Four Choreographers to Create Four New Works for Velocity's BRIDGE PROJECT 2017

Four of Seattle's most promising choreographers create four new works in the pressure cooker of just four weeks at Velocity's Bridge Project - turning Velocity into an intense hive of urgency, excitement and dedication, kicking off 2017. This year's performance features exciting new work by emerging Seattle artists: Liz Houlton, Laura Aschoff, Renee Boehlke, + Esra Cömert-Morishige.

Inspired by science fiction and theories of parallel universes, Liz Houlton explores a silent world void of any outside force. It's a freedom laced with confinement, a forced hiatus of what's "real." 9 people will turn into 1 version of a single person, will act as a community, will torment and support and neglect and love each other. Laura Aschoff's movie archetypes will disintegrate into their own shadows, cracking the great myth of "White is Right" and dismantling the underbelly of white fragility - if only in the theatre. Overlapping solos are interjected by the Dreamer Police, a scene of Good Cop/Bad Cop, lullabies to comfort the wounded, and an invitation to feel something and not turn away. Renee Boehlke investigates a world of multivalent realities separated by gates of fragile illusions. Boehlke's characteristic cloudlike, richly detailed movement style is in full display, supported by live original music and costumes and realized by gorgeously individualistic dancers for an immersive but fleeting foray into imagination. And, informed by her studies in biology, Esra Cömert-Morishige draws parallels between human experience and the experience of the rest of the natural world, aiming to transcend the barriers of human-engineered systems that keep us isolated from the earth.

The Bridge Project Creative Residency showcases Velocity's fierce commitment to supporting new generations of dance artists. Each choreographer receives the creative, financial and administrative support they need to develop their work. They also receive the creative support of a cast of dancers, and the choreographic mentorship of Velocity 2017 Artist-in-Residence Kate Wallich, Velocity Made in Seattle artist, teacher, creative resident, choreographer + performer. In programming The Bridge Project, Velocity aims to enhance the artistic growth of the choreographers, and provide an entry point into the local performance scene for dance artists new to the community.

In 2017, Velocity continues The Bridge Project UW Dance Residency, a partnership of Velocity and the University of Washington Dance Department. This award goes to a graduate of the University of Washington who has been choreographing in Seattle, outside of school, for three years or less. Esra Cömert-Morishige is the 2017 award recipient.

// ARGENTO DANCE GRANT //

Thanks to Café Argento owner Faizel Khan, Velocity is pleased to announce Argento Dance Grants have been awarded to three Seattle dancers participating in The Bridge Project 2017. In keeping with Velocity and Argento's commitment to helping make Seattle a viable place for dancers to develop sustainable and prosperous careers, awards aim to support local dancers who demonstrate financial need. This year's grant recipients are Christopher Constantino, Shane Donohue, + Marcella Sweeney.

Argento Dance Grants include cash grants, one-year free MVP membership, providing discounts to Velocity classes, events, and studio rentals, and 6 hours of free studio rehearsal time.

// ABOUT THE ARTISTS //

LIZ HOULTON is a Minnesota native and California Institute of the Arts alum, and has presented works with Capitol Hill Art Walk at LoveCityLove, Seattle International Dance Festival, Seattle Fringe Festival, and Chop Shop Bodies of Work 2016. Her work "Close Quarters in a Large World" was commissioned by Minnesota Dance Theatre for their Fall 2015 Season, as well as performed at the Cowles Center by MDT School students that same year. Throughout her time in Seattle she has been fortunate enough to have received Creative Residencies with Velocity Dance Center, as well as the Argento Dance Grant during it's inaugural year in 2016. Although she has spent summers at Alonzo King's Lines Ballet, Miami City Ballet, BodyTraffic, and the Limon Workshop West, Liz considers herself a thoroughly contemporary artist, functioning in-between genres to blur expectations and encourage authenticity. elizabethhoulton.com

Seattle-based artist LAURA ASCHOFF is a performer/director/organizer whose investment in humanity presses her to make politically conscious, awake art. It's her mission to offer audiences a critical lens, and a way in to their own truths. Her process consists of much dialogue, improvising and writing. Her work with the GRIEF GIRLS has been seen At Next Fest NW, SOIL Art Gallery, Base: Experimental Arts & Space, and Out on a Limb in Olympia. Laura is a managing artist at Studio Current, where she curates the experimental body-based class series "Under Current." @griefgirls

RENEE BOEHLKE is a choreographer and director. Her live works have been presented at diverse venues in Seattle, and her films have been screened in the US, Mexico, and Romania. In 2017 she was awarded the Bridge Project residency at Velocity Dance Center and a self-directed artist residency at Grünewald Guild. She graduated with a BFA in Dance cum laude from Cornish College of the Arts in 2016 and also studied and interned at American Dance Festival. Additional current projects include videography for Cornish dance concerts and assisting Jessica Jobaris with the production of A Great Hunger. reneeboehlke.com

ESRA CÖMERT-MORISHIGE is a dance artist based in Seattle, Washington. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Washington as an interdisciplinary honors student, receiving a B.A. and a B.S. with majors in Dance and Biology. She has had the honor of performing extensively in the Seattle area, with renowned choreographers and directors such as Robert Moses, Mark Haim, Molly Scott, Hannah C. Wiley, Rachael Lincoln, and Jennifer Salk. Esra is fascinated by how humans naturally express fear, tenderness, power, and sexuality when these components are stripped away from social performance. She explores these concepts in her choreographic work.

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