Cornish College of the Arts Welcomes Choreographer Bill Evans
The Cornish College of the Arts Dance Department is pleased to present a three week residency with master choreographer Bill Evans, September 24 - October 15. The residency will celebrate Evans' influence on modern dance in the Pacific Northwest and at Cornish College of the Arts. During his three-week residency, Evans will teach daily master classes to Cornish dance students and re-stage his dance Mixin' It Up for the Cornish Dance Theater, the department's undergraduate performing ensemble. The residency will include several community events.
Mixin' It Up was premiered in Seattle in 1979, and was Evans' second collaboration with the renowned jazz ensemble, the Bill Evans Trio. Mixin' It Up will be re-staged at Cornish College in collaboration with the Cornish Music Department.
Former Bill Evans Trio drummer Joe La Barbera will be in residence in the Music Department in October to assist in re-staging the work. In addition to teaching master classes and performing with the Joe La Barbera Quintet in the Cornish Music Series, La Barbera will be directing a trio of music students in rehearsals of the original music for Mixin' It Up, enabling both music and dance students to learn about this collaborative work from its originators. The Cornish Dance Theater performances take place in November and will feature live performances by Cornish music students.
Bill Evans has choreographed more than 200 works for more than 60 professional dance companies throughout the world, including Utah Repertory Dance Theater, Ballet West, Ririe-Woodbury, Pacific Northwest Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers. He was choreographer and artistic director of the Bill Evans Dance Company, based primarily in Seattle and then Albuquerque, from 1975 through 2004. The BEDC performed in all 50 states and was among the most-booked companies in the country for several years under the Dance Touring and Artist-in-the-Schools Programs of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). An entire generation of Seattle choreographers either performed with the BEDC or initially moved to Seattle to study with Evans, including Wade Madsen, Pat Graney, Llory Wilson, Christian Swenson, Gail Heilbron and Shirley Jenkins. Subsequent generations of Seattle choreographers studied or performed with these artists, carrying the Evans legacy into the 21st century.
The reconstruction of Mixin' It Up is made possible by American Masterpieces: Dance, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, which is administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts with Dance/USA. Cornish College of the Arts was one of 28 colleges across the country to receive this prestigious award. Additional funding for the project has been provided by The Boeing Company, the Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation and Tim Summers.
Public Residency Events
The residency will include several community events. A symposium, "Seattle Modern Dance: the Legacy of Bill Evans," will be presented in partnership with On the Boards and Velocity Dance Center September 30. Combining video presentations with a panel discussion, the symposium will explore Evans's approach to dance-making and trace his profound influence on the development of Seattle modern dance.
Evans and La Barbera will perform together in a Cornish Music Department Noon Concert at PONCHO Concert Hall, October 4.
Evans will discuss his approach to dance-making and collaboration at an open rehearsal of Mixin' It Up at Cornish College of the Arts, October 12. The rehearsal will include live musical performances.
A lecture demonstration about Evans's choreographic process and influence on dance in Bellingham, Washington will be presented in partnership with Bellingham's Firehouse Performing Arts Center, October 14. The lecture demonstration will include performances by Evans, Cornish Dance Theater and Bellingham's Dance Gallery.
The residencies will culminate in the performance of Mixin' It Up during the Cornish Dance Theater Fall 2007 Concert at Broadway Performance Hall, November 16 and 17.
Other community residency activities will include master classes in Evans Technique for students of the Cornish Preparatory Dance Program and Pacific Northwest Ballet School's Professional Division.
Seattle Modern Dance: The Legacy of Bill Evans
Symposium presented by On the Boards, Velocity Dance Center and Cornish College of the Arts
Sunday, September 30, 1-4pm
On the Boards
100 West Roy Street, Seattle
Free and open to the public
On Stage with Drummer Joe La Barbera and Choreographer Bill Evans
Thursday, October 4, 12pm
PONCHO Concert Hall
710 East Roy Street, Seattle
Free and open to the public
On Stage with the Joe La Barbera Quintet
Friday, October 5, 12-1:30pm
PONCHO Concert Hall
710 East Roy Street, Seattle
Free and open to the public
Cornish Music Series Presents Joe La Barbera Quintet
Friday, October 5, 8pm
PONCHO Concert Hall
710 East Roy Street, Seattle
Tickets: $15 general, $7.50 students, seniors & Cornish College alumni.
Tickets can be purchased through Ticket Window at 206.325.6500 or at www.ticketwindowonline.com or at Ticket Window box offices located at Broadway Market, Pacific Place, Pike Place Market, Bellevue's Meydenbauer Center.
Bill Evans Mixin' It Up Open Rehearsal with Cornish Dance Theater
Features live music by music department students
Friday, Oct 12, 2:00-4:00 pm
Kerry Hall
710 East Roy Street, Seattle
Free and open to the public
Bill Evans Firehouse Lecture/Demonstration
Sunday, October 14, 2pm
Firehouse Performing Arts Center
1314 Harris Avenue, Fairhaven
Free and open to the public
Cornish Dance Theater Fall 2007 Concert
Friday, November 16 at 8 pm
Saturday, November 17 at 2 pm & 8 pm
Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway Avenue, Seattle
Choreography by Bill Evans, Gérard Théorêt, Daniel Wilkins, and Deborah Wolf
Tickets: $10 general, $5 students, seniors & Cornish College alumni.
Tickets can be purchased through Ticket Window at 206.325.6500 or at www.ticketwindowonline.com or at Ticket Window box offices located at Broadway Market, Pacific Place, Pike Place Market, Bellevue's Meydenbauer Center.
