Modern moves inspired by jazz, hip hop and ballet on view Feb. 14.
By Jill Kimball
CU Presents’ 2015-16 season continues with the first ever Boulder performance by Los Angeles-based dance company BODYTRAFFIC. The group is set to present three contemporary pieces inspired by urban life from all around the world in its performance on Sunday, Feb. 14.
“I think what makes BODYTRAFFIC stand out is the way [Artistic Directors Lillian Barbeito and Tina Finkelman Berkett] choose to work with up-and-coming choreographers from all around the world,” says company manager Dora Quintanilla. “It’s really amazing to see our dancers move so seamlessly from one type of dance, like ballet, to a completely different one, like breakdance.”
The first piece, created by Barak Marshall, is called “And at midnight, the green bride floated through the village square…” This cinematic, colorful work is inspired by his mother’s childhood in pre-war Yemen, where a woman’s happiness depended on her eligibility as a bride.
“Her neighbors had nine children who never succeeded in finding love or getting married,” Marshall says of his piece. “That lack of hope turns them into this monstrous, fighting family always cursing the hope of others.
“To me it really illustrates the fact that, if we don’t create a society that has equal opportunity for all, we’re going to perpetuate the constant breaking down of others,” Marshall adds.
Also on the program is “Once again before you go” by Victor Quijada of the RUBBERBANDance Group. The piece, created for BODYTRAFFIC in 2014, brings together hip hop, breakdance and ballet to examine the way people come and go in each other’s lives.
“Part of Victor’s ‘rubber band’ method of dancing is the idea that the space around you is thick and there’s always a substance that you have to carve through,” Quintanilla says.
The program concludes with American choreographer Richard Siegal’s “O2Joy,” a playful piece set to the music of American jazz greats—from Billie Holiday and Harry Belafonte to Ella Fitzgerald. Siegal is the founder and artistic director of The Bakery, an organization dedicated to international artistic collaborations.
“As the title suggests, ‘O2Joy’ is an expression of joy through music and movement,” Quintanilla says. “It’s a very fun work to see and just be around, and we’ve embraced it as our signature piece.”
Founded in 2007, BODYTRAFFIC has surged to the forefront of the concert dance world. Named “the company of the future” by The Joyce Theater Foundation, Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch in 2013 and Best of Culture by the Los Angeles Times, the “super-fast, super-sexy” (Dance View Times) young company is already internationally recognized for its high quality of work.
The Boulder performance takes place Sunday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. A pre-concert lecture and Q&A by Associate Professor Erika Randall of CU-Boulder’s Department of Theatre & Dance will be held at 6:45 p.m. in room 102 at Macky Auditorium. Randall is a teacher, choreographer and filmmaker who has recently worked with Teena Marie Custer, Joy French, Sydney Skybetter, Sara Hook, David Parker and the Bang Group, Michelle Ellsworth, Gabriel Masson, Anna Sapozhnikov, Rebecca-Nettl-Fiol, Esteban Donoso, the Mark Morris Dance Group and Buglisi/Foreman Dance. Her award-winning dancefilms, “More” and “Self Defense,” have screened at the Sans Souci Dance Cinema Festival, the Starz Denver Film Festival, the Florence GLBT Film Festival in Italy, and the Façade Film Festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Tickets for BODYTRAFFIC start at $15. To purchase tickets, visit the CU Presents box office in person (972 Broadway) or call 303-492-8008 during business hours; or visit us online, anytime. Note: All online and phone orders are subject to a service fee.
Jill Kimball is the public relations manager for CU Presents.
Jan. 14, 2016