Oakland Dance Festival/TOGETHER Concert

Oakland Dance Festival/TOGETHER Concert

DDCdances & Patterson Rhythm Pace Dance Co.

November 18, 2011 @ 7:30 PM

Harrison High School Auditorium, 29995 West 12 Mile Rd, Farmington Hills

Farmington Public Schools’ Harrison High School Dance Company presents the 6^th Annual Oakland Dance Festival. The very popular Oakland Dance Festival is expanding this Fall and will present Together, a joint concert by DDCdances and Patterson Rhythm Pace Dance Co.

DDC is excited to share the stage with PRP on Friday, November 18. The concert is open to the public as well as young dancers attending the festival. Audiences will have the opportunity to see two Detroit based professional dance companies in an electrifying concert that features modern and jazz dance works that are inspiring, thought provoking and high-energy. Enjoy an evening of spectacular dances choreographed by the best Detroit metro area dance artists, Barbara Selinger, DDC artistic director, and Gregory Patterson, PRP, artistic director.

DDCdances will be performing three works:

Excerpts from Dances for Isadora, a historic work choreographed in 1971 by José Limón, one of the most prominent American choreographers in modern dance. His choreography is powerful; focusing on human drama, and often incorporates themes from literature, history or religion. Dances for Isadora is a beautiful classic work inspired by the life of dance pioneer Isadora Duncan and performed to the music of Frédéric Chopin.

Pier: What Is Left Behind, choreographed by Corinne Imberski, was inspired by the contemplative nature of water.  The pier represents a place we visit when we want to reminisce, or to forget and look forward.  Time, memory, and water erode, wearing away until only the essence is left behind. “One must lose one’s life to find It.” –Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea.

The Room, choreographed by artistic director, Barbara Selinger in collaboration with John Sobczak, photography artist, is a multi-media dance, which includes photographic projections that reflect places and people in space and time, “where the daily furniture of our lives stirs and the improbable arrives” (from This Room, a poem by Imitiaz Dharker). The Room, a visually stunning feast for the eyes, creates a dreamlike atmosphere on stage that is both real and surreal.

Patterson Rhythm Pace Dance Company will perform two works:

Space, choreographed by Gregory Patterson, PRP artistic director, explores personal space and how some people feel comfortable or uncomfortable when their personal space is invaded. The work takes into consideration how people work around each other to protect their space and at the same time, share it.

Excerpts from Swingin’, first performed as an evening length concert that celebrated the big band music of the 40’s & 50’s, was inspired by Patterson’s work Sweet Ella Suite. The dances are choreographed to well known songs written by Gershwin, Cole, and other famous composers of the time. Swingin’ includes choreography by Ali Woerner as well as Patterson.

Tickets: $15 general admission or $10 festival participants - may be purchased at the door or online www.detroitdancecollective.org

For more info visit www.detroitdancecollective.org, contact DDC at 810-444-4553 or barb@detroitdancecollective.org

DDCdances (Detroit Dance Collective) · P.O. Box 3012, · Farmington Hills, MI 48333-3012