Summation Dance Company presents World Premiere Keep Your Feathers Dry

Summation Dance Company presents the World Premiere of its first evening-length work KEEP YOUR FEATHERS DRY at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 W. 37th Street, at 7:30 pm on February 4-5, 2011. Tickets are $20 ($12 for students) and are available at SmartTix, 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com.

KEEP YOUR FEATHERS DRY explores the emotional burdens of heartbreak complicated by war. The dancers represent fragmented thoughts and distorted emotions as they navigate their way through the incomprehensible. The piece is choreographed by Sumi Clements and produced by Taryn Vander Hoop. The music includes the works of Moby, Four Tet, and Blockhead.

Dancers: Sumi Clements, Angela Curotto, Cat DeAngelis, Sarah Holmes, Allie Lochary, Julie McMillan, Erin Okayama, Kristin Schwab, Yohta Tsagri, Taryn Vander Hoop and Kelsey Berry (Apprentice).

Summation Dance Company, founded by Sumi Clements and Taryn Vander Hoop, is a New York City based modern dance company creating exciting, innovative, and highly physical work. The mission of Summation is to find the beauty in struggle, the humor in the mundane, and the grace in humanity. We value dance that moves the flesh; it bubbles from underneath, knots in the back, and rips away the layers leaving us raw and exposed. We offer up this work to affect, inspire, and enliven. Clements' works are powerfully kinetic and emotional explorations of the human experience. Her work demands physicality as she pushes the limits of the body, often displaying the exhaustion and vulnerability of her dancers, while at the same time using small or eccentric gestures to communicate the essence of her idea. Summation Dance strives to bridge the gap between the choreographer and the viewer, so that our art is no longer esoteric and understood only by the dance elite, but can be universally appreciated. We offer dance and arts education programs for children and young adults because we believe that fostering creativity and imagination is the key to a bright future. Our educational outreach program brings dance into the schools, offering performances, as well as movement and composition classes, to children who may not otherwise have exposure to the arts.

Sumi Clements, Artistic Director and Choreographer, is an imaginative Aquarius who comes from California. A Japanese-American, Sumi received her BFA in Dance from the University of California at Santa Barbara where she was the recipient of the Patricia Sparrow Scholarship and Corwin Award for Choreography. Graduating with honors, she moved to New York where she was a member of Peter Kyle Dance from 2006-2008, and involved in various projects around the city. Her work has been shown at Dance New Amsterdam, Danspace Project, La Mama Etc., DanceNOW's RAW Festival, DUMBO Dance Festival, Triskelion Arts and the Cunningham Studios. Sumi has performed in the works of Doug Varone and Alwin Nikolais, and has most recently worked with Gerald Casel Dance Company and Kyle Abraham. This spring Sumi received her MFA in dance performance and choreography from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Taryn Vander Hoop, Associate Artistic Director, is an analytical Virgo who hails from Wisconsin, where she received her BS in Dance, English Literature, and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While there, she was privileged to perform for Li Chiao-Ping Dance and Jin-Wen Yu Dance, as well as several guest artists including: Bill Evans, Larry Keigwin, Jeremy Nelson, and Lara Luis Malvacias. Upon graduation, Taryn moved to New York to attend NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where she received her MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography. Since moving to NYC, her work has been shown at Danspace, Dance Theater Workshop, and the 92nd St Y. She has been involved in projects with Gerald Casel Dance Company and Laura Peterson Choreography. When she is not dancing, Taryn works at BAM and teaches around the city: www.tarynvanderhoop.com

For more information, visit www.summationdance.org.