Autumn Winter

Houston Contemporary Dance Company World Premiere

Choreographer: Mario Alberto Zambrano

Text: Autumn by Ali Smith, Anchor Books, 2016

Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, Cello suite No. 4 in E-flat major, Sarabande

Inspired by a chapter from Ali Smith’s novel “Autumn,” her first installment in a quartet series, ‘Autumn Winter’ is a juxtaposition of recited text and embodied responses to observations and reflections from a modern day political climate. A world premiere, this collaboration with Mario Alberto Zambrano was choreographed remotely during the month of January. Special thanks to Risa D’Souza and Dwain Travis for being so generous and adaptable throughout this Zoom experience. So timely the text, so visceral their interpretations.

 Viola

Houston Contemporary Dance Company and Kinetic Ensemble World Premiere

Choreographer: Keerati Jinakunwhphat

Music: 'Tenebrae: 1.' by Osvaldo Golijov, 'Britten: String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25: IV. Molto vivace' by Benjamin Britten, String Quartet No. 5: II.' by Philip Glass, and ‘String Quartet No. 5: IV.' by Philip Glass performed by Kinetic Ensemble

From the choreographer, Keerati Jinakunwhphat: "In collaborating with Kinetic Ensemble, my initial instinct was to focus on sense memory in relation to music. Using this as a catalyst, I then, with the help of Bree Ahern, discovered and compiled different tracks that represent each of the four seasons. For many, music can boost memory, mood, and connect people through time and space. Each season can come with its own joy, nostalgia, trauma, and emotional ties. Changes in weather or daylight can greatly affect our psyche and behaviors and this new work will embody the different mental states that each season can potentially ignite. In the process with the dancers, I am interested in discovering and understanding how each others' sensations and memories can vary even within the same season. We make room for different stories and perspectives and also discover what can remain consistent throughout all four seasons. The work will narrate and progress as the dancers process through each season and their individual, emotional journey together.”

 Intersections

Houston Contemporary Dance Company World Premiere

Choreographer: Joe Celej

Music: Mike Maltese

Costume Designer: Candis Cannon

Originally created pre-pandemic, “Intersections” consists of four movement sections that can be arranged in any order and whose order will be determined randomly for each performance. The structure of the piece is inspired by Sol LeWitt’s work “A Square Divided Horizontally and Vertically into Four Equal Parts, Each with a Different Direction Alternating Parallel Bands of Lines” (1982). Each section will live and move on the planes demonstrated in LeWitt’s work... horizontal, vertical, and each of the diagonal planes. The mood of the work is existential in nature and focuses on the idea that our individuality is both isolating and a commonality that we all share.

 let my hair down

Houston Contemporary Dance Company with Say Girl Say World Premiere

Choreographer: Robbie Moore

Music: Say Girl Say

Say Girl Say is a genre-bending multi-instrumental duo from Houston, Texas composed of members Brigette Yawn and Suad Ihsan, known for their hypnotic vocal harmonies, lyrical finesse, and entrancing melodies backed by eclectic instrumental production. What began as a casual friendship in 2012, grew into a local staple within Houston's artist community. In May 2015, the band released their first self-titled record “Say Girl Say”, an all-acoustic album featuring ukulele, guitar, harp, and violin, accompanied by many sounds of worldly percussion. Since then, Say Girl Say's sound has evolved over the years while writing and recording their sophomore album “Let My Hair Down”, which debuted May 2021. "Let My Hair Down" is a concept of finding yourself by stumbling through the human experience in search of love, empowerment, forgiveness, and compassion.

 Alma’d

Houston Contemporary Dance Company World Premiere

Choreographer: Eoghan Dillon

Music: Tom Lehrer

"The body that reached her ‘Embalm-a’, was one that had known how to live."

 4Yous

Houston Contemporary Dance Company World Premiere

Choreographer: Peter Chu

Stager: Jenni Gordon

Composer: Djeff Houle

Lighting Designer: Sarah Jean Elliott

Costume Concept: Peter Chu

From the choreographer, Peter Chu: “My time at Perry-Mansfield inspired me to reimagine, restructure, and nurture an existing work initially developed for and commissioned by New Dialect in 2015 –– Two Yous. Newly titled, 4yous plays out the inner dilemma of an aging person as they distrust their perception of reality and struggle with the ability to perform. The mirrored role pushes the physical bounds of movement with sharp, isolated and liquid like energy coupled with interlacing exchanges. Wrestling with the past, a heightened sense of urgency is driven by the inability to control behavioral patterns. An involuntary slip of the mind seduces bewilderment.”

 Beer and Skittles

Houston Contemporary Dance Company World Premiere

Choreographer: Kia Smith

Music: Raphael Beau, Travis Lake, The Avalanches

 American land

Houston Contemporary Dance Company World Premiere

Choreographer: Yoshito Sakuraba

Music: Shakespeare Sonnet 154 read by Bohdan Poraj, Ludwig van Beethoven, John Philip Band & LeAnn Rimes, Joe Thwaites, Hammond Bennett

The new work ‘The American Land’ is an ironic piece about farmers facing the burgeoning future and apocalypse as a consequence of soil erosion-as some experts say the Earth will run out of usable topsoil that causes massive crop production cuts. The work is mixed with a hint of narrative imagery idiotically and awaits its moment to erupt. The work's last track uses the voice of Hammond Bennett, who created the Soil Conservation Service in the 1930s to counter the effects of the Dust Bowl. "We Americans have been the greatest destroyers of land of any race of people, barbaric or civilized."

Sock-Hop Sonata

Houston Contemporary Dance Company World Premiere

Choreographer: McKinley Willis

Music: Lesley Gore, Max Richter, Bobby Vinton, Angelique Kidjo, Bill Haley & His Comets

Citizen

Houston Contemporary Dance Company Regional Premiere 

European premiere in 2019 at Schrittmacher Festival, Aachen, Germany; North American premiere in 2019 at BAM Fisher

Choreographer:  Yue Yin

Stager: Grace Whitworth

Original Music: Juliane Jones and Doug Beiden 

Costumes: Olivia Salazar

 Citizen is a physically demanding ensemble piece performed by the full company of Houston Contemporary Dance Company. Its dynamic and expressive movement, together with dramatic original musical scoring, reflects the intensity of the times we were living then and now, the challenges we face together and the political environment that surrounds and influences us. The dancers and their movements celebrate our common sense of hope and determination.

This piece was generously underwritten by an anonymous donor.