2006 ARCHIVE
THANKS PERFORMANCES BIOS CONTACTS AWARDS VIDEO
Dance
Force Productions
Dance Force Productions is an award-winning professional dance company that presents dance entertainment for corporations, charity galas, and private parties. Dance Force also provides performances and dance instruction to public and private schools. The company has performed for the Discovery Health Channel, The Food Network, the 2004 All-Star Baseball VIP Party, the 2005 All-Star NBA VIP Party, the Cast of Chicago, and thousands of other special events. They won the 2005 Dance Houston Award for their performance at Hobby Center. "Our goal is to intermingle musical theater and cutting-edge dance in our hopes to delight and excite our audiences!"
Chucke’s
Choreography
Crossing Borders
Choreographers: Ericka Pena and Jene Walker
Dancers: Veronica Cerda, Stephanie Esparza, Marlene Toral,
Brittney Vega, Jacky Madrid, Crystal Yeppez, Jennifer Macias, Amber
Correa, Erick Montante, Lauro Lopez, Luis Lopez, Jeremy Longoria, Jose
Calvillo, Raymond Gonzales and Joshua Zaragoza.
Music: So Bad, Promiscuous Girl, and Mambo Kings
The first section of this piece was inspired by Afro-Cuban movements known
as Guaguanco, the salsa portion is Puerto-Rican mambo, and the jazz
inspired hip hop came from the streets of North Side Houston.
Chucke’s Choreography aims to be a non-profit organization committed to developing Houston youth by providing professional dance training and performance opportunities.
Fred Astaire Dance Company Grease Attacked Choreographers: Steven Knight, Eddie Apolonav Dancers: Art Wiley, Maurice Bonilla, Bryttany Hickman, Ben Seifert, Dinorah Gonzales, Kevin Prothro, Sabine Heydecker, Jessica Lail, Nicole Harford, Tommy Alejandro, Roman Mocharsky, Lisa Rae-Hernandez This high energy dance incorporates the classic movements of Swing and Cha Cha. Fred Astaire Dance Company is comprised of top dancers from the Fred Astaire Dance Studios of Memorial, Kingwood, and The Woodlands.
Al
Neshama Folkloric Dance Company
Debka
All company
members participate in recreating these folkloric dances from Palestine
and Lebanon
Dancers:
Aseel Saqer, Rami Ashawa, Zaid Amin, Nour Amin, Ammar Selo, Rula Khoury,
Yasmin Al-Zibdeh, Khalid Al –Zibdeh, Summer Al-Zibdeh Rock Music: Freddie
Barette, Matt Frey, D. Rock, Jonny Striker
Music: Wayn
A Ramallah & Dallounah
Wayn A Ramallah
This traditional song is about the city of
Ramallah located in West Bank,
Palestine. The song expresses the deep nostalgia of a family who hopes to
return to their land and find prosperity there. The dancers’ movements act
out the rituals of planting and harvesting.
Dallounah
This Lebanese song features a man who sings to win the affection of a
beautiful, charming girl. The dancers pair off, symbolizing courtship and
the celebration of young love. The footsteps emphasize the beat of the
music and the enthusiasm of two lovers.
Al Neshama
Folkloric Dance Troupe is a group of Arab-American youth who devote a
tremendous amount of time and effort to spread the joy of Arabic dance and
music to their audiences. Using traditional music and authentic costumes,
they choreograph their own dances based on the traditional movements and
patterns of debka dance.
Marvelous
Motion
The Come Up
Choreographer: Andrew Baterina
Asst.
Choreographers: Jackie Lautchang, Brian Puspos
Dancers: Sara,
Ria, Shanice, Jackie, Jil, Julie, Andrew, Moon, Brian P, Dee, Brian F,
Pat, Ailyn, and Mark
Marvelous Motion
strives to bring originality to Houston’s dance scene. We believe in
having fun before anything else. We love being on stage and hope to spread
our dance to anyone that is willing to learn.
