Four Choreographers Share a Week at The Joyce Theater 8/9-14

Camille A. Brown and Andrea Miller and Monica Bill Barnes and Kate Weare present two programs from August 9-14, 2010 at The Joyce Theater. 175 Eighth Avenue, NYC. Ms. Brown's new ensemble and Ms. Miller's company Gallim Dance share the first program. The second program features the Kate Weare Company and Monica Bill Barnes & Company. Tickets start at $10 and are available at 212-242-0800 or www.joyce.org.

Camille A. Brown will present four pieces, including three New York Premieres. City of Rain features music by Jonathan Melville Pratt. Good and Grown is a solo piece to music by Saycon Sengbloh (recently seen in Fela! on Broadway) and Wes Montgomery, featuring the visual art of Justin Morris. Ms. Brown also performs an as-yet-untitled duet with Juel D. Lane (formerly of Ronald K. Brown/Evidence) in a piece which premiered at Jacob's Pillow last month. Inspired by the events of Hurricane Katrina, New Second Line (2006), a group work, is a celebration of the spirit and culture of the people of New Orleans. Dancers representing the spirits of ancestors who have passed on, in celebration of the strength of their descendants, follow the traditional brass band parades for weddings, social events, and funerals, called Second Line. The piece will feature the work of spiritual realism visual artist Moses Ball. Lighting design by Brenda Gray. Costume design by Carolyn Meckha Cherry.

Gallim Dance will present the World Premiere of Wonderland, which employs images of war, sports, religion, and communication. The piece is a dark exploration of pack mentality - the psychological and physical episodes that occur when a herd acts as a unit through the uncoordinated behavior of self-serving individuals. Wonderland is inspired by Chinese visual artist, Cai Guo-Qiang's work Head On created for Berlin. Lighting design by Vincent Vigilante.

Kate Weare Company marks its debut season at The Joyce Theater with the World Premiere of Bright Land, a series of short, interlaced dances set to a score of old time music played live by The Crooked Jades, described as the finest string band in America by The Boston Herald. Featuring a quartet of dancers and a trio of extraordinary musicians, Bright Land explores the cyclical nature of human experiences - kinship, belief, suffering, love - through piercing, powerful choreography and fiery, soulful live music. Lighting design by Brian Jones. Costume design by Sarah Cubbage.

Monica Bill Barnes presents the New York Premiere of mostly fanfare, as well as repertory work. mostly fanfare explores the nature of performance and presentation, in particular how costume - in life as well as in art - affects an individual's assumption of identity. Costumed in feathered headdresses, the dancers' movement will juxtapose the elegant with the awkward. Repertory work will include dances that blend nuanced theatricality and irreverent humor. Barnes intends for audiences to identify and empathize with her performers, creating distinctive roles that are often warm-hearted portrayals of flawed characters. Company members Monica Bill Barnes, Anna Bass, Charlotte Bydwell and Celia Rowlson-Hall combine deadpan comedy and surprising incongruity with space-devouring choreography to create an arena of interaction and serious fun. Lighting design by Jane Cox. Costume and set design by Kelly Hanson.

On Saturday, August 14 at 2pm, all four choreographers will present a family-friendly program.

Camille A. Brown and Andrea Miller
Monday, August 9 at 7:30pm; Wednesday, August 11 at 8pm; Friday, August 13 at 8pm

Kate Weare and Monica Bill Barnes
Tuesday, August 10 at 7:30pm; Thursday, August 12 at 8pm; Saturday, August 14 at 8pm

Family-Friendly Program
Saturday, August 14 at 2pm

CAMILLE A. Brown attended LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts, The Ailey School and received her BFA from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She was a member of Ronald K. Brown's Evidence (2001-2007). As a guest artist she has performed with Dianne McIntyre, Rennie Harris, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dallas Black Dance Theater, The Princess Grace Awards Gala, and Broadway Cares with the cast of The Color Purple. Camille has been honored with a 2006 Princess Grace Award in Choreography (the first woman to be given this award), a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Choreography, The Presidential Scholar of the Arts Award in Dance, and The Project Next Generation Award. Camille has received commissions from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Hubbard Street II, Urban Bush Women, Ailey II, Ballet Memphis, Dallas Black Dance Theater and Philadanco. Her work has been showcased at Sadler's Wells, The Apollo, The Joyce Theater, Brooklyn Academy Of Music, Madison Square Garden, Joyce SoHo, Central Park Summerstage, Fall for Dance Festival, and Aaron Davis Hall (which resulted in her being noted in Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" article). This summer her performance ensemble debuts at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and The Joyce Theater. www.camilleabrown.org

