Archive: Dance Writing, Reviews, and Podcasts

Stories are among our most potent tools. We need to unearth old stories that live in a place and begin to create new ones. We are story makers, not just storytellers. All stories are connected, new ones woven from the threads of the old.  – Robin Wall Kimmerer, paraphrased

Join ARENA DANCES for our weekly Studio Stories Podcast, where each week we reminisce on Twin Cities dance history with a new special guest. This week, we sat down with E.E. Balcos to learn about his journey. 

E.E. Balcos is a  Filipino-American and is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He began formal training with modern dance pioneer Hanya Holm while also engaging in the practice of contact improvisation. A successful performer and choreographer for over 35 years, he danced with numerous independent Minneapolis choreographers, as well as works by numerous nationally recognized choreographers and dance artists. E.E. was the Artistic Director and choreographer for his company E.E.MOTION from 2007-2013. This year (2021), he will be performing a new solo, Tales from the Wizard, choreographed by Bill Evans. His current endeavors apply somatic approaches to choreography, dance performance, interdisciplinary collaborations, physical resilience, and teaching.

Visit http://www.arena-dances.org to listen, or check it out wherever you get your podcasts!

 

Stories are among our most potent tools. We need to unearth old stories that live in a place and begin to create new ones. We are story makers, not just storytellers. All stories are connected, new ones woven from the threads of the old. – Robin Wall Kimmerer, paraphrased

Join ARENA DANCES for our weekly Studio Stories Podcast, where each week we reminisce on Twin Cities dance history with a new special guest. This week, we sat down with Helen Hatch to learn about her journey. 

Helen Hatch is the founder and artistic director of contemporary dance company Hatch Dance. A Minnesota native, Helen graduated cum laude from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program. From 2011-2017, Helen was a member of Minnesota Dance Theatre, performing a diverse repertory in addition to creating her own work. She has been commissioned by a number of organizations and artists, including JUNTOS Collective, Aveda Corporation, McKnight Fellowship winner Penelope Freeh, The Southern Theater, and more. 

Visit http://www.arena-dances.org to listen, or check it out wherever you get your podcasts!

After an exciting, thought-provoking four seasons, Studio Stories will return on August 5 for Season 5 of this unique podcast. We have an amazing line-up of artists on board to share their Twin Cities dance history and reminisce on the arcs of their careers. Kicking off the new season next week will be Helen Hatch!

Studio Stories will continue to air weekly on Thursdays at noon, with host Mathew Janczewski. It is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple, Spotify, Deezer, Pocket Casts, and more. You can also listen right on our website at http://www.arena-dances.org/studio-stories-reminiscing-on-twin-cites-dance-history/! 

ARENA DANCES weekly podcast shares a mini series featuring artists that will premiere new work at our CANDY BOX Dance Festival July 12-16! This Thursday, tune in to our conversation with Kristin Van Loon and Arwen Wilder of HIJACK!

HIJACK is the Minneapolis-based choreographic collaboration of Kristin Van Loon and Arwen Wilder. HIJACK is the confluence and clash of two independent compositional/kinesthetic impulses. Their dances embrace juxtaposition. Their dances house unlikely intimates and question “who is the enemy?” Over the last 28 years they have created over 100 dances and performed in venues ranging from proscenium to barely-legal. 

HIJACK performs this Thursday and Friday at the CANDY BOX Dance Festival – tickets available at https://www.arena-dances.org/candybox2021-live-dance-festival/

Visit http://www.arena-dances.org to listen, or check it out wherever you get your podcasts!

ARENA DANCES’ weekly podcast shares a mini series featuring artists that will premiere new work at our CANDY BOX Dance Festival July 12-16! This Thursday, tune in to our conversation with Pedro Pablo of Viva la Pepa and next Tuesday, listen to HIJACK!

Pedro Pablo
July 8 at Noon
Pedro Pablo (they/them) is a Venezuelan-raised, Minneapolis-based queer dancer / performance maker, and founder/director of Viva la Pepa (www.vivalapepa.org), a collective of multi-generational queer performers in the Twin Cities. Their works are fueled by the overlapping values of Latinx and Queer cultures: melodrama, passion, decadence, and sensuality.

HIJACK
July 13 at Noon
HIJACK is the Minneapolis-based choreographic collaboration of Kristin Van Loon and Arwen Wilder. HIJACK is the confluence and clash of two independent compositional/kinesthetic impulses. Their dances embrace juxtaposition. Their dances house unlikely intimates and question “who is the enemy?” Over the last 28 years they have created over 100 dances and performed in venues ranging from proscenium to barely-legal.

Visit http://www.arena-dances.org to listen, or check it out wherever you get your podcasts!

ARENA DANCES weekly podcast shares a mini series featuring artists that will premiere new work at our CANDY BOX Dance Festival July 12-16! This week we sat down with Berit Algren of HoneyWorks and Laura Osterhaus Rosenstone of Slo Dance company – their episodes air this week! 

HoneyWorks  – July 29 at Noon
Ahlgren established HoneyWorks in 2019, a dance organization to house interdisciplinary work. Native to St. Paul, MN, Berit Ahlgren trained at Minnesota Dance Theater with both Loyce and Lise Houlton. A founding member, Ahlgren performed with TU Dance 2006—2016. In 2011, Ahlgren had the opportunity to study the Gaga Movement Language in Tel Aviv, and moved to Israel to pursue a year-long Gaga teacher certification. Ahlgren obtained her MFA in Dance from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts in 2016, where she expanded her interests to film and technology, actively collaborating with NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP).

