North Carolina Dance Companies (Triangle)

The North Carolina Research Triangle Region consists of the area within Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. The Triangle region is ranked among the best places in the nation to live and to do business in North Carolina. This well-developed region has a lot of dance companies and project-based work. Today, we are going to focus on nine diverse dance companies: The Kearns Dance Project, Natalie Marrone &The Dance Cure, Gaspard & Dancers, nosi DANCE theater, Renay Aumiller Dances, Justin Turnow & COMPANY, VECTOR, Carrasco Dance Works, and Carolina Ballet.

The Kearns Dance Project (KDP)

Website: http://www.thekearnsdanceproject.org/

According to the website, the Kearns Dance Project (KDP) is a North Carolina non-profit corporation based in Burlington, a member of the N.C. Center for Nonprofits, a member of the NC Arts Council Touring Directory, and a member of the NC Dance Alliance. The company works with a variety of dancers and designers on a per project basis.

KDP makes innovative and dynamic dance. The mission of KDP is three-fold: First, to enrich, educate and entertain audiences by producing innovative and dynamic choreography. Second, to create collaborative opportunities for artists to develop talents in all aspects of dance production. Third, to provide thought-provoking educational outreach programs to the greater community through the art of dance. Click here to view a clip of previous work by director Lauren Kearns.

The first annual company season will feature two signature duets Swinging on a Bench and Twister as well as the premiere of a new duet Kapow…Pow…Bam…Zap! and the full-length A Hot Topic of Conversation. KDP Season Premiere Performance is on November 13-14, 2014 @7:30pm at PSI Theatre in Durham, NC. Make sure to see the show!

Natalie Marrone & The Dance Cure

Website: http://www.thedancecure.com/

Natalie Marrone and The Dance Cure is a contemporary, all female performance company based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina dedicated to the creation of culturally driven dances that bring to life the broader scope of human experience.

According to the website, the company was established in 1998 and thrives on performing and teaching an accessible yet diverse body of dances that explore the many rites of passage woven through the fabric of human experience. Marrone’s Italian ethnicity serves as the point of the departure for most of the company’s choreographic creations which fuse the athleticism of contemporary dance with folk dances, myths and rituals of her southern Italian background. The all female company can be seen throughout the state of North Carolina inspiring a broad participation in dance which nurtures individual expression, celebrates diversity, and passionately pursues community unity.

Click here to view demo clips of some of Natalie’s work.

Gaspard & Dancers

Website: http://www.gaspardanddancers.org/

According to the website, the company, formed in 2009 by Gaspard Louis, is based in Durham North Carolina. In a city with a rich, diverse community of artists, performers and creative energies, opportunities for collaboration abound. They’ve worked with local musicians, composers, photographers, dance and film festivals.

Gaspard & Dancers’ vision is to create, perform, and teach movement that is physically inventive, emotionally dynamic, and inspiring to people of all ages and backgrounds. Inclusion is central to the mission of Gaspard&Dancers. Through performances, demonstrations, workshops and long-term residencies within the community and around the world, their goal is to expand the creative potential of all who see and share in their work. Click here to see pictures and video clips from some of Gaspard’s work.

Recently, the company performed at the American Dance Festival at Duke University in June. Next the company will have their Fifth annual performances at Duke University Reynolds Theater September 25 & 26 as well as joining other North Carolina local artists in North Carolina Dance Festival on Tour 2014-2015. The North Carolina Dance Festival on Tour performances are in Raleigh September 20th, Boone October 24th & 25th, Greensboro November 1st, and January 24, 2015!

nosi DANCE theater

Website: http://www.nosidance.org/

nosi DANCE theater (nDt) is a multi-faceted contemporary dance company ushering in a new era of dance. Their goal is to broaden the dance community, thru its participants, audiences and exposure showing the wondrous diversity of our world.

According to its website, nDt idea emerged in 2005 by artistic director Allison R. Daniels “to keep professional dance thriving in the Triangle all year and expose the importance of all arts in our community, for ALL audiences-making them a more powerful force for our culture & world.” The company is based in Durham, NC, Daniels’ hometown.

Along with the company nDt has a education/outreach sector called nosi educates which conducts an array of school programs, workshops/residencies, and master classes. They believe that all people contribute to movement individually, from children to adults, we each have a special flow. nosi educates programs are taliored to fit your needs as they may be scheduled alone or together. A 3-day residency may be programmed with a performance and interactive workshops for a complete experience.   

Click here to view excerpts of Daniels’ work.

Renay Aumiller Dances (RAD)

Website: http://renayaumillerdances.com/

Renay Aumiller Dances (RAD) is a Durham-based contemporary dance company that strives to create innovative and thought-provoking choreography for concert stages and alternative venues. RAD was founded June 1, 2012 but has been extremely successful.