Barbara
King’s Dance Company
Circle of Life
Choreographer: Barbara A. King
Dancers:
Kevin King, Patricia Kaniowski, Ryan Lewis, Rebecca Avila, Carlos Solis,
Verneal Morin, Maddie Kiley, Mayela Arends, Jessica Wang, Tracy Adams,
Jeanine Stewart, William Alvarez
Music:
Samples from The Lion King Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Through a dramatic fusion of traditional ballroom and contemporary dance,
“Circle of Life” celebrates life and the power of dance. This dance
illustrates the relationships between souls and the mysterious connection
between cultures that form a common bond through dance!
Barbara King
Dance Company has been in existence for 20 years and continues to enjoy
the privilege and pleasure of performing for others. Since its inception
as a local, family-based company, Barbara King Dance Company has gained
national and international recognition. They have performed for Texas
senators and congressmen, at the 2004 Super Bowl pre-party hosted in
Houston, and at the Houston Rockets halftime shows. They have appeared on
the Debra Duncan Show and Great Day Houston, in a BBC documentary on
Beyonce/Destiny’s Child, and have had their performances televised in Tel
Aviv Israel.
Psophonia Dance Company
…devil’s playground
Choreographer: Sonia Noriega
Dancer:
Lindsey McGill
Music: John
Williams
…devil’s playground is based on the saying “An idle mind is the devil’s
playground”. A daily routine turns into something else as the subject
encounters sensory deprivation and the idle mind.
Founded in
1998, the innovative, imaginative, theatrical, and daring Psophonia Dance
Company explores kinesthetic and kinetic language with an infinite
spectrum of ideas and images that dazzle their audiences. Psophonia is
dedicated to enriching the life of our community by creating and
presenting dances that entertain, intrigue, delight and educate audiences
of all ages.
Houston
Metropolitan Dance Company
Tidal Intersections
Choreographer: Katarzyna Skarpetowska
Dancers: Dustin Crumbaugh, Lauren Garson,
Jonnesha Hawkins, Karen
Pfeiffer, Lindsay Lab, Dana
Lester, Kiki Lucas, Marlana Walsh
Music: Philip
Glass & Ravi Shankar
This piece explodes onto the stage with bold movement, lively music, and
brilliant color. The dancers intertwine and create patterns only to
vanish into duets and solos.
Breathtaking, awesome and inspiring: these are but a few of the comments
Houston audiences have said about an evening with the Houston Metropolitan
Dance Company. Since 1995, the company has presented contemporary dance
that explodes in movement, color and emotion. The company mixes the most
edgy styles of dance and music with the classics to create a kaleidoscope
of new and abundant energy. This strong and versatile company performs
jazz, ballet, modern, tap and even hip hop pieces that dance aficionados
of all levels love to watch.
Rednerrus
Feil Dance Company
Sweet Lullaby
Choreographer: Amy E. Llanes
Dancers:
Stephanie Beall, Lauren Cook, Audra Cowling, Amy E. Llanes
Music: “The
News” by Jack Johnson
“Sweet Lullaby” was inspired by the “Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no
evil” concept. Whether we, as a society, choose not to notice or posses a
childlike mind of innocence, we shut our ears, turn a blind eye, and hold
our tongues to the aggressive notions of today. Should we be freed from
the restraints or hold our true passions inside?
Rednerrus
Feil Dance Company will give the audience a better understanding and a
greater appreciation for the passion of performance art. Through dance
performances in the simplest form of movement, we will introduce a new way
of audience participation. By offering lectures and workshops we give the
audience a personal connection to the art of dance.
Urban
Souls Dance Company
Scarlet Situation
Choreographers: Harry Guy & Walter Hull
Dancers:
Walter Hull, Quincy Tolliver, Rachel Eckroth, Jadie Gill, Tiffany Hall,
Jude Evans
Music:
American Beauty Soundtrack, Lambrana, KEM
Scarlet Situation takes you through the stages of dealing with HIV/AIDS
from the initial conception of having the disease, to denial, and then
Acceptance.
Urban Souls
Dance Company (USDC) was conceived with the intent to bridge the gap
between urban life and Dance Theater. And what Urban Souls promises, it
certainly delivers. By boldly blending technique, passion, and African
American culture, this company utilizes the stage to tell real life
stories to its audiences in unforgettable, thought-provoking,
performances.
