Breaking Ground 2024
THURSDAY, Jan 25
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DANCE FILM in TCA Lobby
Solos Jutos
Choreographer: Zarina Mendoza
Sound: "Take me into your skin" by Trentemoller
Performers: Alejandro Salomon, Ignacio Jara, Michelle Calderas
Our dance film delves into the heart-wrenching journey of longing, loneliness, and the universal need for connection.
Zarina Mendoza is a passionate artist, a Mexican immigrant with a desire to share knowledge, culture and points of view through movement. She has a BFA in dance and has been teaching for more than 10 years at International Festivals and Local Studios. She has also imparted her workshop “Power Flow '' inspired by postmodern, improvisation, acrobatic movement, flying low and basic capoeira techniques to professional dance companies in Asia and Mexico. Founder, choreographer and director of Tranze Danza Contemporanea, they have been invited to remarkable international festivals in South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Costa Rica, United States, Taiwan and Mexico.
5
BG24 Premiere
Choreographer:
Simon Lace
Music:
"Leroy and Lanisha" by Kamasi Washington
Costume Design:
Simon Lace
Lighting Design:
Jordan Daniels
Performers:
Simon Lace
The barriers collapsed, and this self-described atheist was at Step Three. You’d find omnipotence in anything to get through Step Four - may you find it now.
Simon Lace is a choreographer, educator, and visual artist from Phoenix, Az. Though trained in Ballet from an early age, his exposure to wrestling and other forms of physical theater would shape his love for vigor and a desire for fuller use of his form. Later, he found Breaking and Gaga, the base of his now practice. Simon began his training in AZ, most notably with Ballet Arizona, Brooksher Ballet, and Scottsdale Community College. Upon leaving Az, he worked with artists such as Ching Ching Wong, Courtney Mezika, Gustavo Remeraz, and Teddy Tedholm. Now shortly returned to the Valley, Simon is in his second season with Conder/dance.
The San Francisco Sisters
BG24 Premiere
Student Artist
Choreographer:
Sammi Lopresti
Music:
"San Francisco Nights" by Gabor Szabo & The California Dreamers
Voice acting audio:
Zachary Kerr
Costume and Lighting Design:
Sammi Lopresti
Performers:
Aria Armstrong, Kiera Boatman, Olivia Boatright, Jessica Espinoza, Jordan Garrison
This is a timeless piece that demonstrates the late 60's with a touch of post-modern choreography to give a refreshing and exciting twist to the comfort and ease that is brought in nostalgia.
Sammi Lopresti is currently a Phoenix based dancer/choreographer/student. She has been training in various styles of dance, including ballet, jazz, hip hop, acro, contemporary, and modern for the past 18 years. She has also participated in the competition and convention scene for 12 years. Through her experiences, she has been given many opportunities to perform and choreograph for the companies that she has been apart of and the competition dance studios that she has worked with. Through her love of storytelling and movement, she is able to create unique works that provide an emotional connection with those watching.
Diabolical Singularity
BG24 Student Artist
Choreographer:
Chloe DeMarce
Music:
NASA recording inside of a supermassive blackhole, Aztec death whistle, various space sound recordings.
Costume Design:
Chloe DeMarce
Performers:
Chloe DeMarce
An exploration into the phenomenon of black holes as a boundary for human knowledge and understanding of the nature of the Universe.
Chloe DeMarce is a versatile creator whose journey spans various disciplines. Hailing from Western South Dakota, Chloe's early exposure to dance was through their mother, a local studio's dancer and educator. While pursuing their undergraduate dance degree at Arizona State University, Chloe delved into salsa, street dance, and hip-hop, expanding their repertoire. Throughout their studies, they unearthed a passion for uniting dance and the arts with social engagement, as seen in their work with Artivists at ASU, an organization they help lead. Chloe's International and Spanish studies backgrounds synergize with their dance creativity, driving them to explore human and planetary wellbeing. With performances and organizing for ASU and the Phoenix dance community, Chloe aims to leverage their platform for interdisciplinary, multimedia, experimental artworks that advocate for artists, radical ideas, real stories, and Mother Earth.
I Was, I Am, and I Will Be.
BG24 Premiere
Student Artists
Choreographer:
Maddie Lasco and Kyla Kabat
Music:
LIFE, LIFE by Ryuichi Sakamoto
Costume Design:
Maddie Lasco and Kyla Kabat
Lighting Design:
Cari Koch
Performers:
Maddie Lasco and Kyla Kabat
This duet reflects on Maddie and Kyla's individual experiences gone through and grown through. It recognizes the intersection between the past, present, and future, and how these times shape their identity. As they navigate their individual struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder and generational trauma, together they transform into stronger, more resilient versions of themselves.
