• David Krebs
• BodyVox goes intergalactic, and brings their exercise bands with them.

BodyVox is trying something different. And, as usual, it’s joyful, clever, and pretty irresistible. Their new show, The Cutting Room, debuted last week; it takes the contemporary genre of dance-theater and stretches it into dance-cinema. The Cutting Room is a cinephile’s dream; it borrows aesthetics and iconography from the likes of The Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Amadeus, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. (The score includes both Mozart and the Appalachian Ralph Stanley.) Amazingly, there is only one intermission during the entire show; the varying aesthetics (futuristic, Baroque, backcountry, et. al) are strung together by an ongoing chase scene: a loose, silly narrative involving a man in a tie and suit (Jamey Hampton) and a man in sunglasses and an Adidas track suit (Jonathan Krebs), fighting over a MacGuffin—a mysterious film reel that’s introduced in the first few minutes of the performance.

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Rounding out their exciting 2011/12 season tomorrow, dance organization White Bird offers you this:

The hip-hop troupe Compagnie Käfig. Hailing from France and Brazil—their choreographer is based in Lyon, and its 10 young dancers from Rio de Janeiro—choreographer Mourad Merzouki will present two pieces, Agwa and Correria, for a mix of acrobatics, samba, electronic, and, cups of water?

There aren’t many chances to see hip-hop dance in Portland, and this is Compagnie Käfig’s only U.S. stop on their current tour, making Wednesday's show an especially unique opportunity. Tickets for the performance are $25-60, BUT we have a hook-up: enter in the discount code Mercury when you check out, here, and get $5 off tickets in price levels 2-4. Notables from earlier in the Uncaged season included vigorous, intense performances from the local group tEEth and the Canadian troupe Kidd Pivot; Compagnie Käfig seems to be more of the same type of impressive talent.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1031 SW Broadway, May 9, 7:30 pm, $25-60.

As previously mentioned, Adam Arnold's spring fashion show this year will take the form of the costumes he been designing for OBT's premiere of choreographer Matjash Mrozewski’s The Lost Dance, one of four short pieces that make up Chromatic Quartet, which debuts on April 19 at the Newmark. Personally I'm really looking forward to seeing his increasingly masterful tailoring and design work in a new context, as well as what his fans will wear to fancy it up at the ballet. OBT just released a few teaser images of the work in progress on their blog:

• OBT blog
• Ties for the male dancers.

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• Linda Austin mid-dance in A head of time

Last week Linda Austin premiered her hybrid dance/installation/performance piece A head of time, and it is proceeded this weekend with an incredible mishmash of shows, including, although not limited to: a maturely pregnant woman (Tahni Holt) dancing to music by the Decemberist’s bassist (Nate Query); a BodyVox performance choreographed to a screening of When Harry Met Sally (no, I do not really know what to expect); and a performance by the Northwest’s “premiere” hip-hop (again, I do not really know what to expect) company. Hit the jump for the complete lowdown.

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• Ruby Washington
• When dolls attack

It’s been a few days, but I still can’t get that malevolent cardboard puppet out of my head. Last weekend White Bird brought an insanely talented company called Kidd Pivot (and their marionette) to the Newmark Theater. The dance troupe, originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, are currently based in Germany, where they are in their second year in a residency at a Frankfurt cultural center. The show they performed last week was "Dark Matters." Kidd Pivot comprises six dancers led by acclaimed choreographer Crystal Pite. Here's a promo clip:

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Soon they’ll be headed to the London Olympics; in the meantime, the NWDP performed The Best of Now this past Friday and Saturday. It was three world premieres: one piece by their artistic director, Sarah Slipper, and two others by Patrick Delcroix and Wen Wei Wang.

Never ones to disappoint, all the works were striking this weekend—both poignant and playful. The first piece, called Conjugations and choreographed by Chinese-born Wen Wei Wang, was totally exuberant, and colloquial (if you can call a dance "colloquial"), referencing the way dance and movement factors into our day-to-day modes of expression. Slipper changed the tone entirely with the next piece, called Airys, which involved some über clever staging—including dirt which sifted from the ceiling, and landed in a neat pile on the stage—with a grave, funeral-infused tone. Last on deck was the piece Chameleon, choreographed by Patrick Delcroix, which had a stripped-down set, and featured the flinging of paint, and confusion of dancers.

