Two companies are making return engagements in the 2018-19 season of the Elevator Project, a program that gives smaller and emerging arts groups a stage at the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
Dark Circles Contemporary Dance and Cry Havoc Theater Company are joining six other performing arts companies for the project's fourth season, which runs October 2018 to July 2019. In addition to a world-class stage, these groups get to utilize ATTPAC's operations and marketing teams, ticketing systems, and mentoring support.
"The Elevator Project has become a passion for us here at the AT&T Performing Arts Center," says interim president and CEO Debbie Storey. "It lets us discover and partner with some of the new and emerging talent in Dallas, and provide them with meaningful resources and a platform in the Arts District. It is an impactful collaboration on a new level."
David Denson, who founded the project in 2014, is again producing this season with support from the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, TACA, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The season was curated by a five-person panel of arts professionals and advocates, who whittled down the 39 proposals to a season that emphasizes new work; unusual use of performance space; and diverse genres, artists, and subject matter.
"The Arts District is the ideal spot for local artists to take risks, premiere new work, and attract new audiences," says Denson. "And the Elevator Project is the ideal series for Dallas audiences to discover and experience the most engaging performances going up across North Texas."
It begins with Aladdin from Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, featuring the choreography of founder Joshua L. Peugh and an original score performed live by SMU alumnus Brandon Carson. The immersive creation is inspired by the story of The History of Aladdin, or The Wonderful Lamp, and explores how time and imagination have transformed the original tale. It runs four performances in the Wyly Studio Theatre, October 11-14, 2018.
Indique Dance Company is next with three performances of SvaBhava in Hamon Hall at the Winspear Opera House. The Bharatanatyam dance production is based on the ideal of creating meaning in our lives and how we treat people affects our daily life. It runs December 6-8, 2018.
Audiences can then witness the song, dance, and story behind Joan Miró’s paintings of Spanish dancers with 88 Keys Unlock Joan Miró’s Flamenco Dancer’s Heart. The seductive conversation between dancer, singer, musician, and spectator features The Flame Foundations' resident flamenco dancers Antonio Arrebola and Delilah Buitrón Arrebola, in collaboration with Spanish flamenco jazz pianist Alex Conde and French Gypsy vocalist Jose Cortes. It play three performances in Hamon Hall, February 14-16, 2019.
Scott Zenreich's new play Pastry King is about blame, the strength of relationships, and the perfect ricotta recipe. It follows a husband and wife who open a pastry shop in the North End, making the best cannoli in Boston, but upon meeting their neighbor the Pastry King, odd and terrible things start to happen. It runs 12 performances in the Wyly Studio Theatre, April 23-May 5, 2019.
GiANT Entertainment is throwing a fancy-dress outdoor arts and music festival called City Dionysia, featuring dance, music, performance art, vendors, performers, and arts and crafts in honor of the birth of theater and its patron god, Dionysus. Spectators at Annette Strauss Square will be guided through various activities, including mask making, choral chanting, and movement that will culminate into part of the storytelling of Euripides' The Bacchae. It runs May 9-11, 2019.
A series of female-centric pieces entitled Sanadora, which means "healer," will showcase the healing roles that women play in society. Mythical figures like Ariadne and the Minotaur populate the work from Teatro Flor Candela, which is directed by Patricia Urbina. It runs May 23-25, 2019, in Hamon Hall.
Felabration Dallas takes on Black Music Month with Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Afrobeat King, Fela Kuti. This three-night event from Iv Amenti will be filled with Fela's finest musical moments, as well as Afrobeat's new emerging artists. It runs June 14-16, 2019, in Hamon Hall.
Cry Havoc Theater Company closes out the season with Sex Ed in Hamon Hall. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, conversations about sexual impropriety are front and center in our collective consciousness. Yet we seem to have collective amnesia when it comes to our own teenage years and the lack of honest, accurate information we received about our bodies. This devised work discusses the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees, and how "the talk" has become so politically divisive in our culture. It runs July 3-14, 2019.
Individual tickets for each Elevator Project production are general admission and cost $25 each. Purchase five or more shows, and the ticket price drops to $20 for each show. With the purchase of seven shows for $140, the eighth show is free, representing a total savings of $60. Handling fees are extra.
If you buy five or more shows, you also have the option to purchase discounted parking for $5 per show.
Tickets are available online at www.attpac.org, by telephone at 214-880-0202, or in person at the AT&T Performing Arts Center Winspear Opera House box office at 2403 Flora St.
Dark Circles Contemporary Dance presents Aladdin October 11-14, 2018.
