The Soaking Wet Series Concludes With Final Performances

The Soaking Wet Series concludes with October 3-5 performances.

West End Theater, 263 West 86th Street (2nd floor of the Church)

Tickets: $20

Reservations: www.brownpapertickets.com or 800.838.3006

After 15 years, curator David Parker and producer Jeffrey Kazin announce the grand finale of the Soaking WET dance series with one-hour performances by Keely Garfield Dance (Program A), and Beyond the Bang Group (Program B), at the West End Theater, 263 West 86th Street.

Program A: Keely Garfield Dance

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, October 3, 4, 5 at 7 PM

"Full-out and entirely sincere dancing, the uplift is irresistible. Wow, you feel, wow." (Brian Seibert, The New York Times)

For Soaking WET, Garfield will present her work-in-progress "The Invisible Project," in which she is joined by Paul Hamilton, Molly Lieber, Doug LeCours, Angie Pittman, Shane Larson, and non-identifying movers. All work together to reveal things inconsequential and monumental, transforming the way we see things. "The Invisible Project" has been commissioned by NYU Skirball and will premiere in 2021.

London native KEELY GARFIELD, now based in NYC, has been widely commissioned and her company presented at theaters and festivals nationally and internationally, garnering several Bessie awards and nominations. Garfield has also created work for other companies, theater, musicals, film, MTV, and more. She is a Guggenheim Fellow, holds a MFA from UWM, and teaches at The New School.

Program B: Beyond The Bang Group

A program of works by Bang Group members: Parker, Ainsworth & Smith, Benkelman & Seibold, HEWMAN, Sloan

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, October 3, 4, 5 at 8:30 PM; Sunday October 6 at 2 PM

The Bang Group will perform the first second-generation version of "Bang," choreographer David Parker's breakout duet from 1992 which gave his company its name. Making their debuts, Tommy Seibold and Dylan Baker perform the roles originally created by Parker and Jeffrey Kazin. This comic, erotic and percussive dance had its premiere at DTW's Fresh Tracks in 1992 and was mentored by renowned choreography teacher Bessie Schonberg.

Chelsea Ainsworth and Jessica Smith of HUMA will perform "Stand or be Stood," set to "Ne Me Quitte Pas," sung by Nina Simone, and "Mahalageasca," sung by Shantel. The collaboration touches on the idea of dependency vs independency in this ever evolving world.

Juilliard graduate Chelsea Ainsworth worked with Johannes Wieland in Germany and Amber Sloan, among others, and is currently a member of The Bang Group and ZviDance. She is also co-founder and Executive Director of Arts on Site, a non-profit organization dedicated to offering affordable studio space and hosting monthly events to encourage community collaboration.

Jessica Smith is a graduate of Dance at Purchase College and also studied at the London Contemporary Dance School. An Associate Director of Arts on Site, Jessica is a member of ZviDance, Kizuna Dance and VIM VIGOR.

Louise Benkelman and Tommy Seibold will perform their newest duet, in which they are thrown into a world of alternating discord and harmony, with moments of attempted reorganization in between.

Montana native Benkelman graduated magna cum laude with honors from Roger Williams University. She has created works for many organizations, including Judson Memorial Church, Actors Fund Arts Center, and American College Dance Assn. Gala 2016. Louise is currently a member of The Bang Group.

Tommy Seibold began dancing at the age of five at his mother's school in Massachusetts, and continued at the Five College Dance Dept. and U/Mass. He is currently a member of The Bang Group and the NYC-based company Heath in Progress.

HEWMAN has choreography by co-founders Jason Collins, Lindsay Harwell, and Ingrid Kapteyn, who will appear in the solo "Almost," from the group's upcoming full-evening work. "Almost" investigates the dynamics of performance: What is it to see yourself? To be seen? To see others? The solo plays with questions through the lens of being a woman, with varying degrees of deference and defiance to the stereotypes we all know. Music by Mary Costa and Edith Piaf.

Hewman is a collaborative collective co-founded in 2014 by Jason Collins, Lindsay Harwell, and Ingrid Kapteyn, who were all in the same class at Juilliard. They have self-produced three evening-length installations in unconventional venues across NYC, and have appeared before on the Soaking WET series.

i??AMBER SLOAN will premiere xxx, an expose on the audacity of aging in recognition of her 40th birthday this year. The work is a loveletter to her relationship to performing and the exhilaration and anguish that comes with a lifetime on the stage. Part preparation of battle, part celebration of maturity, the solo pries into her fragile ego and the desire to hold onto her dancing prime.

Amber Sloan has been a member of The Bang Group since 2002. She was a 2015 Bessie Schonberg Resident at The Yard, was honored with the 2015 Beverly Blossom/Carey Erickson Alumni Dance Award from the U of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign, where she earned her BFA in Dance, and has received space grants from numerous organizations, including Gibney Dance Center, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and more. Amber teaches dance composition at the Ailey School, serves on the board of Dance Omi International Collective, and co-directs Women in Motion NYC.

www.thebanggroup.com