Evanston Dance Ensemble Opens Turning Point: The Young Choreographers Project on December 11

For the past 18 seasons, members of the Evanston Dance Ensemble (EDE) have grown up in an environment of dance creativity and diversity. In Turning Point: The Young Choreographers Project, opening December 11th, eleven EDE company members will have the opportunity to showcase the impact of this diverse dance training through their own choreography set on fellow company members. The production also includes the premiere of a dance piece from EDE alum and recent Julliard graduate, Eve Jacobs, who currently dances with New York City-based Jessica Lang Dance. EDE presents five performances of Turning Point: The Young Choreographers Project—on Friday, December 11 at 7:30 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday, December 12 and 13, at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.—at Studio5, Evanston’s new dance performance space located at 1934 Dempster Street. Tickets for Friday night’s special benefit performance are $50 and will include an inaugural performance ceremony at 7:15 p.m., a champagne toast, and a post-performance Q&A with the choreographers. Tickets for the remaining four shows are $12 and are available at Dance Center Evanston or online at www.events.org/ycp15.

EDE’s co-artistic directors Béa Rashid and Christina Ernst conceived of the first
Youth Choreographers Project in 2004, and this is the second time the project has been part of EDE’s full dance season. As in the first project, the choreographers chosen are matched with mentors from the professional dance community. Each person is given a budget to work with that covers costumes and props. The Young Choreographers Project reflects EDE founder Béa Rashid’s mission to expose young dancers to the world of professional dance by working with top theatrical, musical and choreographic talent to create professional caliber productions. For this production, the mission is taken one step further by giving the chosen choreographers the full creative production responsibilities.

“A project like this one gives our members an opportunity to tap into the world of creating,” explains co-artistic director Ernst. “It allows the individual quality of each of our dancers to show through and gives them a voice for their own preferential artistic expression.”

Six mentors are working with the 11 young choreographers helping to shape and clarify ideas, but not to choreograph any part of the dance. In addition to Béa Rashid and Christina Ernst, the professional dancers involved with The Young Choreographers Project as mentors include: Britt Banaszynski, artistic associate of Chicago’s Striding Lion Performance Group; Enid Smith, artistic director of enidsmithdance; Julie Cartier, artistic director of Especially Tap Chicago Dance Company; and Mike Gosney, founder and artistic director of Elements Contemporary Ballet.

Turning Point: The Young Choreographers Project is the inaugural production in Studio5, Dance Center Evanston’s (DCE) new dance theater space located next door to the dance school. Studio5 has been designed to serve as both a 100-seat performance space for area dance companies and as additional dance studio space for DCE.

For more information on EDE, go to the Evanston Dance Ensemble website at www.evanstondancensemble.org or call 847.328.6683.

PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Glavin