CONTRA-TIEMPO Mixes Choreography With Social Activism At The Ordway 11/19

On Friday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m. Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will welcome the energetic dance company CONTRA-TIEMPO to the stage as the second performance in Ordway's 2010-2011 Target® World Music and Dance Series. CONTRA-TIEMPO performs a one-night-only show filled with expressive and thoughtful movement.

"CONTRA-TIEMPO is a physically intelligent and politically astute company that uses athleticism and the grace of artistry to delve into important issues," states Patricia A. Mitchell, Ordway's president and CEO. "This company's power and influence transcend dance."

Led and directed by Ana Mariá Alvarez, CONTRA-TIEMPO itself is a tapestry of individuals, a company that not only describes itself as a collective of dancers and artists, but also as immigrants, teachers, activists, organizers, and movers of all types. The Los Angeles-based company seeks to use each performance and workshop as a channel to give life to individual voices, thereby enriching and building community. Through the communication capabilities of the body, CONTRA-TIEMPO commits to transforming the world through dance.

The political and personal environments that individuals explore each day serve as the foundation for CONTRA-TIEMPO's movement voice. With a blending of genres that includes Salsa, Afro-Cuban, hip hop, contemporary dance and dance theater, CONTRA-TIEMPO captivates audiences with partnering that challenges and energizes a discussion on cultures and the concept of homeland. For the Ordway's public performance, CONTRA-TIEMPO's repertory includes "I Dream America," "Plástico" and "contra-tiempo/against the times."

I Dream America (2008) - This piece seeks to engage the tensions, commonalities, strains and histories between the Black and Latino communities. Traversing the political landscape of immigration and Hurricane Katrina, "I Dream America" investigates compassion and peace and paints a disarming and thought-provoking critique of contemporary life and injustice. Much of this piece was inspired by a poem written in 2006 by Melissa Ortiz, one of Ana Mariá's 12-year-old students at UCLA's Seeds University Elementary School in Los Angeles. Created from an assignment that directed students to respond to Langston Hughes' poem "Let America Be America Again," Melissa and several of her classmates wrote their poetic responses within the context of major federal and state immigration legislation being debated that year. Melissa chose to respond with a poem written from the perspective of her mother who immigrated to Los Angeles in search of a better life for her family.

Plástico (2009) - This piece is a comic and grotesque commentary on the "plastic" facade of Salsa. A dance form that started as a voice for regular people and an expression of history, power and opinions has been transformed into a depoliticized, hyper-sexual exaggeration of the Latino body.

contra-tiempo/against the times (2006) - Salsa is a dance form rooted in Cuban and Puerto Rican cultural tradition. It is laden with social and political contradictions; a dance of resistance. Salsa is an improvisational form that is created and recreated with every new combination of people that dance it; a dance of change. Born from the fusion of African and Spanish musical influences, it was originally created as a cultural voice and form of expression for working class people; a dance of the times. Salsa has always been a patriarchal dance form in which men are leaders and women are followers. In more recent times, the over-sexualized representations of women have gotten more extreme, especially in styles that have been popularized by ballroom dancing and in Hollywood films. The cast of CONTRA-TIEMPO will flip the script on who leads whom. Together they will move resistance from being adversarial to being the fundamental key for communication and empowerment between partners and for a people.

CONTRA-TIEMPO will offer a number of educational events for students in the week leading up to its performance. In addition, the Ordway will be hosting an Ordway Extra program in the Ordway's Marzitelli Foyer on Friday, November 19 at 6:30 p.m. and a post-show Talk Back in the Music Theater for CONTRA-TIEMPO. Led by Twin Cities- based poets and vocalists, the Ordway Extra will feature original work and personal perspectives on using one's unique Latina voice in shaping an identity that reaches back to cultural traditions and places one within the contemporary context of the Twin Cities. Panelists will touch on themes of language, gender and culture, while sharing personal stories as artists. To learn more about these events, visit ordway.org/events.

Complementing CONTRA-TIEMPO's appearance on the following evening, Saturday, November 20, will be a performance by Tiempo Libre, a high-voltage musical ensemble known for its fusion of Latin jazz and traditional Cuban son.

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
The Ordway celebrates its 25th anniversary season as one of the nation's leading nonprofit performing arts centers and Saint Paul's most elegant and inviting performance space. The Ordway's Music Theater and McKnight stages attract diverse audiences with an array of productions showcasing the finest in American musical theater, world music, dance, and vocal performance. Education and community engagement are integral to the Ordway's mission, with major initiatives including the annual Flint Hills International Children's Festival and Ordway Education programs that serve over 50,000 students annually. The Ordway also sponsors the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, a professionally guided academic and artistic environment that trains aspiring pre-professional performing artists. Together with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera and The Schubert Club, the Ordway is a member of the Arts Partnership and serves as the principal venue for their performances.

Performance and Ticket Information
CONTRA-TIEMPO
Friday, November 19, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
345 Washington Street
Saint Paul, MN 55102
Ordway's Music Theater

Tickets start at $21 (including fees)

Box Office: 651.224.4222
Groups: 651.282.3111
ordway.org

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