Meg Stuart, American expatriate powerhouse who has grown into one of the most influential choreographers of her generation in Europe, returns briefly to the United States—for stops only in Minneapolis and New York—to perform FORGERIES, LOVE AND OTHER MATTERS at 8 pm Thursday–Saturday, April 20–22, in the Walker Art Center’s William and Nadine McGuire Theater. Stuart (Damaged Goods) will perform with Montréal dancer Benoit Lachambre (par b.l.eux) and New York composer Hahn Rowe, whose stunning live music envelops the audience. This intimate, tender, and at times brutal dance-theater work explores the psychological landscapes traversed in the search for personal connection. Atop a monumental hill (literally created onstage), three artists create a world that is part Beckett, part sci-fi, and part Darwin as they survey the geographies of the body, relationships, and the environment. Are these people campers or drifters, friends or lovers, humans or animals? Note: Performance contains nudity.
The locally-based Dancer-Presenter’s Circle and the Walker Art
Center team up to present an exciting week of dance throughout the Twin Cities from April 18–29 (see partial list of events is below). Step up and catch 20 dance events (plus two public receptions) at seven different locations throughout the week. A free artist talk and opening reception with Meg Stuart at Intermedia Arts kicks off the celebrations on Tuesday, April 18, at 7 pm. This reception is open to the public and made possible by the Walker Art Center, Intermedia Arts, and the Dancer-Presenter’s Circle. A closing reception for National Dance Week will be held on April 29, following the 8 pm 20th Anniversary Performance at Patrick’s Cabaret. This reception is made possible by Patrick’s Cabaret and the Dancer-Presenter’s Circle.
Meg Stuart
The American choreographer and dancer Meg Stuart moved to New York in 1983 to attend New York University where she received a BFA in dance and continued her training following classes in release technique and contact improvisation at Movement Research. She was a member of the Randy Warshaw Dance Company from 1986 to 1992, where she was also assistant to the choreographer.
At the invitation of Klapstuk 91, Stuart made her first full-length production Disfigure Study (1991). It was the start to an impressive series of productions the choreographer made with her company Damaged Goods, which has been based in Brussels since 1994: No Longer Readymade (1993); No One is Watching (1995); Insert Skin #1 – They Live in Our Breath (1996) with visual artist Lawrence Malstaf; Splayed Mind Out (1997) with video artist Gary Hill; appetite (1998) with visual artist Ann Hamilton; ALIBI (2001) and Visitors Only (2003), both in co-operation with scenographer Anna Viebrock, video artist Chris Kondek and composer Paul Lemp; and FORGERIES, LOVE AND OTHER MATTERS (2004), with choreographer/dancer Benoît Lachambre and composer Hahn Rowe. A new piece, REPLACEMENT, had its world premiere in January 2006 at Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin.
Meg Stuart also created Swallow My Yellow Smile (1994), commissioned by the ballet company of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and, in association with graphic designer Bruce Mau, Remote (1997) for Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project. She has also choreographed for actors: for Comeback (1999), Snapshots (1999) and Henry IV (2002), all directed by German director Stephan Pucher; for Das goldene Zeitalter (2003), a joined project created by Stuart, Stefan Pucher, Christoph Marthaler, and Anna Viebrock for Schauspielhaus Zürich; and for Der Marterpfahl (2005), directed by Frank Castorf at Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin. In 2004 Somewhere in between was made, a film by the French filmmaker Pierre Coulibeuf, adapted from a special creation by Meg Stuart.
A recurrent feature in the work of Meg Stuart and Damaged Goods is the search for new forms of co-operation, presentation contexts and the ‘crossbreeding’ of theater, architecture and visual art, heralded in the dance installation for the exhibition This is the Show and the Show is Many Things by curator Bart De Baere at the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst [Museum of contemporary art, now SMAK] in Ghent (1994). Together with Christine De Smedt and David Hernandez, between 1996 and 1999, Stuart was also involved in Crash Landing, an improvisation project for dancers, musicians, video and sound artists, and designers. Crash Landing ran into five editions: Leuven, Vienna, Paris, Lisbon, and Moscow.
