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.
Maloy’s offers a fabulous selection of antique
and fine custom jewelry, as well as restoration and repair services.