Renay says “through my dance works, I seek to represent learned human behavior through an amalgam of classical beauty and ugly truths. Seeking movement as unique and unrelenting as the individual human anatomy, my goal is to shift perspectives of beauty. I experiment with the illusion of order amid chaotic movement. My aesthetic shifts between aggressive physicality and awkward fluidity; it accentuates spontaneity, absurdity and social expectations of human existence.” Click here to watch RAD repertory.

Justin Turnow & COMPANY

Website: http://www.justintornow.com/

Justin Turnow & COMPANY is a contemporary dance company based in Durham, NC. By utilizing both composition and improvisation, and reconsidering existing ideas about movement and content, the goal of artistic director Justin Tornow is to experiment with the formality of modern and contemporary dance. COMPANY is currently comprised of 4 dance artists developing and presenting new work at various local and regional performances. COMPANY aims to organize and present events that showcase a range of quality, relevant art both in the Durham, NC area and through touring efforts. A curated dance festival for local and regional artists is in the works for 2015.

Justin Tornow and COMPANY also present a recurring, multi-disciplinary artist series in Durham, NC called PROMPTS. For each event, a prompt is issued to the arts community: any artist can sign up to present a response to the prompt. PROMPTS events are open to the public by donation, and are meant to foster the creation of new work, collaboration, and to rally more community support for the area’s working artists. The next PROMPTS is on Friday, August 22th, 2014 at  7-9pm at The Carrack Modern Art in Durham.

VECTOR

Website: http://wagonwheelarts.com/vector/

VECTOR is a Durham-based multi-media dance company creating work that questions the rules and societal norms that shape our daily lives.  Directed by visual artist Jon Haas and choreographer Leah Wilks, the company uses highly physical, detail-oriented movement in combination with video, audio documentary, motion-tracking, and projections to create participatory installations, evening-length performances and dance films.  Their recent projects include Still Point (2013), Secrets I Never Told My Mother (2012), and the upcoming HABITUS (2015).

Jon and Leah met in 2011 working on the production Mau A Malawi: Stories of AIDS Through Music at Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill. Through the craziness of mounting a cross-disciplinary show in a very short period of time they decided they liked working together. From 2011-2013 they collaborated on projects as their own separate companies LeahWilksDance and HaaStudios, and then finally decided to join forces under the moniker VECTOR in 2014.

Along with Gaspard & Dancers and Carrasco Dance Works, Leah Wilks will be performing a solo entitled Mess in the North Carolina Dance Festival starting in September. Click here to view past works!

Diego Carrasco Dance

Website: http://www.diegocarrascoschoch.com/

Diego Carrasco Dance s is a Durham-based Modern dance company founded by choreographer Diego Carrasco. His works have been described as “…excellent pieces distinguished by their kinetic force, structural craft and sensitive musicality.” Click here to view Diego’s past works.

Diego Carrasco Dance will be on tour with the 2014-2015 season for North Carolina Dance Festival. The North Carolina Dance Festival on Tour performances are in Raleigh September 20th, Boone October 24th & 25th, Greensboro November 1st, and January 24, 2015!

Carolina Ballet

Website: https://www.carolinaballet.com/

According to its website, Carolina Ballet is one of America’s premiere arts organizations. Launched as a professional dance company in 1997 under the direction of Artistic Director/CEO Robert Weiss, Carolina Ballet has since garnered critical praise from the national and international media, staged 80 world premiere ballets, and toured internationally in China and Hungary. Weiss, former artistic director of the Pennsylvania Ballet and principal dancer at New York City Ballet under the legendary George Balanchine, programs traditional ballets by legendary masters and new works by contemporary choreographers.

Carolina Ballet’s mission is to perform world-class professional ballet, entertaining and enlightening audiences in Raleigh, the Triangle region, the State of North Carolina, and beyond. It will accomplish this mission by:

• attracting, developing, and retaining excellent dancers and artistic personnel combined with a fiscally responsible management and board of directors;
• commissioning new works by innovative choreographers;
• presenting traditional ballets of legendary masters;
• educating current and future audiences through programs for school-aged children and other performance outreach activities.

On September 11-28, 2014, Carolina Ballet will open their 17th season with the beloved Russian folktale, Firebird. This mesmerizing ballet is set to the groundbreaking score by Igor Stravinsky and choreographed by their very own Artistic Director, Robert Weiss. This program will also feature new ballets by Zalman Raffael and Robert Weiss. Click here to view the 2014-2015 season performances.

This is just the beginning. Tune in next week to view more dance companies in the Triangle area.