(Be)Longing: The Space we Make - An Isthmus Dance Collective Showcase

Name: (Be)Longing: The Space we Make - An Isthmus Dance Collective Showcase
Start: 2025-02-08T19:30:00-06:00
End: 2025-02-08T21:00:00-06:00
Location: MYArts-Madison Youth Arts Center

Schedule

Sat Feb 08 2025 at 07:30 pm to 09:00 pm

UTC-06:00

Location

MYArts-Madison Youth Arts Center | Madison, WI

PERFORMANCES�
Sat. Feb 8th 2025, 7:30pm
Sun. Feb 9th 2025 1pm

LOCATION
Madison Youth Arts Center Starlight Theater
1055 E Mifflin St, Madison WI 53703

TICKETS
$25 General Admission / $20 Youth ($5 off early bird before 1/1/25)
Purchase tickets at isthmusdancecollective.org/tickets
Coming together around Home being something we create together in community, the IDC member choreographers in (Be)Longing come together to present works that speak to their homes and their ongoing paths to manifesting better homes. Cultural and technical backgrounds that range from Classical Indian fusion to Flamenco, Contemporary Ballet to Middle Eastern Dance, American Modern/Contemporary to Aerial dance, seemingly disparate, stand in solidarity side by side, both literally and metaphorically showing how the Isthmus Dance Collective is a home we have created together. It has been a source of trust, support, inspiration, community, friendship, professional development, innovation, experimentation, equity, inclusion, and more.** Here a short description of each piece **
Swapna Srinivasan will present a classical contemporary dance portraying our (Be)longing on stage. The dancers have chosen various professional opportunities for survival but the beat of rhythm is still alive within them in every music they hear. They are masters in different styles of Classical Indian dance but when they are together they are united as one; soulfully, mindfully, and heartfully united in the dance. That’s where they most Belong.
Tania Tandias Flamenco & Spanish Dance will be performing the Colombianas, a flamenco dance showcasing the colorful Spanish fan, is light and playful with sensuous movements reminiscent of Cuban and South American dance styles. Flamenco dance and music made its way to the Americas and found a new home there. It changed by being in a new home and integrating influences from the diversity of people in Cuba, Mexico and the Basque country. It is a palo that was most likely originated by a famous flamenco singer in the 30's. This Colombianas piece is a fun and lively manifestation of a melting pot of different cultures finding community together.
Raka Bandyo’s new work “Crossing Water” (working title) is a reflection of those who have been displaced from their original homes and must find a new sense of (Be)longing in a new world. My ancestors were displaced by the creation of the borders of India and Pakistan. My own parents also left behind their original home to make a new one in the US. I will be using blue cloth saris to represent water, which will be the metaphor of the border between countries/worlds. What are the things that give us a sense of belonging? What are the things we are able to take with us from one world to the next to help us continue to belong?
Jen Costillo, a recent transplant from the San Francisco Bay Area is creating a new work about how time and injury are the enemy of any dancer. Dancers explore their own relationships with them in an environment of suspense. The disorientation of feeling estranged from one’s own body can leave anyone, and maybe especially dancers, in an unsettled, precarious state.
Juan Carlos Diaz Velez is creating a new abstract contemporary ballet piece based on Arvo Pärt's "Fratres"
While not a story, Robin Pettersen’s “Requiem” is inevitably linked to her sister’s death in 2021. It is not initially an easy piece to watch. The music is harsh, the movement intense and a bit tortured. But, as with much pain in life, the mood eventually softens, the dancer becomes more open and we see that both can exist, and a new sense of home is created through the grieving process.
In a revival and expansion of a new work about parenthood, Erica Pinigis explores how New parenthood is a disorienting and isolating experience. And further, dancers as new parents are faced with changes in their bodies and work/life balance that make returning to work “as usual” nearly impossible. The systems that would need to be in place to support dancing parents of young children are simply not in place in our society. “Mom Village” deals with that struggle, the isolation, estrangement from one’s own body, the dance of balancing one’s own needs with those of stampedes of shrieking chaos makers, and a possible way forward through the creation of a “mom village” of dancing parents. The validation, grace, support, inspiration, and courage that comes from the mom village cannot be overstated.
Using an elaborate layering of costumes, this piece explores how the dancer’s personality is transformed with the exposure of each layer. At times, this is approached in a comical way and other times with some darkness. Throughout the shifts of character that might represent the different roles we inhabit in life, there is the persistent interruption of the cell phone. The dance is an exploration of how we make sense of our busy lives with the many roles we juggle and how the constant demand of technology impacts how we exist.
We want to invite you, our cherished Madison Friends and Neighbors, out to MYArts this February to celebrate our collective brilliance - the communal beauty that we're continually creating as citizens of Madison. No performance is complete without an audience, but this one will not be complete without YOU <3