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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2011)
OREGON S LESS IAN/GAY/BIA RAN S/QUE E R NEWSMAGAZINE JANUARY 7 ¿Oil 21 . f t STATE OF THE ARTS Til They Reach The Fertile Ground Third annual oitywide arts festival returns with impressive lineup of dance works BY REBECCA RAGAIN The O sluncH C o/D ance p e rfo rm a n c e features c o m p a n y d ire cto r M ary O slund s new work. C h ild h o o d Star Considering that the Fertile Ground Festival is presented by the Portland Area Theatre Alli ance, naturally there’s a plethora of hilly pro duced theatrical productions on the bill— 19 of them, in fact. In addition, in its third year the festival has expanded to include an impressive showing of dance works. Long-running professional com panies such as Oregon Ballet Theatre, Oslund+Co/Dance and BodyVox are partici pating, as are pre-professional organizations like NW Fusion and Legacy Dance. From the OBT camp comes a series dubbed ... ballet? that features three works by three dif ferent ballet dancers: Candace Bouchard, Gavin Larsen and Christian Squires. The five perfor mances are split between two venues: Art De partment at 1315 SE Ninth Ave. (performances January 25, 27 and 28) and Conduit Dance Studio at 918 SW Yamhill St., Suite 401 (Janu ary 26 and 30.) Tickets start at $10 and are available at boxofficetickets.com. The Oslund+Co/Dance performance fea tures company director Mary Oslund’s new work, Childhood Star, commissioned by White Bird Dance. The program, which opens with a 15-minute duet from Oslund+Co/Dance member Keely McIntyre, is part of White Bird’s Uncaged series hut also happens to fall within the Fertile Ground Festival time frame. Oslund+Co/Dance performs January 20-22 at Portland State University’s Lincoln Hall (1620 SW Park Ave.). Tickets are $ 18-S28 through ticketmaster.com. Thirteen-year-old contemporary dance com pany BodyVox is also presenting work in con junction with the festival. BodyVox’s company of emerging young dancers, Body Vox-2, is slated to perform a show that includes the premiere of works by Eowyn Barrett and BodyVox co-di rectors Jamey Hampton and Ashley Roland. Performances take place January 27-29 at Maloy's jewelry Workshop 717 SW 10th Ave Portland, OR 97205 503.223.4720 www.maloys.com BodyVox Dance Center (1201 NW 17th Ave.). Tickets are S15-S20 via bodyvox.com. In case four different programs by three groups of dance artists (OBT dancers, Oslund+Co/Dance and BodyVox-2) over 11 days weren’t enough options for local dance supporters to choose from, seven additional groups are performing as part of the Groovin’ Greenhouse dance showcase. Presented by Polaris Dance Theatre at the company’s dance center (1501 SW Taylor), the Groovin’ Greenhouse packs a wide variety of dance styles into three 90-minute programs: 7:30-9 p.m. January 28: NW Fusion; Cerrin Lathrop and Carlyn Hudson; Aaron Wheeler-Kay 5-6:30 p.m. January 29: Legacy Dance; Les Watanabe/Portland Festival Ballet; Polaris Dance Theatre 8-9:30 p.m. January 29: Dance Coalition of Oregon; Polaris Dance Theatre For audiences, the showcase series presents the opportunity to experience the breadth of dance styles offered by Portland artists. Aaron Wheeler-Kay’s performance, for example, in cludes both tap dance and aerial dance; the a spectrum of dance presenters, from seasoned to pre-professional, from traditional companies to ethnic groups. Portland has a vibrant hip- hop scene, as well as tango and flamenco, for example.” For dancers, the Groovin’ Greenhouse—and the Fertile Ground Festival as a whole—offers a chance to perform new works and strengthen ties with other local artists. Blythe Kirkpatrick is president of the Dance Coalition of Oregon (DanceCORE) and a member of The Dolly Pops, which she describes as “a collaborative variety troupe of dancers who draw our inspiration from the broad range of interests and personalities of each dancer.” Members of The Dolly Pops perform styles as diverse as belly dancing and social dance, ballet and go-go dancing. Kirkpatrick says, “[The Dolly Pops] enjoy performing for all kinds of audiences, including at classical choreographic showcases, as enter tainment at retirement communities, in bur lesque and variety shows, talent contests and drag shows.” Kirkpatrick is excited to be performing with other DanceCORE members as part of the Groovin’ Greenhouse program titled Botanical Madness. She feels that artistic showcases such as Fertile Ground “give dancers an opportunity to share their work, gaining valuable exposure and feedback.” “Plus, we get to be inspired by each others’ new pieces, and it’s a great motivator to com plete and polish new works to present,” Kirk patrick continues. “We believe that dancers and other artists need to band together but don’t al ways have the resources to launch the projects and collaborations we dream of.” Dance Coalition of Oregon’s contribution of fers new works in modern, jazz and cabaret. “Portland has such a diverse range of art forms within dance and this allows us to show case our style, which tends to encompass many of those forms,” says Brad Hampton, director of NW Fusion. The dancers’ ages and levels of accomplish ment vary, as well. The showcase includes per formances by pre-professional groups such as NW Fusion, which is comprised of dancers ages 12-18, as well as by Polaris Dance Theatre, several members of which have decades of pro fessional dance experience. This diversity is what inspired Polaris Dance Theatre to step up to organize the showcase. “While Portland is highly respected for its rich dance culture and much is written about its many established companies, there are more groups that have yet to receive that recogni tion,” says Polaris spokesperson Natasha Kautsky. Kautsky adds: “When we put out the word to the dance community about the Groovin’ For more details about dance perform ances affili Greenhouse project, we cast as wide a net as we ated w ith the Fertile Ground Festival, visit fe r t i- could in the hope that we could bring together legroundpdx. org/dance, html. Band together. 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