Stepping Out in Cambridge – Contrapose Dance Offers Their Inaugural Program: “Premiere”

The arts scene in and around Boston is so vibrant that we sometimes have trouble keeping up with all of the opportunities. For those of you who are interested in dance, you should be aware of Contrapose Dance, housed in the Green Street Studios in Central Square, Cambridge.

I get the sense that this company presents a nice fusion of modern dance built on a classical ballet foundation. Here is how they describe themselves in the Website:

Contrapose Dance is about challenge. We aim to bring a new energy to the theater scene, in Boston and beyond, by commissioning innovative works that challenge choreographers, dancers, and audiences alike.

Our diverse works challenge their choreographers, by pushing them to take creative risks; the dancers, by asking them to stretch their artistic and athletic abilities; and, finally, our audiences, by inviting them to set aside expectations and respond to the thrill of the new.

Building on a backbone of classical training, Contrapose Dance presents contemporary works designed to plumb deep emotions and celebrate the exhilaration of pure movement.

We seek not only to reach existing dance audiences but also to widen the circle by reaching out to communities that may never have attended dance concerts. By doing so, and eventually by touring nationally and internationally, we hope to bring a new generation of dance lovers along with us to a place where tradition and originality meet.

I guess that is where I come in – widening the circle of their audience. I do not regularly attend dance performances, although I have always enjoyed them in the past when I have gone. I plan to travel to Central Square this weekend for the Sunday evening performance of “Premiere.”

“Premiere”. This debut performance of the company will feature original work by Marcus Schulkind and Gianni Di Marco as well as two works from world renowned modern dance choreographer Anna Sokolow. Guest company Sokolow Now! will perform four sections from Sokolow’s masterpiece “Rooms” and “As I Remember”, a trio of solos which includes “Kaddish”. Guest artist Ruth Bronwen and company members Lucy Warren-Whitman and Courtney Peix will also present new choreography. This evening of dance will offer the audience an opportunity to experience a full range of emotions… from wit and lightness courtesy of Marcus Schulkind, to intense dark emotion, as seen in Anna Sokolow’s excerpts from “Rooms”.

Friday, May 2nd at 7:30pm Green Street Studios
Saturday, May 3rd at 7:30pm 185 Green Street
Sunday, May 4th at 7:00pm Cambridge, MA 02139

http://www.contraposedance.com/index.html

I am aware of this new and exciting dance company through my affiliation with Courtney Peix, one of the dancers in the Contrapose company.

I look forward to seeing some familiar faces joining me in the audience on Sunday evening.

Enjoy!

Al