And Again We Meet
Dance Ceres
June 10-11
8pm
Emerging choreographer, Brittany Brown Ceres presents her world
premiere, full-evening of dance with her newly-established modern dance company,
Dance Ceres. With the support of the Zellerbach Family Foundation and Theater
Bay Area in association with Dancers' Group's CA$H grant, Ms. Ceres will present,
"And Again, We Meet", a collection of historical game-playing and
love-making, told through the awareness of movement and sound. Historic lesbian
reference, twisted social-leisure activities, intricate dance and honest risk
fuse to create a performance story to speak for all love affairs.
This full evening of story telling, dance and performance art, is woven together
to reveal the details and interior landscapes of two people. "And Again,
We Meet"-- opens with a full stage set of dominoes, ready to fall. The
collapsed pattern creates the space in which the first movement takes place.
Two middle-age characters are the reoccurring protagonists in a playful, yet
haunting twist of historic time. Through their recent works presented in festival
format, Dance Ceres has evolved as an ensemble in style and sensibility--
expressive and flexible; capable of articulating an increasingly rich language
in this world premiere piece.
Included and redeveloped for the evening length performance are two recently
successful pieces. "Underneath, all these nothings" is a haunting
piece, inspired by the Brothers' Quay's full-length feature film, Institute
Benjamenta. The recreation of this gothic, Victorian duet is set to a sparse
and breathy score and the dancers are stitched into their costume- representations
of Victorian Head-Mistress garb.
Inspired by the little things we are all so afraid to reveal, "Normal
People Have Secrets" is seamless series of narrative interludes revolving
around both white and not-so-white lies. Through divulgence and release, these
interludes intend to pierce the sticky-sweet center of all of our secrets--
that which we are willing to admit and that which we have hidden from even
ourselves. With the haunting "Akhmatova Songs", by John Taverner,
sung by Patricia Rozorio, this 12 minute dance will be dissected and spread
through the evening, revealing stories of many little lingering personal lies.
Finally, a 1920's short story by Gertrude Stein, spoken through a set of
ping pong, reveals an interpersonal progression from confusion to clarity
within the performers' relationships as they revisit each other through historical
time. These stories create the timeline of the evening work. It is as if the
time it takes to "know" another person is equal to all time, past,
present and future-and each separate journey is full of the same collective
stories, revelations, boredom and disasters, spread along unique timelines.
Sounds collages, composed by local composer, Ari Messer will round the evening's
score with verbal and non-verbal characterization through literature by and
about Gertrude Stein and Bertolt Brecht.
Over the past ten years, Ceres has been making dances and presenting her
work independently on both coasts. San Francisco has distinguished itself
to be a highly charged and inspirational environment for her choreographic
process. As a choreographer interested in interpersonal collaborations, expressions
of passionate depth and athletic, yet intricate and intimate dancing, Ceres
weaves a classic story told from the tragic center of the human experience.
ABOUT DANCE CERES
The mission of Dance Ceres is to realize subtlety through action, individuality
through community, immediacy through timelessness, and equality through art.
The core inspiration of the work examines crisis and resilience through intricate
and energetic dance. It is with the highest caliber of dance, in both the
creation and execution that I wish to inspire our community to experience
life boldly.
The creation of theatrical events from these experiences elevates the repetition
interwoven throughout history and unifies diverse belief systems and communities.
By releasing common stories, events and concepts through abstraction, we expose
honest, classic lessons and unveil gifts of vulnerability within both performers
and witnesses. The company dancers are: Damara Ganley, Emma Stewart, Elizebeth
Randall, Sonya Smith and Amy "Ray" Kingwill.
ABOUT BRITTANY BROWN CERES
Brittany Brown Ceres is the Director of the
Summerfest/dance, the Manager of ODC Theater, and is the director and choreographer
for Dance Ceres. She grew up in Portland, Oregon and received her first professional
choreographic project at the age of fifteen. She attended UC, San Diego and
secured a BA in Theater, with a double minor in Dance and Biology in three
years, under the mentorship of Jean Isaacs, Nina Martin, and Margaret Marshall.
Graduating with her MFA in Choreography from SUNY, Purchase College, she went
on to finish her studies with an MA in Dance Education at Stanford in 2001.
Ceres's choreography has been produced in the San Francisco Bay Area at Summerfest/dance,
ODC's Pilot & Migrations programs, The Thumbnail Festival, Dancers' Group's
Local Series, Venue 9 Series and at the American College Dance Festival. Ceres
was awarded the Mary Edith Clifford Award for Alumni Choreography by the Stanford
Dance Division in 2002 and was recently commissioned by the Stanford Improvisational
Collective and the Dance Division, in conjunction with Stanford Lively Arts,
for a project in 2005. She is currently dancing with Deborah Slater Dance
Theater.
