HARTEL DANCE GROUP
TO PERFORM
"HDG/DANCING DOWNTOWN"
AND FIRST CHILDREN'S SHOW
THIS WEEK

Photo by Valerie Sebestyen

Hartel Dance Group modern dance company will perform HDG/Dancing Downtown 2012

for its summer season on June 7th, 8th and 9th at 8 P.M., with HDG's first Children's Show at 10 A.M. on Saturday, June 9th at 10 A.M.  The Saturday, 8 P.M. performance will be followed by a post-performance meet-the-dancers party at the Magnolia Studio.  The programs will be held at the Magnolia Studio, 722 N. Broadway and N.W. 7th Street on the 5th floor.

The performance features Network, a  new work by artistic director Austin Hartel in collaboration with local composer and visual artist Aaron Robinson.  This work will explore the social networks we create in this digital age through the process  of a musical Fugue. The Fugue will be represented visually as the dancers perform with projections of themselves that are captured live in the moment.  As this visual Fugue builds upon itself, the musical fugue will also be constructed through the use of live sensors and trigger points.  The looping of the dance and the virtual relationship onstage parallel the always on and connected society we live in.  Are we truly connected to the ethereal images of friends and contacts on our screens?

“I am very excited about this new work and the collaborative process with Aaron.  We are working to create a piece that integrates the use of new media and live performance in an exciting and dynamic way. “ says Hartel in the press release.

Additional works to be presented are Bicuspid,  (1987), choreographed by Hartel, with original score by Nick Holmes. Jennifer Dunning of the New York Times wrote, Bicuspid was “a dose of pure revivifying oxygen.”  Like the teeth that share the same root, the two dancers share the same root of expression, passion and movement quality.  

The Company is excited to present founding member Becca Schmedt’s choreography , A different look.  This  work is about seeing the stories behind the strangers who surround us and learning how those stories bond us together.

La Grange,  a suite to Music by ZZ Top, will be a fun, energetic dance exploring 

the physicality of flying low and gliding high through space. 

To finish the evening, Sunrise on Hatteras, set to music by Led Zeppelin, is a work, which draws it inspiration from the eastern most point of the United States where the sun first touches our shores.  This is a fanciful dance of Mermaids and ritual.  

The children's show will consist of new work being developed to entertain and inform young audiences through dance. In Vastus Sylva, the dancers will depict fanciful creatures and animals.  Action Packed  is a work with dancing boxes.  A new dance will brig to life spaghetti and meat balls .  There will also be opportunities for the young audience to participate in sections of the show.

This season is possible in part thanks to the support of the Kirkpatrick Foundation.Hartel Dance Group is a local dance theatre production company focused on developing dramatic forms of physical expression while expanding the dance audience.

Tickets purchased in advance are $10.00. Those purchased at the door are $15.00

Advance purchases and additional information about the Hartel Dance Group can be found on-line at www.harteldancegroup.org 

From the press release