Dance
of Asian America
Winter’s Blossoms
An excerpt
from “East Meets West IV: The Four Seasons”
Classical
Chinese dance restaged by Janie Yao
Dancers: Christie Chen, Jessica Chen, Valentina Chen,
Sutian Dong, Christina Dwan, Nova Hou, Linda Huang, Erica Hui, Amenda Lee,
Hope Lee, Jocelyn Lo, Shirley Luong, Nicole Nguyen, Tiffany Pham
Understudies: Vinita Chen, Meilin Lee, Thy Nguyen Winter’s Blossoms is a classical Chinese dance from Mainland, China. The dance portrays the theme of new beginnings as seen through the flourishing of beautiful plum blossoms in the cold harsh winter. Dance of Asian America (DAA) aims to promote better understanding of Chinese culture through harmoniously uniting Chinese and western dance styles and providing young dancers with professional training and performance opportunities. By doing so, this company brings its diverse audiences and dancers together through an appreciation for culture and the power of dance.
WyldStyL
The Urban Elements
Choreographer: Gary Connor
Dancers: Gary
Connor, Duy Nguyen, Anthony Le, Richard Kim, Phuka Truong, Folake Bolatiwa,
Taiwo Bolatiwa, Theresa Huynh, Chieko Sloan, Sharhonda Jones, Tracy
Flores, Lauren Miller, Vanessa Casteneda, Amanda Suarez
The Urban Elements brings a colorful and eclectic montage of the various
styles of hip hop dance, citing its influences in pop culture and beyond.
Fresh from
representing Texas in the national hip hop championships, WyldStyL
Entertainment Group enjoys worldwide acclaim for its unique brand of hip
hop choreography. In addition to its artistic goal of creating fresh
urban dance, WyldStyL exists to provide a positive example for young
lives. WyldStyL instills confidence, promotes healthy lifestyles, and
gives a voice to kids who are often only looking to be heard. The hip hop
dance culture began over 25 years ago as a positive outlet for youthful
energy and an alternative to drugs and violence. WyldStyL and its family
of dance crews and individuals are proud to carry on that legacy.
Easy
Credit Theater
Under the Murky Water
Choreographer: Richard Hubscher
Dancers:
Richard Hubscher, Greg Lacko, Andrew Kozma, Erika Martinez, Ashley Horn, Vivian Kalinov,
Miss Bianca
Violinist:
Addie Tsai
Poetry:
Scarecrow by
Jericho Brown,
In the Sudden Flood by Andrew Kozma, City Underwater
by Addie Tsai
This piece is a response to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina through
poetic expression and movement, an act of remembrance of life washed away
by such a tremendous force of nature, and the transformations through
which the victims of Katrina have journeyed.
Best known in the
underground circles of H-town, Easy Credit Theater for the past 10 years
has created dynamic, cutting edge, provocative, post-nuclear movement.
Nowhere else will you see the human condition expressed unabashed,
unveiled, unmatched, unparalleled, unrelenting, unbelievable! HAIL THE
REIGNING BEST DANCE TROUPE IN 2000 BY HOUSTON PRESS! (Commence growling.)
Where haven't they been? The Wortham, Alley Theater, Jones Hall,
DiverseWorks, Barnevelder, Kaplan Theatre, your next door neighbor's, tea
with your mother-in-law...anywhere in town you'd expect to see dance
theater except for Zilkha Hall, NOTSUOH, Numbers, Helios, Barbara Davis
Gallery, Tyler Junior College, and New York City's Off-Broadway (Medicine
Show Ensemble), to name a few.
Ad
Deum Dance Company
Rainbows for the Fallen
Choreographers: Amy Cain, Dawn Dippel, Randall Flinn
Dancers:
Harlan Alford, Melissa Brading, Amy Cain, Carla Carrizzoire, Dawn Dippel,
Charlene Gibbs, Sarah Niewola, Tapley Seaford, Shizu Yasuda, Jennifer Yoh
Music: Enya
Rainbows for the Fallen expresses the richness, beauty, and depth of human
dependence on relationships. Humans are meant to have relationships. When
we nurture others we carry or support them through difficult times,
trusting that we in turn will be supported in our times of need. Without
this interaction, we suffer the burden of life alone. With it we are
whole, and when we give of ourselves, we offer Rainbows for the Fallen.