From 1997 Meg Stuart/Damaged Goods was an artist-in-residence at the Kaaitheater in Brussels. From 2001 until 2004 the company took up residence at the Schauspielhaus Zürich at the invitation of Christoph Marthaler. Since the 2002–03 season, Meg Stuart and Damaged Goods has also collaborated with the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin.
Along with her choreography, Stuart teaches workshops in composition and improvisation at Forum Dança in Lisbon, Movement Research in New York, PARTS in Brussels, and ImPulsTanz in Vienna.
Benoît Lachambre
Choreographer, performer, improviser, teacher, and convener, Benoît Lachambre (born in 1960) danced for Marie Chouinard, Meg Stuart, and Jennifer Lacey before creating his own company in 1996. Based in Montreal and baptized par b.l.eux (for “par Benoît Lachambre and eux”), the company is devoted primarily to contemporary choreography, as well as international and interdisciplinary collaboration. Since 1996, Lachambre has been creating for par b.l.eux—L’Âne et la bouche, Dédanse d’elles, Délire défait, L’Aberration des traces, Confort et complaisance, Not to Know and 100 Rencontrees—as well as for other companies, as guest choreographer.
Lachambre is in demand as an artistic collaborator and has lent his signature to many projects. He has worked alongside such choreographers as Lynda Gaudreau, Felix Ruckert, (Danse-Cité, Montreal), Catherine Contour (TNT, Bordeaux), Boris Charmatz (for the creation of héâtre-élévision), Sasha Waltz, and Isabelle Schad; as well as with visual artist Laurent Goldring. With Meg Stuart (and her company Damaged Goods) and musician Hahn Rowe, he created FORGERIES, LOVE AND OTHER MATTERS, which was hailed as one of the nine best productions for 2004-2005 in Flanders and the Netherlands.
Elements of improvisation and performance art in dance are also an integral part of Lachambre’s work. Intrigued by the dynamics of communication and of perception, he is a regular participant in improvisation events—notably Crash Landing, an initiative from Meg Stuart, David Hernandez, and Christine de Mestz (Les Ballets C. de la B.)—sharing the stage with such artists as Steve Paxton, Cathy Duck, Mark Thompkins, and Andrew de Lotbinière Harwood. His workshops and intensives (improvisation and body consciousness) are as popular in Europe as they are at home in Montreal.
Winner of the Jacqueline-Lemieux Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts (1998), Benoît Lachambre has also received two Dora Mavor Moores: “Best New Choreography” and “Best Performance” for his solo Délire défait, presented in Toronto in 2001. In 2003, he shared the honors for “Best Performance” at the Moving Pictures festival (Toronto) with dancer Carole Prieur, for his role in Marie Chouinard’s film Cantique no 1 et no 2.
Hahn Rowe
Hahn Rowe (born in 1961)—composer, producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist, has migrated freely between the realms of New York City’s rock, electronic, improvisation, and new music spheres for nearly 20 years. Arriving in New York City in the early 1980s, he initially worked as a recording engineer with artists such as Bill Laswell, Roy Ayers, Sly and Robbie, and John Zorn, among many others.
Other musicians that Hahn Rowe has performed and/or recorded with include Swans, Moby, Foetus, R.E.M., Hassan Hakmoun, KRS-1, Ikue Mori, Butch Morris, Syd Straw, John Zorn, Michael Brook, Angels of Light, and Tom Cora. Production work includes David Byrne’s album Feelings and Soak by Mimi (Luaka Bop/Warner Brothers). Rowe has also been an active member of NYC’s electronic music world, Dj-ing and performing in events created by collectives such as SoundLab, Unity Gain, and Phonomena. Under the moniker Somatic, he released the Drum and Bass album, The New Body, on the Caipirinha label. Most recently, Hahn Rowe has collaborated with Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons, Lou Reed) on a remix of Toy Boat by Yoko Ono, and has produced tracks for Antony and the Johnsons forthcoming release.