The NWDP’s promotional efforts are often as impressive as their performances themselves. Check out this epic video montage, directed by Ralph Davis:

Their next performance is Summer Splendors, happening in June. You'd be wise to get your tickets when you can! This company is only going to get better.

• Giselle (Haiyan Wu) and Albrecht (Chauncey Parsons): It's all fun and games...'til the dead and vengeful virgins stop by

Last Saturday OBT began their first show of 2012 with the iconic Giselle. Set in the Rhineland in the Middle Ages, the dancers, garbed as peasants, jeté and brise across the scene like balls whizzing inside a pinball machine, setting off applause at regular intervals. Giselle is an insanely challenging performance, with, as OBT insists, “the most technically demanding choreography in the ballet canon.” It’s one of those pieces that’s incredible to see, as a feat of the human body—and, like Swan Lake, it’s a staple of many ballet companies.

In short, the story follows peasant girl Giselle (performed by three different OBT dancers throughout the run), who falls in love with a duke, then dies of a broken heart. She returns as a spirit, who has teamed up with a group of similarly jilted ballerinas (called the Wilis), who attempt to dance the duke to death (yup, that old routine). The production on the whole is plump with Romantic emotions, which verge on camp—but the difficulty of the dance makes you take it seriously. There's also the sets, which are intricate and lavish, shipped all the way from the fanciful Florence, Italy, as were the costumes.

If there’s any complaints about staid tradition at OBT, the company released their 2012/2013 program recently, and it has a few fun surprises: namely, a show choreographed to a score by the Fleet Foxes, and a collaboration with the Portland Art Museum that involves a certain TBA Pacific Northwest artist.

The last round of shows for Giselle is this weekend, with the pay-your-age program as an option (as well as cheap tickets if you have an Oregon Trail Card, as per the Arts-for-All program, with the final performance on Saturday, March 3.

• Blaine Truitt Covert
• Daniel Kirk and Eric Skinner in Flying Over Emptiness

The Skinner/Kirk Dance Ensemble made a rare debut of work last week. Seeing both tEEth and Skinner/Kirk perform within several days of one another got me excited at how truly diverse Portland’s contemporary dance scene is. Where one (tEEth) is edgy, hinging on absurdity and a certain amount of steady discomfort, the other is balletic and performed with a permanent smile. Maybe the best word I can think of for Skinner/Kirk’s performance last week is “pleasant”; though no doubt it was also awe-inspiring.

Eric Skinner and Daniel Kirk have been dancing together for a long time—since 1989, in some shape or form; they co-founded BodyVox in the late ‘90s. Current members of BodyVox, every now and then they create their own program as the Skinner/Kirk Dance Ensemble. Their work is insanely athletic and demanding, making you marvel at the power and grace of the human body. (Or, at least, of their human bodies.) Watching the duet One, performed by Skinner and Kirk—on a trapeze, no less—and multiple gasps went up throughout the audience, with people whispering, “They’re so strong!”

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Thanks to everybody who came out for Saturday night's "That's My Jam!" dance party at the Bossanova! As predicted it was a stone cold GAS, and the mighty team of DJ Beyonda and Ill Camino had booties wildly maneuvering all night long. Let's do it again soon, and stand by for the next super fun shindig in our Mercury Winter of Fun™ series!

One note of concern, however...

WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH PORTLAND WHITE PEOPLE? While our "Soul Train Dance Line Contest" was a great success, with one lucky ass-shaker shaking away with $100—what is it about a "Soul Train dance line" that you people don't understand? As I clearly explained TWICE before the contest, everyone would form parallel lines, and dance down the center toward the judges. Ummm... like this:

EASY... BREEZY... BEAUTIFUL... COVERGIRL. Amirite? And yet, Portland White People cannot seem to grasp this simple and self-explanatory concept, because they are apparently hardwired to form a circle and hop in and out of it willy-nilly! I'm not criticizing the dancing, or your sexiness—but this stubborn insistence on forming a circle, rather than the clearly superior parallel lines of a Soul Train dance line is nothing short of disturbing, and something you people (AKA Portland White People) really need to work on... unless you like being Mayor Whitey McCracker of Honky Town. In short: CIRCLES, NO. PARALLEL LINES, YES. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this pressing matter.