Kyla Kabat is a choreographer, performer, and company director based in Phoenix, Arizona. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University along with a minor in business. While at Arizona State, Kyla has performed in multiple dance productions such as SpringDanceFest, Transitions, and numerous Undergraduate Project Presentations, in which her self-choreographed works were also presented. In 2021 Kyla premiered her work, “Toxic Love”, which had been chosen by Arizona State University to represent the school’s dance program in a regional dance conference, ACDA.
Maddie Lasco, a dance performer and choreographer based in Arizona, is a fourth-year student at Arizona State University in pursuit of her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts. As an honors student in Barrett The Honors College, she is currently working on her thesis project about OCD, which will premiere in March of 2024. Throughout her time in the dance program, she has been integral to dance productions including Undergraduate Projects, Spring Dance Fest, Fall Forward, Emerging Artists, Transitions, and ACDA, which featured both her own creative works and works created by Mary Fitzgerald, Carley Conder, Kyla Kabat, Adam McKinney, and Yin Yue.
A Message from Mx. Black Copper
Choreographer:
j. bouey
Music:
“Summon the Fire” and “Blood of the Past” by The Comet Is Coming
Performer:
j. bouey
Mx. Black Copper, a transdimensional hyper-empathic being, projects their consciousness back to our time from the future. Upon their arrival, they sense the troubling atmosphere of our time causing them to reflect the fury and grief of the planet.
Free Palestine! End Genocide Now! We Dance for O’Shae Sibley!
j. bouey, is a 2023 Bessie Award Outstanding Performer recipient, the founder of The Dance Union Podcast, initiator of the NYC Dancers COVID-19 Relief Fund and The Dance Union Town Hall For Collective Action to support the dance community through numerous world-changing events. As a creator, j. is a recent 2021-2022 Jerome Fellow and is a 2022/2023 Movement Research Artist in Residence. j. bouey was also recently a Gibney 2021 Spotlight Artist, Artist-In-Residence at CPR – Center for Performance Research, and 2021 Bogliasco Fellow. j. was also a 2018 Movement Research Van Lier Fellow, and 2018 Dancing While Black Fellow. j. is currently a collaborator with nia love. They were also a former performer with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, danced with Germaul Barnes’ Viewsic Dance, Maria Bauman’s MB Dance, Dante Brown, Antonio Brown Dance, Christal Brown’s INspirit Dance, and apprenticed with Emerge 125 (formerly Elisa Monte Dance) under the artistic direction of Tiffany Rea-Fisher.
One of Two Strangers
BG24 Commissioned Artist
Choreographers:
Esteban Rosales & Landon Grant
Music:
Strangers in the Night - Frank Sinatra
Costume Design:
Esteban Rosales & Landon Grant
Lighting Design:
Esteban Rosales & Landon Grant
Performer:
Esteban Rosales
The "Part 2" of "Two Strangers on a Bridge" (2019).
Program Note:
As a continuation of “Two Strangers on a Bridge” (2019), “One of Two Strangers” explores the events immediately following its predecessor through the lens of the societal outcast.
Resources for you: If you are in need of affordable housing assistance call *211 or visit https://211arizona.org (https://211arizona.org)
Ways you can help: Donate to Phoenix Rescue Mission phoenixrescuemission.org
(http://phoenixrescuemission.org)
Support community action by connecting with Greenhouse Gives greenhousegives.org (http://greenhousegives.org)
Advisory Warnings:
Drug Abuse, Eating Disorders, and Yelling
ESTEBAN: Esteban Rosales is a Mestizo multidisciplinary performance artist from Phoenix, Arizona. He's been infatuated with dance as a profound art since he was 14 years old. Since earning his BFA in Dance at Arizona State University back in '21, he's performed for Safos Dance Theatre, The Ladies/Yes And Productions, Weird & Wonderful, Depth Dance, Conder Dance, and The Pachanga Collective - a collective of dance makers he co-founded with Ruby Morales, and Zakiya Rose Johnson. As a choreographer, he prioritizes abstraction as much as performance quality drawing inspiration from nihilism, glamour and absurdity. He is honored to have presented work professionally for the Phoenix Blaktinx Dance Festival, Ten Tiny Dances at Taliesin West, nueBOX's SEED Residency, and Third Space Dance project's many performance festivals.
LANDON: Landon Grant is a somatic-based movement artist, choreographer, and facilitator who focused on sustainable movement that is both captivating and healing to the body. Landon studied at Arizona State University in preparation for his nomadic life from Italy to Nicaragua and Costa Rica then back to the states where he choreographs for local programs and shares his love for movement and the healing arts.
"Please, but no thank you."
BG24 Premiere
Student Artist
Choreographer:
Johanna Loiseau
Music:
Cold by Jorge Mendez, Beginning to End by Hendyamps Studios
Costume Design:
Johanna Loiseau
Lighting Design:
Johanna Loiseau
Performers:
Johanna Loiseau, Joy Palmer, Julianne Pankau, Sammi Lopresti
In society, there are standards and an image in which we are supposed to act, speak, compose ourselves, etc. But what happens when you let the curiosity in and you get a taste of what it’s like to explore the unknown?
