Why you should go see the Barn Storm Dance Fest

by Lydia Links We Like Performances/Screenings

Houston!  I am really pumped– lemme tell you why.

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I just watched the second weekend of Barn Storm Dance Fest, and last weekend I was able to see Program 1.  Barn Storm Dance Fest is a three-weekend dance festival produced by Dance Source Houston– Houston’s dance service organization.  Dance Source Houston has exploded in the last couple of years.  They have taken over The Barn (formerly Barnevelder Performing Arts Complex), and worked to raise the funding to subsidize rentals for artists and arts organizations; They have started an Artist in Residency Program (AIR) for three artists each year to use the space to develop new work; They now offer Micro Grants for production costs (Frame Dance is eternally thankful!); and they produce the Barn Storm Dance Festival to showcase dance from Houston and other Texas cities.

What strikes me (as someone who is not participating as an artist in this festival) is the importance for dancers and choreographers to convene.   It has been special to watch pieces from veteran and emerging choreographers on the same show.  This is very valuable for the health of dance in our city.  The shows have been running flawlessly, and lit beautifully.  I imagine you’ll have your favorites, some that don’t touch you as poignantly, and others that will push you a little as a viewer.  That’s the beauty of the festival format– you get to see so much.  I walk away from the first two programs proud of our city and all of the dance in it!  Thank you, Dance Source Houston, for bringing these artists together and producing such an extensive festival, and thank you to the artists for making dance.  You have two more chances to see it this weekend and a full weekend for Program 3.  Tickets and info here.

Links We Like Friday

by Lydia Free Events Thursday Links We Like Performances/Screenings

Hi All, this is one link we REALLY like.  Save the date: Nov. 8 at 4pm!

Check this out about our upcoming piece, METRO Dances!

“Frame Dance artistic director Lydia Hance has little interest in traditional performance spaces. In fact, her most recent shows have occurred in the back of a truck and Good Dog Houston. She prefers audiences members to bemetrodances_flier scattered among the performers. She’s ready to take it to a new level on Nov. 8 at 4pm with Metro Dances, which begins at Hermann Park/Rice University and ends at the Preston stop for a final performance at Market Square.

Dancing will occur on and off the train, and audiences are free to come and go. Halka, a former winner of Frame Dance Composer’s contest, will provide the mobile score. This will mark his third collaboration with the troupe. Of course, the only ticket involved is a $1.25 MetroRail pass. The show is nicely timed to coincide withMusiqa’s Market Square opening night concert.

metrodances_logoHance describes Metro Dances as a locomotive, mobile and public performance. “MetroRail is a space that people already have an expectation for,” explains Hance. “We know our physical role: buy ticket, wait, board, sit, get off. I want to turn that upside down and make it more exciting. If there are two things that Houston complains about, it is the heat and travel to and from work and leisure. Finding new ways of enjoying transportation opens up the possibility to make anything more exciting. And what could be more crazy than a moving stage? The dancers and musicians are in for as much as a thrill as the audience. You won’t miss us: fearless dancers and percussionists dressed in bright yellow.”

Links We Like– Events We Like Edition

by Lydia Composers Links We Like Uncategorized

Last week, the Framers performed for 400 people at the Blanton Museum in Austin with Fast Forward blanton_musiciansAustin Music Festival.  The show featured music by FFA co-founders Ian Dicke, Steven Snowden, and Robert Honstein (winner of the Frame Dance Composition Competition in 2014).  Frame Dance performed Honstein’s An Index of Possibility alongside Baylor Percussion Group.  We love live music!

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Here’s what’s coming up

 

Oct. 1, 2014.  We co-curated the Third Coast Dance Film Festival which will be held at DiverseWorks free to the public. 6pm.

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metrodances_flierNEW! November 8, 2014 (Houston) Frame Dance premieres METRO DANCES for a stage in motion: the METRORail.  METRO DANCES will begin at themetrodances_logo Hermann Park/Rice U METRORail Station and finish at the Preston stop with a final performance in Market Square.  Audiences are invited to ride the rail with the dancers and musicians to see this performance on and off the light rail.  METRO DANCES will feature a new work for percussion by Charles Halka.   METRO DANCES is made possible by support from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music and METRO.

 

Oct. 3-4, 2014 (College Station) We perform Divide by Five in the Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival at Texas A&M University!

 

Nov. 7, 2014 (Houston)  We are back on the runway with DiverseWorks’s Fashion Fete! We created the dance for the fashion show last year, and we’re fashionfete_2014pumped to be back. And you know we love fashion.

We hope to see you soon! We’d love to have you in rehearsal too!  Like to help?  We will need some fabulous volunteers on November 8. (You’ll get a Framer shirt.) Contact us for the hook up.

 

To Art!

Lydia and the Framers

(more exciting performance announcements coming next week!)