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M A R K T UC K ER, DA NIEL L E
T OL MIE, S A R A H KOS T ER M A N,
IS A AC JONE S
SPIN
P HOTO BY A N TONIO A N AC A N
WHO’S WHO AND WHAT’S
WHAT IN DANCE THIS MONTH
BY RACHAEL CARNES
Across the country, and right here in Eugene,
summer is a great time for performing artists to get
out of the theater — away from the driving push of
ticket sales — and into a space where making art
invites a wider community conversation.
Dance should stand up to getting stripped
down. (If movement isn’t utterly compelling under
bare work lights and in sweatpants, it probably
needs more rehearsal.) Looking at dance can be a
critical act, but as audience members, we’re not
given many opportunities to engage on a participa-
tory level. Dance in Dialogue is trying to change
that.
Tonight, June 1, Dance in Dialogue (DiD) pres-
ents new work by Rachel Carrico, Abbey McBride
and Shannon Mockli in an accessible venue for
sharing thoughts, questions, and ideas about mak-
ing dances.
It’s been a delight to watch DiD take root.
Through a constructive (and mercifully brief)
group chat following each piece, DiD offers feed-
back to its artists, giving them a path to follow
toward a fully realized final new work.
DiD’s model takes the cornerstone of the cre-
ative process — critique — and bestows the audi-
ence itself with the means to articulate what they
see. In a warm and inviting way, DiD quietly nur-
tures a future for contemporary dance in Eugene.
Catch DiD 6 pm tonight, June 1, at the Friend’s
Meeting House.
And tomorrow night’s a party with dance free-
bies happening all over downtown.
#instaballet kicks off their performance-mak-
ing season by creating a new ballet with audience
input from 5:30 to 8 pm June 2 at Capitello Wines,
540 Charnelton Street. Catch African Dance and
Drumming with the West African Cultural Arts
Institute 6 pm at the Downtown Eugene Public
Library. Or check out a history of dance presented
by Arts Alive, 5 to 8 pm in Kesey Square, followed
by a free community dance with Gerry Rempel.
Eugene has a growing Flamenco scene, welcom-
Cottage Theatre presents
A trivial comedy for serious people
ing Sentido Flamenco, featuring Antonio Rosario,
6 pm June 14 at the Oregon Wine LAB, 488 Lincoln
Street.
Out of town, Seattle’s Whim W’Him presents
Olivier Wever’s Approaching Ecstasy at the
Cornish Playhouse 8 pm June 2, 3, 9 and 10.
Incorporating 40 singers, 5 instrumentalists and 7
dancers, the production is inspired by the poems of
Constantine Cavafy, who lived as a closeted gay
man in Egypt at the end of the 19th century.
Portland’s NW Dance Project closes its 2016-17
season with a world premiere from Sarah Slipper
and with the return of Chopin Project, featuring four
choreographers interpreting Chopin’s complete 24
preludes played live by Portland concert pianist
Hunter Noack.
Locally, Xcape Dance Company presents The
Takeover 8 pm June 3 at Hi-Fi Music Hall. Reign
Dance Company presents Rise Above 4 pm June
4 at Willamette High School. Eugene Ballet
Academy presents An Enchanted Garden 5 pm
June 4 at the Hult Center. The University of Oregon
Dance Department presents its Spring Loft 8 pm
June 9 in the Dougherty Dance Theater. Zapp
Academy of Dance presents Road Trip 3 pm June
11 at the Hult. The Academy of Ballet Fantastique
offers ARTISTIQUE: Pictures at an Exhibition 7
pm June 10 and 2 pm June 11 at the Wildish
Community Theater in Springfield. And Eugene’s
hula school, Na Pua O Hawai’i Nei, presents its fifth
annual hula exhibition For Our King and Queen 2
pm June 24 at Cascade Middle School.
In memoriam:
Eugene Ballet Company recently lost one of its
own, company dancer Jesse Griffin, who died May
13 in Klamath Falls. He began his dance training in
KFalls at 15, telling Rachel’s School of Dance owner,
Rachel Glenn, “I want to be your first professional
dancer, and I want to dance with the Eugene Ballet
Company.” After serving as an aspirant, he became
an EBC company member for the 2016-17 season.
A gofundme campaign has been established in his
name. A memorial for Griffin will be held June 9 in
Klamath Falls.
June 9–25
The Importance
of Being
Earnest
By Oscar Wilde
Directed by Alan Beck
$25 Adult, $15 Youth (6-18)
541-942-8001
700 Village Drive, Cottage Grove
www.cottagetheatre.org
74
June 1, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
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