Hahn Rowe has created many scores for film and television, including Married in America (dir. Michael Apted), Clean, Shaven (dir. Lodge Kerrigan), Spring Forward (dir. Tom Gilroy), Paternal Instinct (dir. Murray Nossel for HBO/BBC), Stealing the Fire (dir. John Friedman and Eric Nadler), Black Kites (dir. Jo Andres), and The Transformation (dir. Susana Aikin and Carlos Aparicio). Rowe has contributed music to dance pieces by John Jasperse (Madison as I Imagined It), Margarita Guergué (We Were Never There), and by Meg Stuart/Damaged Goods. He composed the music for Disfigure Study, No Longer Readymade, Swallow my Yellow Smile, participated in four editions of Crash Landing, composed and performs the music live for FORGERIES, LOVE AND OTHER MATTERS, and has created the score for REPLACEMENT, a new work by Meg Stuart/Damaged Goods.
Tickets to Meg Stuart/Benoît Lachambre/Hahn Rowe with Damaged Goods & par b.l.eux’s FORGERIES, LOVE AND OTHER MATTERS are $25 ($20 Walker members) and are available at walkerart.org/tickets or by calling 612.375.7600.
Related Event
Artist Talk/Reception with Meg Stuart
Tuesday, April 18, 7 pm, Free
Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, 612.871.4444
www.intermediaarts.org
What are the challenges and benefits to American dance artists when they create and present their work outside the United States? Meg Stuart and local dancer/choreographer Patrick Scully will discuss their experiences of working in Europe, followed by a Q&A and reception.
A partial listing of National Dance Week events in the Twin Cities follows:
Patrick’s Cabaret 20th Anniversary
Friday–Saturday, April 21–22 and 28–29, 8 pm, $20
Patrick’s Cabaret, 3010 Minnehaha Avenue, Minneapolis
Tickets/Information: 612.721.3595 or patrickscabaret.org
Patrick’s Cabaret 20th-anniversary celebration features works by Djola Branner, Susan Delattre, Kats Fukasawa, Chris Aiken, Laurie Van Wieren, John Killacky, Larry Connolly, and founder Patrick Scully.
Buckets and Tap Shoes presented by the Southern Theater
Thursday–Friday, April 20–21, 8 pm
Saturday, April 29, 5 and 8 pm; Sunday, April 30, 7 pm, $18
Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis
Tickets/Information: 612.340.1725 or southerntheater.org
Led by brothers Rick and Andy Ausland, this dynamic troupe of dancers and musicians promises a high-energy evening of tap dancing, improvisation, and percussive rhythms.
Kinetic Playground presented by Sarah LaRose-Holland
Saturday, April 22, 2 pm, Free
Perpich Center for Arts Education, 6125 Olson Memorial
Highway, Golden Valley
Information: 763.591.4709 or mnartists.org/Sarah_LaRose
The works of young performers/students from the Perpich Center, Apple Valley High School, and Deuxmensions Junior Dance Theatre are showcased as part of an ongoing series of youth master classes and performances.
Bandh presented by Ananya Chatterjea, University of Minnesota Dance Program,and Institute for Advanced Studies
Saturday, April 22, 7:30 pm, Free
University of Minnesota, Barbara Barker Center for Dance,
500 21st Avenue South, Minneapolis
Information: ananyadancetheatre.org
This dance-theater piece celebrates the power of women dreaming, which unleashes nurturing and healing forces that sustain the world through violent times.
CAPTURE! A dance film series produced by Catalyst
Tuesday, April 25, 8 pm, $5–$6
Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 West Lake Street, Minneapolis
Tickets/Information: 612.825.8949 or bryantlakebowl.com
The April installment of this bimonthly series includes two films from Rosas with choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.
9’ x 22’: A Dance Lab presented by Laurie VanWieren
Wednesday, April 26, 8 pm, $6–$10
Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 West Lake Street, Minneapolis
Tickets/Information: 612.825.8949 or bryantlakebowl.com
This monthly dance showcase presents and discusses new choreography by Romella Marzitelli, Susan Scalf, and Judith Howard.
Kinetic Kitchen presented by Sarah LaRose-Holland
Thursday, April 27, 8 pm, $10
Old Arizona Center for Performing and Media Arts, 2821 Nicollet
Avenue, Minneapolis
Tickets/Information: 612.871.0050 or mnartists.org/Sarah_LaRose
This evening features work by Black Label Movement, Sarah LaRose-Holland’s Kinetic Evolutions, Anna Marie Shogren, and Lisa Conlin.
For complete information, please see: www.mnartists.org/twin_cities_national_dance_week