Last reminder! Do you ever feel like Kevin Bacon in the barn scene from Footloose? ME, TOO! That's why it is IMPERATIVE for your mental well-being to attend tonight's "THAT'S MY JAM!" dance party and contest! DJ Beyonda and Ill Camino will be on hand spinning the most awesome dance pop jams ever, PLUS we'll be having a "Soul Train-style" dance contest where you can win $100 and a can of Hormel Chili! (SQUEEE!!) Behold the deets:

That’s My Jam! Dance Party and Contest
TONIGHT!! From 9 pm till death.
Bossanova Ballroom, 722 E Burnside
$5 advance, $7 at the door (Get your tickets here!)

And to get you into the mood, check out this classic Soul Train dance line featuring Michael Jackson's "PYT"! Okay, that's SICK!!

As you already know, "That's My Jam!"—the Mercury's latest installment in our Winter of Fun™ series—is gonna be a STONE... COLD... GAS. Picture it! All your favorite dance pop jams being spun by the famous DJ BEYONDA and Ill Camino while you burn up the floor shakin' that thang. It's gonna be super fun. And even super funner? We're having a "Soul Train-style" dance line competition where the hottest dancer on the floor will win $100 cash money (and a can of Hormel Chili). Do you wanna come? HERE ARE THE DEETS:

That’s My Jam! Dance Party and Contest
Saturday, Feb 4
Bossanova Ballroom, 722 E Burnside
$5 Advance, $7 at the door (Get your tickets now here!)

HOWEVER! We're happy to give away FIVE PAIRS OF TICKETS to Saturday's dance party. All you have to do is email me here with "That's My Jam!" in the subject line, and tell me your current favorite dance jam. If you win, you'll get a pair of tickets, and DJ Beyonda may even play your jam! (If she has it available, of course.) Send me your emails by 3 pm today!

• Patrick Weishampel/tEEth

So, have you seen a tEEth performance yet? You probably should. The Portland-based dance group opened their latest piece last night, as part of the Fertile Ground Festival. Recent kudos came from Dance magazine, who listed the collaboration of Angelle Hebert and Phillip Kraft within their 2012 list of “top 25 to watch.”

Watching this new work Make/Believe is like having four jigsaw puzzle pieces—who happen to be people: Philip Elson, Noel Plemmons, Molly Sides, and Shannon Stewart—arranged and rearranged, but never lock in place. Even more so is this feeling because of the frustration you get while watching them never fitting.

Observe!

I walked away from the piece realizing I’d been furrowing my brow for the last 60 minutes, and not only because of that bizarre, helium-induced-sounding voice (featured in the video). The four dancers are all dressed in the same slate-gray get-up, with billowy necklines; usually they’re paired off. A reoccurring theme is the verbal diarrhea gesture (a lean-forward, accompanied by a splayed hand in front of their mouth, you know...that one?).

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• Christopher Peddecord
• NWDP's Franco Nieto, all wrapped up and ready to go.

I probably don’t need to tell you why, or necessarily how, the company is so good. There’s been a ton of buzz over them this past year. (To brush up, look here, here, here, or most everywhere else.) The opening of In Good Company was packed last Friday, sold-out in fact, and it had the pleasant and cozy atmosphere of a small winter party: booze, comfy sweaters, low lights.

All of the show is choreographed by the company’s dancers (twist!)—six of them—and they take their songs from the expansive record collection of their aforementioned director: this makes for an even more special experience. I was predisposed to love the show, as the dancers landed on a lot of musicians (Nick Drake, Nina Simone, Buddy Holly, and Godspeed) that I already loved—I mention this not out of narcissism, but because that’s the beauty of choreographing to popular-ish music: I’m sure most people in the audience had at least one of those moments, where they heard a song associated with a particular time in their lives, and it had a transformative effect on the dance, making them sit up in their seats, and listen more closely.

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