Dance in Houston, Tx Part 7

Taken from CORE website

CORE Performance Company is another group that I am very interested in learning more about. The three key things that I picked up from their website were their emphasis on performing, presenting artists from all over, and connecting everything with the community (in particular communities that don't often have the opportunity to dance).

It looks like they will be dancing this weekend at the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival, and have a performance coming up on April 29th "In the Mood... for Dance".

I am so excited about everyone of these groups, and I hope to get the chance to be apart of the dance community in Houston.

Dance in Houston, Tx Part 6

Ok.... my research would not be complete without having a shout out to the Houston Ballet. It has a rich history since 1955 and a dedication to excellence and innovation. As much as my strengths do not lie in ballet, I have a lot of appreciation and respect for the dance form. I might be able to catch their version of "The Taming of the Shrew" because I might be visiting in June before moving out there.

Taken from the Houston Ballet website

Dance in Houston, Tx Part 5

Suchu Dance in Houston also seems like a riveting dance company. The most post modern dance group I have found so far, I am so excited to be finding such a diverse dance community.

I hope to get a chance to see some of this crazy bunch of dancers while I'm in Texas.

Take from Jacob's Pillow 2009 Announcement

Dance in Houston, Tx Part 4

Dominic Walsh Dance Theater! Ok... so I may not be a ballerina, but there's just something I love about watch contemporary ballet! I probably don't have a chance in hell at working with this company, but I will gladly go support the contemporary ballet and thought provoking works. Come to find out... Matthew Bourne has choreographed on this company makes it even better. It will always be a dream for me to see Bourne's version of Swan Lake.
Well, anyway... Dominic Walsh has a performance coming up May 5-7 wish I could be down there to check them out.

Dance in Houston, Tx Part 3



Taken from Sandra Organ Dance Company



There is also the Sandra Organ Dance Company in Houston. It doesn't look like they offer classes, but they offer outreach programs along with performances in the community. In looking over their site, I got a really strong sense for the emphasis on stretching the expectations of dance in performance. They say they blend dance with music and spoken word which is always an interest in my own choreography. I would be interested in seeing the work "Si Se Puede" which has been postponed till later in the year!

Dance in Houston, Tx Part 2

Another great option for Dance in Houston seems to be at the Houston City Dance Studio. They offer all types of classes including Ballet, Modern, Tap, Jazz, the works as well as creative movement for children!!!! Right up my alley... They seem to take a deep look at the culture and deep ethnic diversity of Houston.

Picture taken from Houston City Dance Studio

Dance in Houston, Tx Part 1

Alright... so I thought I'ld use my blog to help me collect research on various Dance companies in Houston, Tx as I will be moving down there in 3 or 4 months.

First, I have found the Houston MET Dance Center. I am really particularily interested in learning more about this group based on their strong emphasis on dance in education and enhancing the lives of others. The center offers Adult classes in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Tap with resonable package rates. They also have a performance coming up this weekend on April 15, 2011. I wonder how many performances they put on in a year.

Here's a quick video clip from them on youtube.

Dreaming at the Waterford Public Library

Over the past couple days, I have been working with the Waterford Public Library on two separate events - "Dancing Dreams" for kids ages around 4 and 5 and "In your Dreams Workshop" for ages 10 and up. It's been a wild couple of days, and these two events have been a lot of fun.

Hard, Hard, Hard work.... I learned a lot from the Dancing Dreams workshop. It is incredible how much children can teach us, and with over 50 participants, I had a lot of teachers. Never did I anticipate that many children attending, and if I had another group as large as that one, I would do things a little differently.

For instance, when you ask a group of 20 children to go around the circle and share a movement to introduce themselves it doesn't take nearly as long as it does for a group of over 50. I had a lot of help and support from librarian Tricia Cox who kept me on track and who always keeps up my confidence. The kids did great, and they stayed with me. They shared with me some of their dreams about being princesses, swimming with sharks and other animals, being transformers, seeing aliens, and future goals of being police officers and firemen.

But I might try a different approach. In the future, I will start with the reading of the story "Waking Up is Hard to Do" by Neil Sadaka then go into a warm up. Honestly, I think the kids were really excited to be read a story. Also, I wouldn't have them in a circle, but in lines facing me with enough space to move. The circle made it difficult to move freely with such a large group of young ones. Then I would probably have some of my own choreography about dreams to lead them with, and then ask for volunteers to make up some extra choreography about what their dreams may be.

OVER 50 participants!!!!! Even with a few difficulties, the kids really seemed to have a good time dancing and reading at the library.

Now with my other event for the teen program, I had a lot of fun as a guest in the workshop. I helped open their dream interpretation workshop with some breathing exercises which were a lot of fun. And I was surprised at all the laughing, and how it really opened up the group to relax and feel comfortable.

We then did some steps for relaxation that I picked up from my T'ai Chi class last semester with Tom Ryan. I got them to focus on themselves, and take some tools with them on how to deal with stress. Afterwards, the Librarian Emily Scherrer took charge as we all built our own dream journals, made dream pillows, and were introduced to books on how to interpret dreams.

The Waterford Public Library never fails to amaze me. Over the years, I have always been impressed, but have come to realize that even more so the library has never ceased to inspire me along with others.