Souleymane Badolo, Bridgman/Packer Dance, Claire Porter, and Misnomer Dance Theater
Fri, Jun 1, 2012
Souleymane Badolo, who was born in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, is the director and founder of Kongo Ba Téria, a company that fuses traditional African dances with western contemporary dance. He has had a distinguished career working with the renowned African choreographer, Gnapa Béatrice Kombé, and acclaimed French choreographer Mathilde Monnier, among others, and has performed at Danspace and DNA in New York.
“His dancing is intense, electric.” Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice
Bridgman/Packer Dance. Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer create highly visual and visceral interaction of live performance and video technology that explodes the partnering form into a magically populated stage where image and reality collide. In works that have been performed worldwide, they ask the question: what is real and what is image?
“Cult status surely awaits choreographers Myrna Packer and Art Bridgman, a playful couple of dance artists who have parlayed their familiarity with video technology into a reputation for dazzling illusionism.” Robert Johnson, The Star Ledger
Misnomer Dance Theater, Artistic Director Chris Elam. Misnomer has performed in the United States and abroad, with productions at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, among others and has also conducted large-scale, cross-medium collaborations, from choreographing for Bjork’s “Wanderlust” video to creating a dance for an 8,000 square-foot labyrinth with the Danish Dance Theater.
“Fusion doesn’t begin to describe what’s going on here; Elam is annealing his influences, creating a taut, intense movement language.” Elizabeth Zimmer, The Village Voice
Claire Porter has performed her Portables internationally and in the New York City area—at PS 122, Joe’s Pub, Dance Theater Workshop, The Kitchen, The Joyce Theater, The Bottom Line and New Jersey Performing Arts Center. She has also brought them to the American Dance Festival, The Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy, Jacob’s Pillow and The Kennedy Center.
"Porter, mistress of the short, sharp character portrait, is that rare breed— nimble witty comedian. She is always delightful, often wickedly funny." Sally Sommer, The Village Voice
