|
Cowell Theater
For the sixth home season, Printz Dance Project (PDP)
presents a stimulating blend of modern, hip hop, and ethnic
dance, unique stage sets, and cutting-edge music. The troupe
collaborates with visionary composers and musicians, as well
as Jigsaw Collective, a Bay Area poetry slam team.
Choreographer and dancer Stacey Printz created four of the
five pieces in PDP’s home season. The show includes the
premiere of "Urban Primates" – wild movements
that unfold in a foreboding set of metal ramps leading to
a conceptual "pit" into which the dancers "fall."
"Primates" explores the notion that humans see themselves
as sophisticated beings, but still behave according to their
primal and animal roots.
Guest choreographer Brook Notary’s Traces has
its West Coast premiere with PDP. In response to the September
11, 2001 tragedies, New York-based Notary sets Traces
to a haunting, tribal score by her brother Luke Notary.
In Traces, seven spectral figures fling ashy white
powder on themselves as they move in ritualistic paths. Clouds
of ash permeate the airspace around the performers, evoking
the Sept. 11 aftermath and feelings of memory and loss.
Youth and youth issues form the basis of "Imprint,"
another PDP premiere. Printz works extensively with teenagers,
particularly at retreats for young women. She draws on this
experience in a striking multimedia performance featuring
a video montage projected on a giant, rotating screen.
In "Hybrid Project," PDP and Jigsaw Collective poetry
slammers celebrate the 40th anniversary of Intersection For
the Arts, an innovative Mission District performance space
in San Francisco.
"Dark Spaces" mixes moody tunes from contemporary
pop bands such as Love and Rockets with original compositions
by Matthew "Kraddy" Kratz, who also scored "Imprint."
"Dark Spaces" consists of five vignettes that reveal
what happens in secret spots during private, late-night moments.
No two shows are alike because PDP performs two to four of
the five interludes in different order for each concert.
Try something new with PDP’s fluid, sensual artistry.
See October
6 for details. For more information visit www.printzdance.org.
– Claudia Willen
Image: Printz Dance Project, Photo: Lois Greenfield
|
|
