FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2019
MEDIA CONTACT
Krina Turner
Executive Director
707-350-9446 | krina@whimwhim.org
WHIM W’HIM, SEATTLE CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY KICKS OFF 10TH SEASON WITH 5TH ANNUAL DANCER CURATED PROGRAM, CHOREOGRAPHIC SHINDIG V
The 5th Annual Choreographic Shindig kicks off Whim W’Him’s 10th Season with a celebration of the voices and choices of our dancers. Participating choreographers were selected through a global call for applications and a rigorous review process. This trailblazing program demonstrates our values by placing the power of curation into the hands of the performers. This year the company will produce and perform world-premiere contemporary dance creations by Kyra Jean Green, Joshua Manculich and Yoshito Sakuraba.
ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHIC SHINDIG
Professional performers rarely get to curate programming. In recognition of this missed opportunity the Choreographic Shindig was created in 2015 to give our dancers the power to choose which choreographers would set work on them. We value this unique and mission-centric program that is now a mainstay of our performance season.
For our 5th Choreographic Shindig dancers selected artists hailing from Houston, Montreal and New York. Kyra Jean Green studied at Julliard and in 2017 started her own company Trip The Light Fantastic. Joshua Manculich is a Princess Grace award winner and is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Sam Houston State University. Yoshito Sakuraba is also an award-winning choreographer and the Founding Artistic Director of Abarukas.
All three choreographers are new to Whim W’Him and were selected via a competitive application process. Dancers reviewed close to 200 applications from a diverse pool of candidates. Guest choreographers will have eight-week residencies that culminate in 7 performances at the Erickson Theatre in Seattle’s artistic Capitol Hill neighborhood.
WHIM W’HIM CHOREOGRAPHIC SHINDIG V
September 13-15 and 18-21, 2019 at 8PM
Erickson Theatre Off Broadway
Tickets: $35 advance | $40 day of | $60 premium | $15 student | $5 TeenTix
Single tickets and season subscriptions on sale now at whimwhim.org/tix
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Whim W’Him company dancers for the 2019/20 season are Liane Aung, Cameron Birts, Jane Cracovaner, Adrian Hoffman, Jim Kent, Mia Monteabaro and Karl Watson. Dancer bios can be found at whimwhim.org/meet-our-dancers
Kyra Jean Green, Choreographer
Kyra Jean Green was born in France, raised in West Palm Beach FL., and obtained her BFA in dance from The Juilliard School. She has set choreography on Hubbard Street II (winner of choreographic competition in 2007), Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, Bosma Dance, Cadence Progressive Contemporary Ballet, Companhia Rudá, The Dancers’ Space, two Juilliard senior solos, and she was commissioned by the Kennedy Center to present an evening of her choreography. She has presented work at The Center of Performance Research (Brooklyn NY), CHOP SHOP dance festival (Bellevue,WA), F.A.T. (Fashion Art Toronto), Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, Dance Conference USA (Miami, FL), And Quinzena de Dança de Almada, Almada Portugal. For three years Kyra worked as an artist and assistant director for Companhia Rudá in Santos, Brazil . Since 2015 she has been an assistant choreographer, teacher and dancer with Les 7 Doigts de la Main. She was one of 8 choreographers selected to present work for Copenhagen’s Choreographic Competition in August 2016, and was winner of Prix Coup de Coeur du Public at Festival Quartiers Danses September 2016. She started her company “Trip The Light Fantastic” in 2017 and the company made it’s debut at Festival Quartiers Danses.
Joshua Manculich, Choreographer
From Windber, Pennsylvania, and a Point Park University graduate, Joshua Manculich was a dancer with Thodos Dance Chicago, The Pillow Project, Jessica Miller Tomlinson, Jaxon Movement Arts, and Chicago Repertory Ballet. Returning to school after dancing for several seasons, he received his M.F.A. from The Ohio State University where he was awarded a three year Dean’s Distinguished University Fellowship. Throughout his career, Joshua’s interest in the incubation, production, and exploration of movement has been a guiding force. In 2015, he was awarded a Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship and has worked with Collage Dance Collective, DanceWorks Chicago, Eisenhower Dance Detroit, METdance, Santa Barbara Dance Theater, The Big Muddy Dance Company, Thodos Dance Chicago in addition to Grand Valley State University, Point Park University, University of Dayton, and Western Michigan University. Joshua is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Sam Houston State University.
Yoshito Sakuraba, Choreographer
Yoshito Sakuraba is the Founding Artistic Director of Abarukas and an award-winning choreographer. His work was seen in Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, Israel and the U.S. He won the International Choreographic Competition at NW Dance Project in the U.S in 2015. He’s been commissioned to create a work from Jamaica Performing Arts Center in 2016, followed by a residency at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center. He was awarded for Best Choreography Award in Italy by FINI Dance in 2017. He’s presented his work for International Solo Tanz Theater Festival in Germany, Gdansk Dance Festival in Poland, Masdanza International Contemporary Dance Festival in Spain, Mash International Choreography Competition in Israel, and FINI Dance Festival in Italy. He’s commissioned to create a work from Peridance Contemporary Dance Company. He’s appeared in the televisions and his work has been featured in NY1 as well as Bric TV in Spectrum Cable Channel.
He founded Abarukas in the fall of 2012, and the Company performed at BAM Fisher, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Series in 2014 and 2016, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, LaMama, APAP Showcase at Peridance, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 92Y, and a number of universities in the U.S. The company was invited to the Masdanza Extensions Tour in 2018 to perform in the seven islands of the Canarian Archipielage in Spain. Broadway Dance World describes, “I witnessed a true work of art…Mr. Sakuraba’s brilliant mind for choreography has captivated me… extreme creativity, fine detail, and high level dancing.”
Olivier Wevers, Artistic Director
Dedicated to creating works of artistic innovation and collaboration, Brussels- born Olivier founded Whim W’Him in 2009. Before establishing the company, he was a principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. His awards and recognition include the Princess Grace Foundation Choreography Fellowship, the City of Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award, the grand prize award for an unprecedented two years in a row at the annual Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival in California, and the ArtistTrust/ Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship Award. He participated in the National Choreographers Initiative and the prestigious New York Choreographic Institute. Olivier has created works for companies and festivals around the world, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Northwest Dance Project, BalletX, Spectrum Dance Theater, Prix de Lausanne, White Bird’s 4×4 Ballet Project, and Dance the Dream Seattle.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Whim W’Him is an award-winning Seattle-based contemporary dance company founded in 2009 by Olivier Wevers, former Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer and choreographer. The company presents all new works and has a mission to be a platform centered around choreography and dance for artists to explore their craft through innovation and collaboration. Since its formation in 2009, Whim W’Him has created more than 50 new contemporary dance works by 30+ global artists. whimwhim.org
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