Brendan Drake Choreography to Bring ROPE to HERE, 8/18-23

Brendan Drake Choreography is proud to present ROPE at New York City's HERE from August 18-23.

Loosely inspired by Aflred Hitchcock's film of the same name, this 50-minute work for 4 male dancers utilizes a world of heightened reality to draw a parallel between the onscreen depiction popular villains as gay men. Drawing upon the camp of Hollywood Film Noir, ROPE explores the closeted queer experience with mystery and flamboyance to the same tune as many popular thrillers, such as "Funny Games," "Cruising," "The Maltese Falcon," and even more recently, "Gone Girl," several superhero and videogame franchises, and the Harry Potter film series.

ROPE was originally commissioned for the inaugural season of CRAWL, a city wide dance initiative curated by Kate Ladenheim of The People Movers, and it premiered at Gowanus Loft in March, 2015. This production is a part of SubletSeries@HERE: Co-op, HERE's curated rental program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical support. Performances of ROPE at HERE are supported, in part, by a 2015 CUNY Dance Initiative Rehearsal Residency at Baruch College.

Tickets are $15. HERE is located at 145 6th Avenue (Enter on Dominick, 1 Block South of Spring). For tickets and information, go to here.org or call 212-352-3101. Performances: Aug. 18 @ 8:30pm; Aug. 19 @ 8:30pm; Aug. 20 @ 8:30pm; Aug. 21 @ 8:30pm; Aug. 22 @ 8:30pm; and Aug. 23 @ 4:00pm.

BRENDAN DRAKE (Choreographer) is the recipient of a 2015 CUNY Dance initiative grant through Baruch College where he is an artist-in-residence. His work has been produced at Movement Research, Playwrights Horizons, Triskelion Arts Center, The Current Sessions, Dixon Place and WestFest. In addition, he choreographed the fall 2014 "Equality = Love" campaign for Adidas Originals/Pharrell Williams and commercial spots for Thursday Island (Korea), Kate Spade, and Hermes. He has also served as movement coordinator on editorial shoots for Elle Magazine, Cate Blanchett, and Lorde. Brendan received his BFA in Dance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is also a contributing writer for BroadwayWorld.com and a fiscally sponsored artist through Fractured Atlas.

QUENTIN BURLEY (Dancer) is a dance artist based in Brooklyn. He has spent the past few years as a freelance videographer, capturing performances ranging from downtown dance to a one-man clown show. He is the Artistic Director of Quentin Burley Dance Group which has presented work at The Red Bean Studios and Triskelion Arts. He has also had the pleasure of performing with Dante Brown | Warehouse Dance, Brendan Drake, The Moving Architects, and The Median Movement. He hails from Youngstown, Ohio and received a BFA in Dance and a BA in Philosophy from The Ohio State University in 2013.

ZACHARY DENISON (Dancer) is originally from northwest Arkansas moved to NYC to study acting at programs such as the American Dramatic Academy of Dramatic Arts the Actors workshop with the late Mike Nichols and countless others credits include Bway tours of "Cats" and Susan Stromans "The Music Man" regionally Westside Story (VMT) NYC Fringe, Improv Everywhere, NYMF, Cherry Lane Theater and the Public, as a dancer he has had the pleasure of working for Sean Curran, Heidi Latsky, Bradley Shelver, Levy Dance, Mario Zambrano, Michou Szabo, Christopher Williams, Jody Oberfelder, Malcom Low, Larry Keigwin, Lar Lubovitch, Gibney Dance, The Steps Ensemble, Kinesis Dance Project, Tough Cookie Dance, Catapult, Project 44, Dancers Responding to AIDS, Broadway Cares and the Metropolitan Opera he is thrilled to join the cast of ROPE.

ADAM GAUZZA (Dancer) has worked with a variety of artists and companies including Lyric Opera of Chicago, Sylvain Émard, Zoe Scofield, JAXON Movement Arts, Company XIV, Bennyroyce Dance Productions, Collective Body Dance Lab, Same Planet Different World Dance Theater, Striding Lion Performance Group, Hedwig Dances, Renata Sheppard, Rose&Stags, and Raizel Productions. In 2013, he choreographed and danced in Arcade Fire's Reflektor tour and collaborated with Tate Jorgensen, Head Over Heels. He has assisted in setting the works of choreographers Jeff Hancock and Joanna Rosenthal at Northwestern University, University of Minnesota, and the Joffrey Academy of Dance. He graduated cum laude in 2009 with a BA in dance and gender studies from Northwestern University.

CALVIN TSANG (Dancer) is a dance maker, performer, and educator in NYC. Born in California, Calvin first started dancing while performing with his high school show choir. Since jazz hands and box steps, Calvin has co-founded the companies Collective Dance Collective and Big Umbrella Productions. In NYC, Calvin has performed in the Triskelion Arts CollabFest, Red Hook Fest, and We Just Love Things at Gowanus Loft, where he also presented work. Calvin received his BA in Dance from UC San Diego and has trained at the California Ballet School and The Ailey School.