Slo Dance Company – July 30 at Noon
As the founder and artistic director of Slo Dance Company, Laura Osterhaus Rosenstone collaborates with an ever-evolving group of artists to build performance work seeded in slowness, focused on embracing the rich process of intimate relationship-building and developing collective awareness that challenges perception of time. Laura is currently pursuing her Masters of Fine Arts as a Teaching Fellow at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. While pursuing her bachelor’s degree in dance and fashion studies at the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, Laura had the opportunity to perform the work of modern/contemporary dance choreographers Nora Chipaumire, Gregory Dolbashian, Maurya Kerr, and Garth Fagan among others. She was a member of Zenon Dance Company in Minneapolis 2016-2019.

Visit http://www.arena-dances.org to listen, or check it out wherever you get your podcasts!

 

Join ARENA DANCES for our weekly Studio Stories Podcast, where each week we reminisce on Twin Cities dance history with a new special guest. The next several weeks we are airing a special series, featuring artists that will premiere new work at our CANDY BOX Dance Festival July 12-16! This week we sat down with Annika Hansen and Abigail Whitmore – one of the festival’s Happy Hour Artists.

Abigail Whitmore (she/her) and Annika Hansen (they/them, she/her) are dance artists and partners invested in collaborative efforts, performative events, and dance as embodied research. Both graduates of the University of Minnesota Dance Program, they draw inspiration from somatic practices, improvisation, post-modern, and contemporary dance forms. In their work together, they have partnered with Glam Doll Donuts with the support of a UROP grant (You’re Invited, 2016), the Casket Arts Building (Casket Dances, 2018), and the Walker Art Center (SculpTour, 2018/2019) to produce public dance events and experiment with audience engagement. Most recently, they were collaborating artists on a piece (To and From:) for the Red Eye Theater’s Works in Progress 2019 program. This year they are also planning another SculpTour event in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. 

Studio Stories will air each Thursday at noon with new guests joining the host to reminisce and share their memories and history with our dance scene. 

Visit http://www.arena-dances.org to listen, or check it out wherever you get your podcasts!

Join ARENA DANCES for our weekly Studio Stories Podcast, where each week we reminisce on Twin Cities dance history with a new special guest. The next several weeks we are airing a special series, featuring artists that will premiere new work at our CANDY BOX Dance Festival July 12-16! This week we sat down with Danielle Ricci of Borealis Dance Theatre – one of the festival’s Happy Hour Artists.

Danielle Ricci is an educator, choreographer, director, and dancer. She received her BFA in Dance Performance from University of California, Irvine in 2006 under direction of Donald McKayle. In 2014 she graduated with an MA in Arts and Cultural Management from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and earned an MFA in Choreography from Jacksonville University in 2018. Danielle is the Founding Artistic Director of Borealis Dance Theatre, a professional modern dance company based in Minneapolis. She is also the director of Dance Camera North, an annual international dance film festival. Her choreography has been recognized as “Best of the Festival” at the Frontera Fringe Festival in Austin, TX in 2010 and 2012. 

Studio Stories will air each Thursday at noon with new guests joining the host to reminisce and share their memories and history with our dance scene. 

Visit http://www.arena-dances.org to listen, or check it out wherever you get your podcasts!

Join ARENA DANCES for our weekly Studio Stories Podcast, where each week we reminisce on Twin Cities dance history with a new special guest. The next several weeks we are airing a special series, featuring artists that will premiere new work at our CANDY BOX Dance Festival July 12-16! Kicking off this mini series is Leila Awadallah – one of the festival’s Happy Hour Artists.

Leila Awadallah [leilawa] is a Palestinian American dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker based between Minneapolis and Beirut. She is in the beginnings of Body Watani, a dance project that engages performance, film, and workshops. Body Watani is premiering it’s first collaborative work-in-progress TERRANEA: hakawati of the sea at the Candy Box festival this year, following the premiere of a solo-version at the Arab American National Museum in 2020.

Studio Stories will air each Thursday at noon with new guests joining the host to reminisce and share their memories and history with our dance scene.

Visit http://www.arena-dances.org to listen, or check it out wherever you get your podcasts!

Join ARENA DANCES for our weekly Studio Stories Podcast, where each week we reminisce on Twin Cities dance history with a new special guest. This week, we sat down with Bonnie Mathis to learn about her journey. 

Bonnie Mathis was a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre and a soloist with the Harkness Ballet and also performed with many modern companies, namely the Lar Lubovitch Company, the Paul Taylor Company, the Paul Sanasardo Company, the Norman Walker Company, and the Nederlands Dans Theatre. She was part of the dance community of Minneapolis from 1980 to 2005, initially teaching ballet for the Minnesota Dance Theater, the University of Minnesota, the Northwest Ballet, and in 1989 co-creating Ballet Arts Minnesota.

In addition to teaching and coaching dancers, she also created ballets for the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, Boston Ballet II, the Boston Lyric Opera, the Boston Conservatory, as well as many self-produced concerts in Minneapolis supported by grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board.

Studio Stories will air each Thursday at noon with new guests joining the host to reminisce and share their memories and history with our dance scene. 

Visit http://www.arena-dances.org to listen, or check it out wherever you get your podcasts!