ANDREA MILLER was born in Salt Lake City, where she began her dance training, followed by the Humphrey-Weidman technique in Connecticut, which led to her more formal training at The Juilliard School. Upon receiving her BFA, she joined Ohad Naharin's Ensemble Batsheva in Israel. Andrea has also performed as a guest artist with Cedar Lake Ensemble, Limon Dance Company and Buglisi Dance Theatre. In 2006, Andrea established Gallim Dance, a contemporary dance company that supports the creation and performance of her choreography. She has been awarded the 2009 Princess Grace Choreographic Fellowship Award and has been selected as one of Dance Magazine's 2009 "25 to Watch". Her work has been presented throughout the US, Canada and Israel. In addition, Andrea is the associate choreographer with Nord Nederlands Danse. Recent commissions include Ballet Hispanico, Ballet Bern, Noord Nederlandse Dans, The Juilliard School, NorthWest Dance Project, Zenon Dance Company, and Arts Umbrella. She has choreographed for students at The Juilliard School, Alvin Ailey, Purchase College, Brockport College and Wesleyan University. In addition to choreographing, Andrea teaches dance and movement to dancers and actors. Gallim Dance made its Jacob's Pillow debut in 2009 and presents its first season at The Joyce Theater in 2010. www.gallimdance.com

KATE WEARE earned her BFA in Dance from California Institute of the Arts, and founded her company in 2005. Since then Kate Weare Company has performed at venues such as Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Fall for Dance Festival, Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop, Symphony Space, and Bates Dance Festival. Weare received a Princess Grace Award for Choreography in 2009, was nominated for The Alpert Award in the Arts in 2008, and won NYC's The A.W.A.R.D. Show in 2007. Weare routinely collaborates with contemporary composers with an eye toward re-imagining the ways in which movement and sound interact. Recent opportunities, such as a 2007 MANCC Fellowship Residency based on improvisation with live musicians, and a 2009 premiere that featured a 6-member chamber ensemble playing live in St. Mark's Church, have intensified Weare's commitment to working with composers and live music as an integral part of her development as a choreographer. In 2010, Weare will create commissions for PARADIGM, Scottish Dance Theatre and Australia's Buzz Dance Theatre, and the company will perform at St. Louis's Spring To Dance Festival, American Dance Festival and make their Joyce Theater debut. www.kateweare.com

MONICA Bill Barnes is a NY based choreographer and performer. She founded Monica Bill Barnes & Company as a contemporary dance company with the mission to celebrate individuality, humor and the innate theatricality of everyday life. The company has been presented in over twenty venues in NYC including Danspace Project, Symphony Space, 92nd Street Y, Dancenow/NYC, Fall for Dance, and in thirty cities throughout the US. She has created twelve evening-length dance works, numerous site-specific events and several cabaret numbers for her company. Recent commissions include Another Parade, commissioned by the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival, I feel like commissioned by Dancenow's 10 Year Anniversary Project, and Game Face presented by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's SITELINES Festival. She has been an invited Guest Artist at the North Carolina School of The Arts, Vassar College, Virginia Commonwealth University, Connecticut College, Florida State University, James Madison University, Steps on Broadway and Dance New Amsterdam. In addition, the company creates dances outside of the city through extended artistic residencies, college residencies and site specific performance projects with local community members. This summer the company will perform at Bates Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and make their Joyce Theater debut. www.monicabillbarnes.com

These performances are co-produced as part of a collaborative effort by:
Gotham Arts Exchange, Camille A. Brown, Gallim Dance, Kate Weare Company and Monica Bill Barnes & Company.

The Joyce Theater debut of these dance companies has been generously supported by a number of foundations and institutions.

Camille A. Brown: New work for this program was commissioned in part through a Creative Development Residency at Jacob's Pillow, with support from the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award Initiative, with additional support from Princeton University.

Gallim Dance: The premiere of Wonderland at The Joyce Theater is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. The new work was commissioned in part through a Creative Development Residency at Jacob's Pillow, with support from the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award Initiative. In addition, Skidmore College was a partner in creation of the new work.

Kate Weare Company: The creation of new work for this program was generously funded by The Greenwall Foundation, The O'Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation and the American Music Center Live Music for Dance Program.

Monica Bill Barnes & Company: This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the Harkness Space Grant Program at Joyce SoHo, funded by the Harkness Foundation for Dance, and with public funds from the Fund for Creative Communities supported by NYSCA and administered by LMCC. In addition, new work was commissioned in part through a Creative Development Residency at Jacob's Pillow, with support from the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award Initiative.

GothamArts Exchange: This week of shared programming at The Joyce Theater is presented by Gotham Arts, and made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and through The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through funds distributed by the National Endowment of the Arts.

The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19th Street), NYC
August 9 - 14, 2010
Monday and Tuesday at 7:30pm; Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm
Tickets start at $10
JoyceCharge: 212-242-0800
www.joyce.org