Ad Deum Dance Company is a professional
contemporary/modern dance company based in Houston, Texas. Ad Deum unites
a living faith in Christ
with the excellence of
inspired dance artistry. The company has toured both nationally and
internationally, receiving outstanding reviews at home and abroad in
nations such as China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Poland and
Austria. Through the freedom created by God for the expressions of the
human body, soul, and spirit, these artists explore the mysteries of
faith, grace, beauty, and redemption with dramatic passion, flowing grace,
and fierce athleticism.
Sabor
Mexico Theatrical Dance Company
Sones Antiguos de Michoacan
Classical
Ballet Folklorico restaged by Patricia Astorga
Dancers:
Patricia Astorga, Laurie Nash, Stefania
Gorski, Adriana Figueroa-Jones, Vanessa Velasquez, Lucas Rountree,
Julietta Sandoval, Yvette
Maldonado
Sonajas were originally created by Amalia Hernandez. Inspired by the
joyous and excited movements of children playing, Amalia combined this
idea with ballet to create her first Ballet Folklorico de Mexico
choreography. These traditional dances are performed as a part of the
celebration to the Virgen de Acahuato that takes place every 2nd of
February during the Feria de Apatzingan.
Founded in August 2005 by artistic director/choreographer
Patricia Astorga,
Sabor
Mexico Theatrical Dance Company aims to illustrate and interpret Mexican
culture through dance, becoming the foremost of its kind in greater
Houston today.
Sabor Mexico’s
innovative repertory fuses ballet, modern and Latin dance into a spirited
balance of traditional and contemporary, Mexican-American culture. Sabor
Mexico is dedicated to preserving the rich Mexican heritage of dance by
creating and performing both traditional and interpretative dance works of
beauty and meaning and so impart to their audiences an educational as well
as theatrical experience of culture.
Shawn
Welling’s Planet Funk
ELC - the Tragedy of Daniel
Choreographers: Shawn Welling, Liz Hewett, Tesia Truitt, Amber Thornton,
Lindsay Slott, Oliver Osuna,
Dancers:
Shawn Welling, Amber Thornton, Oliver Osuna, Tesia Truitt, Lindsay Slott,
Jerome Hill, Liz Hewett, Courtney Paige, Cassye Horner, Elissa Wilki,
Shaina Perry, Corey Fox, Nydia Reyes, Savannah Stein, Joel Martin, Colleen
Stein, Renee Austin, Marielle Trevino, Nikki Ceparano, Ashlie Hamilton,
Cecori Davis, Ronni Jenkins, Heather Twigg, Andrey Vinogradov, Caroline
Sinclair, Desiree Chaver, Rachel McCracken, Cortney Hodges
Music:
Original Music Score by Shawn Welling, Vocals by Westfeild Chamber Choir
and Planet Funk Dancers, Vocal Samples from Korn.
"ELC
-The Tragedy of Daniel” springs up from the common pop culture of today to
forge into the very uncommon and surrealistic world of Planet Funk’s
ongoing concert series, “Electric Light Circus.” Acrobats and gymnasts
blend with comedy and stunning displays of athleticism to portray the
stages in the life of a girl named Daniel.
Shawn Welling’s Planet Funk was founded in 1989 as an urban
dance performance art group under the direction of Shawn Welling. Built in
2000, the Planet Funk Academy has become synonymous with urban dance
training and is a Houston legend. Hip-hop, funk, street jazz, street tap,
and Latin dance are among the many dance styles taught there by several of
the best local if not national instructors - Wade Robson, Brain Freedman,
the Lion King cast, and Dave Scott. The studio has appeared on national
television programs such as "Good Morning
America",
“Oprah”, Bravo Network, and recently on MTV’s “Making the Band” and on
over 60 local television debuts on ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC.
All photos of DANCE HOUSTON 2006 by Reefpix.org