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-Past Projects- |
"Ugly Duckling & Other Sagas of Growing
Up" "Salt: Relics in Their Seasons" |
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************************************************************** URBAN FOLKTALES
traces the resonance of stories and
legends in the cityscape uncovering smart facts, humorous commentary and
poignant stories in dance and movement. Collaborating with the composer Alex
Moeller and artist Ned Luhm, choreographer an director Betty
Salamun steps past stereotypical city sights and sounds in dance-theatre
to entertain the mind and delight the eye.
Artistic Director Betty Salamun’s original production, URBAN FOLKTALES
explores the urban legends, fairy tales in contemporary dress and even alien
abductions. Narrative and movement re-present the Oedipus myth from the point
of view of the Sphinx. Gang pressure and social interaction expose fairy
tales as present day community dilemmas. Dance, image and music dig beneath
the surface of unsightly random fragments for vital signs of integrity and
beauty in the urban world. Alex Moeller’s sound scores incorporates music, narrative and text with the city’s pulse. Blending structural and projected images. Ned Luhm will create visual settings that are more than post-card memory of the world. |
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*********************************** “Life’s a Beach”
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************************************************************** Life’s a Beach” uses
dance, drama, humor, songs, comedy improv and audience participation to show
the perils to the Great Lakes. Zebra mussels, Sirens of pollution,
Poseidon the Greek god of seas, a woman scientist and a developer-game show
host compete through games on the challenges to Great Lakes water quality.
With original script and choreography, the performance runs approximately 50
minutes including audience participation in a comedy improv format on fresh
water issues. Come for the fun in the sun and catch the low-down on the
lakes. What did the students gain
from coming to the
DanceCircus “Life’s a Beach” show? **Familiarity with how
invasive species imperil the Great Lakes **Knowledge about the dangers
of pollution in the Lakes **An appreciation for dance, theatre and music
about topical ideas **Familiarity with the science
and ecology of fresh water issues **An understanding of the agencies responsible for water quality Click here to return to DanceCircus Home Page |
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“Space on the
Ledge”
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************************************************************* The line between adventure and risk is thin, thin as
ice. Thin as the icy SPACE ON THE LEDGE DanceCircus illustrates in a concert
of modern dance, dance theater and poetry by guest artist and poet Suzanne
Rosenblatt. The incredible shrinking icy landscape of the polar
bear forms the backdrop for Betty Salamun’s new work investigating questions
about danger, adventure, slippery ground and high stakes in RISK/RISQUÉ. A
precarious leap of faith, hair-breath escape or running for your life?
Dancers on an ice flow search for what is an “acceptable risk.” SOUND is both geography -- a body of water surrounded
on three sides by land -- and auditory events. Artistic Director Betty
Salamun inhabits the first and creates the second with whale songs, a fishing
net and stories of the depths and the shore. Combining the timing of a standup comedian with a deep
caring for the earth, guest artist and poet (and painter and author) Suzanne
Rosenblatt joins DanceCircus ON THE LEDGE. Darwinian survivors encounter
insistent environmental concerns through Suzanne’s hilarious word-play and
rhymes. Everyone is invited to meet the artists at receptions
following each performance. |
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*********************************** GIVING VOICE Series
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************************************************************* The stories of women from The Benedict
Center With Guest Jahmes Tony
Finlayson .
Powerful stories of dance-theatre will be
performed dances to poetry and stories from the Women Power Program by
company dancers, Benedict Center intern Angelina and guest musician Jahmes
Tony Finlayson. Also on the program: Jamie Patton performs “Genii in the
Kitchen,” a talk-dance about overcoming the fear of the lions, leopards and
hyenas in life and Betty Salamun performs “Balinese Contract” which explores
the ways we are bound together in peace. The
Center ‘s Community Justice Program supports and promotes effective
alternatives to incarceration that benefit the victim, the offender and the
entire community. The Benedict Center through the
DanceCircus Storycircle workshops will collaboratively work to expand
community awareness of these women’s efforts to change the Click here to return to DanceCircus Home Page |
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********************************* "To Think Of
Time"
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*************************************************************** DanceCircus celebrates 30 years of
telling stories What's the connection between Hans
Christian Andersen, Walt Whitman, & DanceCircus? Well known for her environmental focus, Artistic Director
Betty Salamun describes her work as being about “…relationships to the land
and to each other -- communicated through movement.” Reflecting, she continues,
“Whitman’s words bridge to my earliest works --nature images, eco-poets,
"A SAND COUNTY ALMANAC," even as my work has become more scripted
and theatrical in design.” Salamun has been telling stories through dance,
theatre and music since before the company’s founding in 1975. Salamun’s New
York concert prior to returning to Milwaukee was described by the New York
Times Don McDonagh as “Likeable ingenuity…nicely conceived and well danced.” Click here to return to DanceCircus Home Page |
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********************************* "The Ugly Duckling and Other Sagas of
Growing Up"
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*************************************************************** In The UGLY DUCKLING and Other Sagas of Growing Up,
puppeteer Tim Reed and Betty Salamun reinterpreted the stories as everyday
experiences that show emotional growing pains. From a princess buying
trinkets with kisses to a prince finding a wife with a pea, Hans Christian
Andersen’s stories reveal contemporary values and relationships -- and with
very modern responses and consequences. “All cultures have storytelling
traditions, so everyone understands stories,” explains Salamun. “Using
stories encourages people to see their own lives in the story. Stepping
outside your own story is a powerful tool to changing your life.”
