The Colonial Theatre will present the ODC/Dance Comany
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| ODC/Dance Comany |
“A must-see for all ages!” – The New York Times
“I can’t think of a more vibrantly alive bunch of exuberant and fabulously trained modern dancers.” – San Francisco Bay Guardian
The Mixed Repertory Program on May 2 will include three world premieres. Origins of Flight celebrates the language of movement and the joy of people in motion; Hunting & Gathering is a churning centrifuge of movement set to rock music; Unintended Consequences: A Meditation is a quiet, ironic and insightfully humorous piece set to music; and Walk Before Talk (1998) is a compelling ensemble work set to a score by Michael Nyman, the Academy Award-winning composer of The Piano.
Unintended Consequences: A Meditation, Brenda Way’s world premiere commissioned by the Equal Justice Society, shines a critical light on the current state of political affairs and our inadvertent complicity in them. Way has taken this opportunity to compose a quiet, ironic and even humorous piece set to music by renowned performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson. Unintended Consequences: A Meditation was developed as part of a two-week creative residency at the White Oak Plantation in October 2007.
Origins of Flight, a second world premiere by Way set to music by Heinrich Biber, Arcangelo Corelli and Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, was commissioned by long-time supporter Evelyn Feintech in memory of her late husband, Norman Feintech, Origins of Flight takes the power and joy of a long and generative relationship as its take-off and landing point.
The ODC/Dance Company will also perform The Velveteen Rabbit on May 3 and 4. This charming and heartfelt piece is based on the classic English children’s story written by Margery Williams. Whimsical sets, charming costumes, simple imagery and lush use of color create a world of innocence, candor and fantasy. Set to enchanting music, The Velveteen Rabbit is about the relationship between a boy and his stuffed rabbit, and the enduring power of love
ODC/Dance
ODC/Dance is known throughout the world for its athleticism, passion and intellectual depth. The Company's three resident choreographers, Brenda Way, KT Nelson, and Kimi Okada, are considered among America's major contemporary choreographers and have created a dynamic movement vocabulary over the last three decades that has significantly influenced dancers and choreographers alike. Founded in 1971 by Artistic Director Brenda Way who trained under the legendary George Balanchine, ODC relocated to San Francisco in 1976 on a big yellow school bus, opposing the dance world theory that to be successful, a company must locate itself in New York.
Today, ODC/Dance's company of ten world class dancers performs its imaginative repertory for more than 50,000 people annually. Highlights include two annual home seasons at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, numerous performances at New York's Joyce Theater, sold out performances at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. and four standing-room-only European engagements. In 34 years, ODC/Dance has performed for more than a million people in 32 states and 11 countries, with support from the NEA, the U.S. State Department, and many state and city arts agencies. The company has been widely recognized for its fusion of ballet and modern techniques and for their numerous groundbreaking collaborations including work with writers Leslie Scalapino and Rinde Eckert; actors Bill Irwin, Geoff Hoyle and Robin Williams; and visual artists Wayne Thiebaud, John Woodall and Eleanor Coppola.
ODC's three founders and choreographers have received numerous awards and commissions, including choreography for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, the San Francisco Ballet, the Oakland Ballet, the Diablo Ballet, the Los Angeles and Santa Fe Operas, and the Festival des Étoiles; four Isadora Duncan Awards, a San Francisco Examiner Golden Slipper Award, a Tony nomination, a Guggenheim Fellowship and twenty-eight years of NEA support. ODC/Dance was selected as Best Dance Company/Modern Dance in the San Francisco Chronicle's 1998 & 1999 Readers' Choice Awards and Best Local Dance Company in the San Francisco Bay Guardian's 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2005 Readers' Choice Awards. ODC was also voted “Exceptional Non-Profit Arts Organization 2004” by the Business Arts Council and “Best Dance Company of the Bay Area 2005” by SF Weekly.
ODC/Dance has been presented in virtually every major American venue and festival program including Jacob's Pillow, the Olympic Arts Festival, the Spoleto Festival, and the New York International Arts Festival. ODC has also appeared internationally in England, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Canada, Southeast Asia, and all across the former Soviet Union.
Upcoming Colonial Events:
Evita
WED 5/7/08 8PM --- Tickets: $46-$24
<L2> Winner of seven Tony Awards, Evita brings to life the extraordinary persona of Eva Perón, wife of former Argentine dictator, Juan Perón. This exuberant production creates a gripping theatrical experience and features Andrew Lloyd Webber’s compelling Latin, pop and jazz influenced score. One of the most popular collaborations between Webber and Tim Rice, this legendary musical features the memorable song “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina.”
Colonial Film: Starting Out In The Evening
THURS 5/8/08 7:30PM Tickets: $8
An Independent Spirit Award nominee for Best Screenplay and Male Lead
A film by Andrew Wagner
PG-13, 111 minutes
“What is so remarkable about Mr. Langella is that he seems to hold Leonard’s intellectual cosmos inside him, to make it implicit in the man’s every gesture and pause.” – The New York Times
“This wise, observant, and exquisitely tacit chamber piece complicates every May-December, academic-novel cliché in the book.” – Village Voice
An aging novelist (Frank Langella) falls under the spell of an ambitious graduate student (Lauren Ambrose of Six Feet Under). Adapted from Brian Morton’s wonderful 1997 novel. Co-starring Adrian Lester and Lili Taylor.
Colonial Film: Pangea Day Screening
5/10/08 2PM --- Tickets: FREE
Pangea Day uses the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion while uniting millions of people to build a better future. In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that—to help people see themselves in others—through the power of film. On Pangea Day, sites in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro will be linked live to produce a program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music. The program will be broadcast live to the world through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones. For more information: www.thecolonialtheatre.org/PangeaDay
Monty Python’s Life Of Brian & The Holy Grail *double feature*
THURS 5/15/08 7:30PM --- Tickets: $8
LIFE OF BRIAN
A film by Terry Jones
R, 94 min, In English and Latin with English subtitles
More zaniness from the Monty Python team, this time taking an irreverent view of the New Testament.
The Holy Grail
A film by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones
PG, 91 min, In English, French and Latin with English subtitles
The classic film that inspired to current Broadway hit Spamalot returns to the big screen- for the first time EVER in high-definition!
Praying With Lior
THURS 6/12/08 7:30PM --- Tickets: $8
A film by Ilana Trachtman
NR, 87 minutes
“Funny and touching, brilliantly and lovingly made!” – Jewish Week
“Engages us on so many levels it transcends its middle-class Jewish milieu… It depicts a warm and nurturing community that gathers around Lior, both to protect him and to be transformed by his miraculous presence. It’s about cruel limitations and sudden, blessed freedoms.” – New York Magazine
<R3> An engrossing, wrenching and tender documentary film, Praying With Lior introduces Lior Liebling, also called "the little rebbe." Lior has Down syndrome, and has spent his entire life praying with utter abandon. Is he a "spiritual genius" as many around him say? Or simply the vessel that contains everyone’s unfulfilled wishes and expectations? Lior – whose name means "my light" — lost his mother at age six, and her words and spirit hover over the film. While everyone agrees Lior is closer to God, he’s also a burden, a best friend, an inspiration, and an embarrassment, depending on which family member is speaking. As Lior approaches Bar Mitzvah, the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony different characters provides a window into life spent "praying with Lior." The movie poses difficult questions such as what is "disability" and who really talks to God? Told with intimacy and humor, Praying With Lior is a family story, a triumph story, a grief story, a divinely-inspired story.
