. Motion // Charlotte, North Carolina

E.E.Motion was conceived in 2006 by Artistic Director/Choreographer E.E. Balcos.  Its city of origin is Charlotte, NC.  The company has been touring on the 2006-2007 North Carolina Dance Festival season statewide.  E.E. Balcos has been dancing professionally for over twenty years.  he is an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  As a performer he has toured nationally and internationally as a member of such companies as Shapiro & Smith Dance, Demetrius Klein Dance Company, Zenon Dance Company and has worked with nationally known choreographers including Danny Buraczeski, Ping Chong, Sean Curran, David Dorfman, Joe Goode, Dwight Rhoden, David Rousseve, Yacov Sharir, Stephanie Skura and Bill Young.

Sketches of Chronicle – Act I. Spectre // Martha Graham - (1914) // South Carolina Contemporary Dance Company // www.marthagraham.org

Martha Graham's impact on dance was staggering and often compared to that of Picasso's on painting, Stravinsky's on music, and Frank Lloyd Wright's on architecture. Her contributions transformed the art form, revitalizing and expanding dance around the world. In her search to express herself freely and honestly, she created the Martha Graham Dance Company, one of the oldest dance troupes in America. As a teacher, Graham trained and inspired generations of fine dancers and choreographers. Her pupils included such greats as Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, and countless other performers, actors, and dancers. She collaborated with some of the foremost artists of her time including the composer Aaron Copland and the sculptor Isamu Noguchi.

Miriam Barbosa is a former dancer of the Martha Graham Dance Company. From 1992 to 2002 she has collaborated as artistic director and performed for Dzul Dance Company based at the NY Conservatory of Dance. Since 1993, Miriam has performed with the American Dance Theater and choreographed for The Mexican Cultural Festival (Fashion Institute of Technology/NY), Museo del Bario (NYCity), The American Indians Community House/NY, Merce Cunningham’s Choreographers Project, Women Dance Makers Project (NY), as well as internationally for the Mexican Festival of Contemporary Dance, The Institute of Theatre of Barcelona/Spain, and the Cultural Center of SP/Brazil. She has been a faculty member at Fashion Institute of Technology, SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, Paul Taylor Summer Intensive, Nevada Festival Ballet, Martha Graham School ’s Teen Program, and the Institute of Theater of Barcelona/Spain . She was awarded a scholarship in 1992 as a technique demonstrator at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. Ms. Barbosa has trained Russian Classical Ballet with Mr. and Ms. Dokoudovsky in NY, and Ballet Ana Pavlova in Brazil . Ms Barbosa is also a Master Teacher in Gyrokinesis and the Gyrotonic Expansion System of Movement, after having trained since 1994 with the Master Mr. Juliu Horvath, which has added tremendously to her knowledge in the art of movement and the mechanics of the human body. Ms. Barbosa holds a Masters Degree from the University Of Fine Arts Of SP/Brazil , and she has been a faculty member with the University Of South Carolina/Department of Theatre and Dance, as well as the co-director and choreographer for USC Dance Company, since fall 2002. Ms. Barbosa continues as guest artist for various intensive workshops, such as Paul Taylor at the School of Performing Arts in NYCity, Giselle School of Ballet/Portugal, Village Gyrotonic/NY and she is currently developing tours with the USC Dance Company performing for the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, Sumter Opera House, South Carolina Dance Festival, and the Spanic Heritage Celebration. Her most recent choreographic works include “7 Deadly Sins” to music by Kurt Weill and “Catharsis” - an artistic collaboration with Argentinean Visual Artist Marcelo Novo to music by Astor Piazzola, which has been awarded a grant from the Sumter County Cultural Commission to be premiered at the Patriot Hall Performing Arts Center. She has performed her duet from Pandora’s Box recently at the Piccolo Spoleto and she has been invited to perform in Rome , Italy in October following the Koger Season. She has taught master classes at the Lisbon National Conservatory of Dance, the Lisbon Dance Company and the Ginasiano Ballet School in Portugal in 2007. Ms. Barbosa has been given the honor and the license to perform “Sketches from Chronicle” in its full length for the first time after the Graham Company by its Artistic Director Janet Eilber. As an extension of her work in Columbia , she now has founded the South Carolina Contemporary Dance Company (SCCDC).

Still feel the presence – Part II // Core Theatre and Dance Company // Columbia, South Carolina

Nkosinathi “Natty” Mncube, Artistic Director of Core Theatre and Dance Company, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and received his diploma in Edu-Dance at Moving Into Dance.  He later pursued his Master’s Degree in Dance & Choreography at the London Contemporary Dance School.  He has won prestigious awards from the First National Bank and Vita Dance Umbrella. Presently, Natty teaches at Columbia Music Festival Association (CMFA) & CDE in Columbia, and is an Adjunct Professor at Coker College.  Natty has performed with CC & Co. in Risk.

Ring // Jane Franklin Dance // Arlington, Virginia // Photos by Ray Gniewek // www.janefranklin.com

The Arlington, VA-based Jane Franklin Dance company, now in it's tenth year, is known for its lively mix of dance, theater and humor and the for the ability to engage and inspire community populations of all ages.  Based in Northern Virginia since 1997, Jane Franklin Dance presents polished, nuanced works that have been presented at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dance Place, Grace Street Theater, Old Dominion University’s Choreographers’ Showcase, Charlotte Dance Festival in NC, International Dance Festival in NYC, Richmond's "Yes, Virginia-Dance!" and other state and regional venues. Collaborative projects with poetry, live music, community participation and visual art have received funding in multiple years from the Virginia Commission, the Alexandria Commission, the Arlington Commission for the Arts, American Composers Forum – Washington DC Chapter and from foundations including Arlington Community Foundation, Washington Forrest Foundation and William D. Euille Foundation.

At Arm's Length
alban elved dance company/KAROLA LÜTTRINGHAUS
Dancers: Karola Luttringhaus, Shawn Worthington.
Photo by Rachel Steinsberger

F.D.P.
Amaranth Contemporary Dance

Che Tango
Annabella Lenzu
Photography by Todd Caroll

Caroline Calouche & Co.
Photography by Michael Church

MIYA
Robert Kitsos

So Far
E.E. Motion

Sketches of Chronicle
South Caroline Contemporary Dance Company

Still feel the presence
Core Theatre and Dance Company

Ring
Jane Franklin Dance
Photography by Ray Gniewek