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********************************* Salt: "Relics in Their Seasons"
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*************************************************************** What does the receipt for Egyptian mummification, a Balinese
contract, and, the blood and sweat of DANCECIRCUS dancers and ONE DRUM BAND
musicians have in common?
Click here to return to DanceCircus Home Page |
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********************************* Chicago Fest
Photo credit: Deone Jahnke
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*************************************************************** 3rd
Annual The Full Circle Danztheatre Festival Multicultural Family Program BREAD Betty Salamun developed BREAD for the Interfaith
Council sponsored Crop Walk in support of migrant workers. The dance begins
with sweeping gathering movements to “Yisrael V’oraita” a Jewish melody.
Speaking text while dancing, Salamun invokes the audience to emotionally
chant “bread” during a monologue of a choreographer’s – punning -- need for
sustenance. During a short section of music Betty changes to a dance of characters
with the next part of the talk-dance the story of a mother and three
daughters. . Switching between mother and each daughter, who in their
turn leaves the family home, the audience continues chanting “bread.” The
danced ends with a mimed sequence of the last daughter leaving her mother
with joy and honor. Originally this talk-dance was done encircling the
audience, and will be restaged for The Full Circle Danztheatre Festival at
Hamlin Park Studio Theatre. Click here to return to DanceCircus Home Page |
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"Wind-Fall"
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*************************************************************** The performance, Wind-Fall, combines the “witty” and “spell
binding” original dance of DanceCircus Artistic Director, Betty Salamun with
the “outstanding playing” of the Wisconsin Wind Orchestra under the direction
of Dr. Lawrence Harper. Wind-Fall features the American premier of Pablo
Escande’s “Danzas Concertantes” for solo clarinet and wind instruments with
original dance by Salamun. Wind-Fall is an evening of dramatic, luminous
dance to music by Mendelssohn, Orff, and Milhaud. Appealing to classical music and dance fans in two cities,
each ensemble introduces their partner in an evening of chamber music and
contemporary dance to their home audience. Dr Harper expands the chamber
concert experience, regularly combining disciplines and scheduling multi-media
works. Harper notes, “For some time now I have wanted to explore the
fantastic potential for artistic expression through combining sound and
movement in a live experience for audiences. When I found Betty Salamun had
that same enthusiasm, our plans for a concert began to gel immediately with a
commonly held vision of a creative collaboration. ”Fitting contemporary movement into classical music creates a
lively interplay of images. “As a modern choreographer,” Salamun explains, “I
begin a dance by contrasting ideas or images to develop several basic
movement phrases.” Then, with dancers she explores a grab-bag of contemporary
techniques (rhythm change, transposition, reversals, splicing, retrogrades)
and begins to shape the images into movement sequences. “The music is the
last element I bring into the dance,” laughs Salamun, “usually after
costumes.” Harper’s other musical suggestions include Mendelssohn’s
”Notturno” and Orff’s “Carmina Burana” which linked with DanceCircus
repertoire – “REFLECTION” and "ENCINERADA." “Realizing that my
dance REFLECTION is a classical ‘nocturne’ form surprised me,” noted Salamun
“and, the dramatic energy of Carmina Burana is a natural fit with the
theatrical sign language I integrate with movement.” Completing the program are dance and musical premiers. The
Wind Orchestra will perform the lovely and lyrical “Dixtuor” by Enesco, a
work seldom heard in this country. “Dixtuor” is also being recorded for the
orchestra's third international CD release. In keeping with the all-acoustic
evening, Salamun will premiere “12 Tone Tome,” twelve short stories, one on
each musician’s chair, about working with music in dance. The partnership of the Wisconsin Wind Orchestra and
DanceCircus explores the resonance musicians and dancers create through a
shared consciousness of breath, movement and stillness to form an interactive
and dynamic concert experience. Click here to return to DanceCircus Home Page |
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"URBAN REVIEWAL"
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*************************************************************** This was keeno. URBAN FOLK TALES is a series of dances with a
little theater mixed in. Presented by the modern dance company Dancecircus,
it's billed as a show that’s “stepping past city sights and sounds to
uncover the bidden face of folk tales” (folktales wear veils?). This doesn't
really happen, but it happen is witty, creative and quite clever. |
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********************************* "Fest Dancers"
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*************************************************************** FEST DANCERS, a job-training program
for at-risk Milwaukee youth by Creative Employment Opportunities II (CEO II)
employed six dancers and one technician under the Artistic Direction of Betty
Salamun. CEO II has identified the discipline and creativity of the arts as
vital job skills. Students received a daily technique class, learned
choreography, developed choreography and research methods, developed resumes,
and performed. FEST DANCERS presented 20 shows including Bastille Days,
nursing homes, Boys and Girls Clubs and a Library for over 2,000 people in
four weeks. A summer job to remember. Click here to return to DanceCircus Home Page |
