LA-Based Dance Company Contra-Tiempo to Bring FULL STILL HUNGRY to NYC, 1/12

Critically acclaimed Los-Angeles-based CONTRA-TIEMPO will present its work "Full Still Hungry" at St. Marks Church-in-the-Bowery on January 12, 2014 at 4:00 pm. The performance marks the company's first New York City performance in five years, since Backstage named founder Ana Maria Alvarez "a rising star of the dance world."

CONTRA-TIEMPO returns to New York having established its reputation as a dance innovator, named by the Los Angeles Times as "the new face of Los Angeles dance, and the new voice as well." Founded and directed by Alvarez in 2005, CONTRA-TIEMPO's unique Urban Latin Dance Theater brings to life voices that are not traditionally heard on the concert stage, fusing salsa, Afro-Cuban, contemporary urban, and dance theater styles to create an invigorating blend of physically intense and socially astute performance. The company is dedicated to transforming the world through dance; in addition to its repertory work, it is a leader in dance education and engagement with communities nationwide.

"Full Still Hungry" is the company's newest work, which premiered at the Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles in 2011. The piece features the company's signature dance fusion and politically complex reflections on food, tradition, nourishment and consumption. These complexities are brought to life through the company's evocative and electric movement approach with original music composed by resident composer, Cesar Alvarez, and is performed live with a band of all star musicians including the renowned vocalist Pyeng Threadgill.

"We have many family and friends in New York, so performing here feels like a homecoming. We're excited to share with the city and our community how much CONTRA-TIEMPO has accomplished as a company, and how our work has been impacting the field in new ways," shares Alvarez. "Full Still Hungry is not just about food as material we put in our bodies to sustain life - but a web of relationships, histories, choices, decisions that all impact the world around us."

CONTRA-TIEMPO was recently selected as one of three American dance companies, alongside Mark Morris Dance Group and David Dorfman Dance, to participate in the fourth season of the prestigious DanceMotion USASM, a vibrant cultural diplomacy program of Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, produced by Brooklyn Academy Of Music (BAM). Following its performance in New York and a slate of presentation on the east coast, CONTRA-TIEMPO will represent the United States in a four-week international performance and cultural exchange in Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador in spring 2014.

CONTRA-TIEMPO's "Full Still Hungry" is presented Sunday, January 12, 2014 at St. Marks Church-in-the-Bowery, 131 E 10th St, NYC. Tickets are available at www.contra-tiempo.org and at the door. The performance coincides with the Association of Performing Arts Presenters' (APAP) 57th annual conference (January 10 - 14). $30 General Admission; $10 Students and Low Income; $100 Patrons; Free admission with APAP badge.

Get a sneak peek at FULL STILL HUNGRY below!