Dancers Curating Dancers

The new locale of Gibney Dance at 280 Broadway has launched a six-week series curated by dance artists. Six well-known downtown choreographers have each chosen two less visible people to mentor and host at Gibney Dance. The idea of Double Plus is a collaboration between artistic director Gina Gibney and Craig Peterson, director of programs and presentation at Gibney Dance.

 

For this series, which begins on Wednesday, Annie B. Parson (see our April 2013 issue), RoseAnne Spradlin, Miguel Gutierrez, Donna Uchizono, Jon Kinzel, and 
Bebe Miller have all put their discerning eyes to the purpose of developing fresh voices.

 

At right: Audrey Hailes, chosen by Annie B. Parson. Photo by Maddy Talias, courtesy Gibney Dance.

 

The selection process departs from the usual one of presenters making choices according to what they think their audiences want. This process asks established dance makers to look beyond their own careers to find green shoots coming up out of the corners of the dance landscape. The result is a group of 12 (mostly young) dancemakers who are as diverse culturally as they are stylistically.

 

The choreographer/curators have each given a quote about why they chose their two artists. In the case of Miguel Gutierrez, who has chosen Alex Rodabaugh + Rakiya A. Orange for Nov 19–22,  he says the following:

“With artists that I am excited about, I have moments as an audience member where I am hypnotized a bit, either out of myself or somehow more deeply into myself. I’ve had that experience watching both Rakiya and Alex’s work. They are both contending with questions of identity and how to be seen as artists, performers, people in the world.”

For details and tickets, click here.

 

At left: Rakiya A. Orange, chosen by Miguel Gutierrez. Photo by Orange, courtesy Gibney Dance.