Several Dancers Core presents free performance “When we dance…”
Erica Essner Performance Co-op and CORE Performance Company
at Miller Outdoor Theatre April 28, 2006

Houston—March 22, 2006—As part of its 25th Anniversary Season, Several Dancers Core presents “When we dance...” an evening of performance by New York’s Erica Essner Performance Co-Op, making their Houston debut, and by SDC’s professional company, CORE Performance Company. “When we dance...” will take place at the Miller Outdoor Theatre, 100 Concert Drive, in Hermann Park on Friday, April 28, 2006 at 8:00 p.m., bringing together two dance companies who share a collaborative approach to making dance. This work style generates innovative and idiosyncratic contemporary choreography because it involves the dancers in the creative process. CORE Performance Company will take their collaborative process to another level for this performance including the audience in the circle of collaborators for several short works. Admission to this performance is free to all audience members.

Hermann Park Construction
The area surrounding Mecom Fountain is under construction. To receive construction and traffic updates please visit the South Main Alliance Web site Houston’s HEART™ at www.houstonsHEART.org.

When we dance...program
Works by choreographer Erica Essner, artistic director of Erica Essner Performance Co-Op, have been described by the New York Times as “danced with vigorous athleticism” and “a striking display of stormy passions.” The Village Voice states Essner’s work “...expresses sweeping obsessive passion in physical terms, with a body intent on stretching itself to every extreme."

Erica Essner Performance Co-op will perform three pieces in the evening’s program. “Tongues & Limbs” explores the nature of conversation in all its aspects, physical, emotional, and non-verbal, via a striking duet. “Fractured Tango” is a study for three dancers of contorted shapes, influenced by Argentine tango music and is an exploration of the limits and strengths of the moving body. Influenced by the choreographer’s Zen Buddhist practice, “Falling from Stillness,” features four performers and reflects on meditation and chaos.

A new type of artistic collaboration has sprung forth from CORE Performance Company’s commitment to collaboration and innovation. CORE will create new work for the performance based on inspiration and input from the audience. Days before the show takes place, the public will be able to participate in creating the pieces by offering their choice for several aspects of the staging, including number of dancers, lighting and costume “mood,” musical style, and title. A web page at the organization’s Web site with the URL www.severaldancerscore.org/cpc/millerinput.htm will offer the audience the opportunity to submit their preferences in these categories and CORE will use the input from online collaborators to create the new pieces. The deadline for online input will be April 21, 2006. CORE also brings the audience into the circle of artistic collaborators by asking for audience input on the night of the show to shape a spontaneous short piece. CORE will also perform a section from their new work-in-progress Corazón Abierto, a piece based on the weaving traditions of the Mayan people of Chiapas, Mexico.

For more information about “When we dance...” please contact Several Dancers Core at 713-862-5530. For more information about Miller Outdoor Theatre visit www.milleroutdoortheatre.com.

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CORE Performance Company, the professional contemporary dance 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 experimentation, improvisation, and collaborations with artists from different mediums.

Committed for 25 years to innovation, risk and collaboration, Several Dancers Core (SDC), a 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.

This presentation is supported by the City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board, KUHF 88.7 Houston Public Radio and Mid-America Arts Alliance with generous underwriting by the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and foundations, corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. Several Dancers Core’s 25th Anniversary Season 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/corazonkim.jpg

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