CORAZÓN ABRIENDO (HEART OPENING)
transports audiences to vibrant environment of Chiapas, Mexico

Houston, Texas—July 10, 2006— Several Dancers Core presents the Houston premiere of CORE Performance Company’s dynamic multimedia performance, Corazón Abriendo (Heart Opening). Corazón Abriendo (Heart Opening) is a portal that transports the audience into the vivid, lush atmosphere of the highlands and rainforests of Chiapas, Mexico through a multimedia “cloth” of dance, sculpture, video, and music expertly woven together. Echoes of ancient civilizations overlap with the energy of modern life as the artistic sensibilities of contemporary dancers meld with the traditional weaving arts of the Mayan people.

Weaving is culturally important for the Maya, and the theme of weaving, its movements and sounds, its significance historically and spiritually, as well as its new resurgence as a part of the Chiapas economy give Corazón Abriendo (Heart Opening) its shape. Traditional Mayan “huiples” are hand-made shirts, woven on a backstrap loom in recognizable patterns and colors that represent each village. Designs based on ancient symbols from the heart of Mayan culture and mythology are woven into the fabric as it is created. The dance will weave together layers of visual imagery, cultural memory, personal expression, innovation, physical rhythm and color to create a richly textured multimedia piece.

CORE Performance Company artistic director, Sue Schroeder, and co-director, Susan M. Prins of Teatro en la Selva, Palenque, Mexico wove the diverse artistic elements together to create this unique work. In addition to the dance, mobile set pieces were designed by anthropologist and visual artist, Walter “Chip” Morris Jr. and master Mayan weaver, Lucia Hernández López, both based in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. New music was composed and will be performed live by Terrence Karn, and video of the sights and sounds of Chiapas were recorded and shaped by Maya Ciarrocchi, who created video for Donna Uchizono’s Approaching Green, presented last season at DiverseWorks.

Corazón Abriendo (Heart Opening) is a work with deep connections to the people and places in Chiapas. An introductory journey by Sue Schroeder to Chiapas to experience the sights and sounds of the rainforest took place in October 2003. The next step was a series of “immersion” residencies in Chiapas with Schroeder, CORE Performance Company, and composer, Terrance Karn. CORE Performance Company premieres the full-length piece in Mexico in October 2006, and will tour to several Mexican cities before bringing the work to Houston in November.

CORE Performance Company achieves its highest artistic synergy when it collaborates with other artists, from working with other groups within the United States to creating works with international artists, such as visual artists and choreographers in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia and Germany.

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CORE Performance Company, the professional touring company of Several Dancers Core, focuses on the ongoing development of the artistic “process” through the creation of new work. Made up of individual artists, the company performs new choreography that evolves through an intentional collaboration of experimentation and improvisation with artists from different mediums.

Committed for 26 years to innovation, risk and collaboration, Several Dancers Core (SDC), a nonprofit dance organization, creates, performs, and presents contemporary dance. SDC promotes dance awareness and education through performances, presentations, workshops, and classes in contemporary approaches to movement and is dedicated to opening new channels of communication between artists and the community. For more information about Several Dancers Core, please call 713-862-5530 or visit www.severaldancerscore.org.

Several Dancers Core is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County, the Pattillo Foundation, Texas Commission on the Arts, Houston Endowment Inc., and AirTran Airways.

Photo URL: http://www.severaldancerscore.org/press/photos/corazonjuana.jpg

Note: For interview requests, contact Susan Schmaeling, 713-349-0780 or saspr@swbell.net.