Tempe Center for the Arts Host BREAKING GROUND Dance Festival Today

Thirty-two artists, choreographers and film makers take over Tempe Center for the Arts today, March 20th and tomorrow, 21st for a two-day festival of contemporary dance and film. BREAKING GROUND 2015 is an exhilarating weekend of performances, master classes and social events featuring some of the most important voices in contemporary dance today.

Highlights of BREAKING GROUND 2015 include witty performances by Joshua L. Peugh/Dark Circles Contemporary Dance who was named to 2015 Dance Magazine's "25 Dancers To Watch", a new piece "SubTerrain" choreographed by Fulbright specialist Eric Handman and performed by Carley Conder, and Israeli dancer and choreographer Nadar Rosano, who has been named as Artist in Residence for University of Arizona's Jewish Studies and whose appearance has been sponsored by the Consulate General of Israel.

Breaking Ground 2015 films include a piece by Lily Baldwin, "A Juicebox Afternoon" who made waves at the SXSW Festival in Austin, TX and "Me - A Story of a Performance" by the eclectic MUSUTA, film-makers based in Tokyo and Helsinki. MUSUTA's work has been honored with the Gold Lion at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as exhibits, around the world including the Pompidou Museum in Paris and film festivals in Berlin, London and New York.

Local Contemporary dancers will participate in the BREAKING GROUND FESTIVAL through "ten tiny dances". Twenty Arizona choreographers have accepted the challenge to create new works that are concentrated on 4 foot by 4 foot stages. These tiny stages will be located throughout the lobby and grounds of the Tempe Center for the Arts. Every 5 minutes new performers take the stages, enabling the public to view a variety of ideas and movement, prior to the Main Stage performances. "ten tiny dances" is free to the public.