Johanna is a current B.A. Dance senior at Grand Canyon University. She has performed in numerous faculty, guest artist, and student works at GCU, in addition to creating several pieces of her own choreography. Johanna admires technical excellence and post-modern, contemporary movement practices which inspire her creative process and spatial design.Johanna also works in the commercial dance industry and performs with LUX Contemporary and Elektrolytes companies based out of Elektro Dance Academy in Mesa, Arizona. Most recently, she performed at the Super Bowl LVII Apple Music Halftime Show with Rihanna in February 2023. She also performed as a backup dancer for Tony Vincent in his "Don't Stop Me Now" opening performance for the Phoenix Celebrity Fight Night in March 2022. Post graduation, Johanna plans on pursuing her dreams as a professional dancer and choreographer in the commercial dance industry.
God Is A Butch Lesbian
BG24 Premiere
Choreographer:
Sam Arrow
Music:
Benedicamus Patrem by The Monks of the Abbey of Notre Dame and Numb by Clams Casino
Costume Design:
Sam Arrow
Lighting Design:
Jordan Daniels
Performer:
Sam Arrow
This work explores the concept of embodying masculinity as a non-man in a patriarchal society and finding authenticity as a form of transcendence.
Sam Arrow is a dance artist creating work that feels both personal and universal. Their art centers on family needs within ableist, heteronormative, oppressive structures. They are a micro activist who draws on their life as a parent and partner, and knowledge about the human body to empower those around them. They are a Permanent Artist in Residence with [nueBOX] and a pelvic floor physical therapist.
or things left behind
BG24 Premiere
Choreographers:
Keith A. Thompson & Carley Conder
Sound:
"Elegy for Solo Violin" by Igor Stravinsky, "Passacaglia in G Minor (after G.F. Handel)" by Johan Halvorsen
Text:
Recalled from the memories of the dancers, musicians and choreographers
Lighting Design:
Jordan Daniels
Costume Design:
Cari Smith
Performers:
Alix Chappell, Leah Friedman, Juan Carlos Gutiérrez García, Isiah Johnson, Simon Lace, Kelsey Metz
This collaborative project investigates things forgotten and things recalled. Our guiding principle was to explore "things left behind" ... in our childhoods, in our memories and in our lives. How do these artifacts/foods/places/songs from the past help us understand who we are today?
Special thanks to team of collaborators! Our musicians, Chino and Michael; our costume designer Cari and lighting designer Jordan.
Carley Conder is Artistic Director of CONDER/dance, founded in Arizona in 2003. Based in Tempe, Carley has invested her time and talents towards providing opportunities for contemporary dance artists in Arizona. CONDER/dance enjoys artist-in-residence status at Tempe Center for the Arts and Carley’s recent projects include creative collaborations with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and Wonderspaces. Carley’s choreographhic work has been presented at Dixon Place (NYC), Center for Performance Research (Brooklyn), Martha Graham Studios (NYC), John Ryan Theater (Brooklyn), and the Diavolo Space (Los Angeles). She was profiled in "Phoenix's 100 Creatives" by the Phoenix NewTimes and chosen as “Best Dancer of 2015” by the Phoenix NewTimes. Carley has been the recipient of arts funding through the City of Tempe, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Target Arts Grants and the Consulate General of Israel. Carley is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Dance in the School of Music, Dance and Theater at Arizona State University.
Keith A. Thompson is a multifaceted contemporary dance artist currently serving as Assistant Director of the Dance program and Associate Professor within the School for Music, Dance, and Theatre at Arizona State University, as well as their Center for Race and Democracy´s inaugural faculty resident artist. He danced internationally for the Trisha Brown Company (1992-2001), including serving as her Rehearsal Assistant (1998-2001); has performed with Bebe Miller Company; and is frequent performer, choreographer, and rehearsal director with Liz Lerman. As a teacher, he has taught master classes and workshops for Sasha Waltz & Dancers (Berlin), Tanzwerkstatt Europa Festival (Munich), the TsEKh Summer Dance School (Moscow), the International Dance Festival (Kyoto, Sapporo, Tokyo Japan), and the Korea Dance Festival (Seoul), as well as been on the faculty at the Florida Dance Festival, the American Dance Festival, served on the artistic panel for DTW’s Fresh Tracks (New York), as an adjudicator for the American College Dance Festival Association, and more. Since 2006, he has served as Artistic Director of danceTactics performance group, where his choreography has been featured in New York at Dance Theater Workshop´s Guest Artist Series, Dixon Place, Dance New Amsterdam, and the Dance Now Festival, as well as Harvard University, the University of Maryland College Park, the Dance Boom Festival (PA), the Jersey Moves Festival (NJ), the Aging in America Conference (CA), the Montpelier International Dance Festival (France), the Edinburgh Festival (UK), and Theater X (Japan). Keith received his MFA Research Fellowship in Dance from Bennington College (Vermont) in 2003.