Need your dance fix this weekend? Check out these 3 dance events this weekend. Natch.

Joy, Dance and Giving Animals a Chance

Benefiting
Dominic Walsh Dance Theater
and
Spay-Neuter Assistance Program, Inc.

Come enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, an exclusive silent auction, and an

intimate performance by the DWDT Dancers
Saturday, May 30, 2009
6:00 to 8:00 PM

Joy Yoga Center
4500 Washington Ave., Suite 900, Houston, Texas 77007

$15 suggested donation at the door

Please let us know if you can join us!
RSVP to info@dwdt.org or 713-652-3938
The Big Range Dance Festival

Please visit www.bigrange.org for more information or to buy tickets.

The last Casting Couch of this season’s Dominc Walsh Dance Theater is this Friday, May 1st. If you haven’t read my post on my first DWDT experience, get on it.  You’ll see why I’m desperately in love with this modern dance troupe.

Casting Couch is the unique opportunity to experience the latest DWDT performance, followed by a chance to join the dancers on the stage for conversation, music, drinks and food.  This weekend’s Casting Couch will feature pizza from Angelo’s downtown, and wine from SoVino.  After the Casting Couch, we’ll be headed to SoVino for POP! a party with Pop Rocks, pop music, popcorn and we will be poppin’ the top off of Pommeroy Pops.  Party goes from 9:30p – close and the special drink of the night will be Pop Rock-rimmed Pommeroy champagne.

Click here for your Casting Couch Tickets

Read more below about this weekend’s performance.

The Trilogy: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
April 30-May 2, 2009 at 7:30 PM
Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Zilkha Hall

Dominic Walsh and the DWDT company members were in Sarasota for the Florida premiere of Walsh’s Mozart Trilogy this past weekend. The Trilogy features Wolfgang for Webb performed by Sarasota Ballet, Amadeus for Anita performed by DWDT, and Mozart performed by dancers from both companies. The two companies are travelling to Houston for our presentation of this thrilling homage, with stunning scenic design by Houston artist Libbie Masterson and distinctive costumes by Domenico Luciano.

Sarasota Ballet has enjoyed much success since Iain Webb took over as Artistic Director in 2007, including glowing critical and public reviews. Last year, Webb graciously invited Walsh to choreograph a new work for the company and the result was Wolfgang for Webb. Now, Sarasota Ballet and Dominic Walsh Dance Theater join forces to bring Walsh’s complete Mozart Trilogy to audiences in Sarasota and Houston.

To read more about The Trilogy, please click on the links below.

Herald Tribune | Pelican Press | Bradenton Herald

Do not miss this opportunity to see these award-winning contemporary ballets set to the celebrated piano sonatas, operatic works, and symphonies of Mozart.

Mozart
2008 Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship

Amadeus for Anita
2007 Choo-San Goh Award for Choreography

Click here for tickets or call the Box Office at 713-315-2525.

image: tracy manford

If my incessant tweets about Britney Spears hasn’t tipped you off that I am a huge fan of dance, then maybe my admission of having dreams of dancing with Justin Timberlake on more than one occasion will.

A few months ago I was introduced to the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater in Houston by Jessica Walters. I honestly can’t thank her enough for bringing this amazing group of dancers into my life. I have attended a few performances since then, and am hooked. And you will be, too.

Ballet schmallet! This is contemporary dance!  I and love every bit of it. No stuffiness and tutus (ok, there are some tutus!).  Theses dancers are athletes + angels who make physically challenging roles seem effortless. They glide across the floor like clouds, before suddenly jolting to a stop then gracefully sliding into each others arms.  This is sexy. And phenomenal.

In January I had the awesome opportunity to attend a dress rehearsal as the dancers were preparing for their upcoming performance of Bourne-Kylián-Walsh: A Masterful Mixed Repertoire, a mixed rep program featuring various pieces including:  the Houston premiere of the White Swan duet from British choreographer Matthew Bourne’s smash hit Swan Lake;  a reprise of Jirí Kylián’s powerful male solo Double You; and revivals of Walsh’s romantic For the Two of You and his beloved Bello, winner of three 2005 Dance Europe Critic’s Choice awards including best premiere.

What an amazing, intimate experience!  We were able to watch as Dominic and the dancers conceived, edited, and collaborated on the pieces for the upcoming show. Here are some pics of my pictures from the practice, and some much better pictures from Tracy Manford, who’s lusty choice words after attending the rehearsal turned the dancers red-faced.

This Friday, February 13th at 7:30pm at the Hobby Center I will be helping to host the Friday Night Casting Couch performance of Bourne-Kylián-Walsh: A Masterful Mixed Repertoire. The Casting Couch series allows attendees of the performance to join the dancers and Dominic on the stage following the show for drinks and bites.  Click on the image below to purchase your tickets.

Please join me on Friday to experiecne this amazing treat that our city is lucky to call ours:  A night of contemproary ballet with the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater.

See you there.

I’m so excited to be a part of a the steering committee this season for the fantastic Dominic Walsh Dance Theater.  If you’ve never seen one of their performances, you’re in for a treat.  (Even if you have, you’re still in for a treat. duh.)

An awesome thing the steering committee will be doing this season is hosting the Casting Couch.  With a purchased ticket to select performances, you will be able to attend the cast party, including cocktails and conversations with the dancers on the stage directly following the performance.  (I’m already practicing lines from Center Stage.) I’m a dance movie fanatic. Oh yeah, Channing Tatum.

This Friday night kicks off the 2008-2009 season with William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus at the Hobby Center at 7:30pm.

“I read this play about seven years ago and was immediately drawn to its physicality,” remarks Dominic Walsh, director  and principal of DWDT.  “I am also intrigued by the play’s paradoxical themes and have gathered together the ideal team of designers, musicians, and dancers to investigate how these themes are relevant to the conflicts of today’s world.”

I hope that some of you will join me on the couch this Friday night!

Tickets can be purchased here or by calling 713-652-3938.

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