Legendary Bassist-Composer Rufus Reid Premieres Groove-Fish with the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble
832 659-5096
www.brangwendance.org

Saturday, April 23 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 24 at 3 p.m.
MATCH HOUSTON THEATER 2
3400 Main Street
Tickets: $22 General Admission
$18 Students & Seniors

The Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble performs in Houston’s brand new MATCH Center on Saturday and Sunday April 23 & 24 with special guest artist, the legendary bassistcomposer Rufus Reid.

The program features the premiere of GROOVE-FISH with choreography by Michele Brangwen and music by the Grammy-Nominated Rufus Reid. GROOVE-FISH, a work for dancers and two double bassists, is the second work in the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble’s UNSANTO, a series of works about changes to the food we eat and how they affect us.

Brangwen explains “If GMO salmon renders real salmon extinct, we would loose more than just a species. We would loose a vital and poetic piece of the fabric of our own human existence. In GROOVE-FISH, dance and music express what these creatures cannot. I think the theme of GROOVE-FISH also translates to the human experience: people can be quick to judge the value and relevance of communities not their own. Beneath the surface, there can be infinite richness but one has to take the time to notice it.”

The program also includes SKAMATO, the first work in the UNSANTO series, with choreography by Michele Brangwen and music by Grammy-nominated trumpeter-composer Tim Hagans. SKAMATO is a ska influenced work for dancers, trumpet, sax, Sousaphone, double bass and percussion, that celebrates the vine ripened, non-GMO tomato. Ecstatic and rebellious, the work explores the memories and emotions triggered by the taste, feel and smell of a real tomato.

The Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble will also perform the TRAIL OF FORBIDDEN WORDS featuring choreography & music created in the moment by all performers. Performers progress along a trail of lights, using dance and music to explore their relationship to words that make them uncomfortable.

The program will also include music by the RUFUS REID/TIM HAGANS QUINTET

About Rufus Reid:
“His luscious sound and buoyant swing can levitate an ensemble off the bandstand.” — The New Yorker

Performers:
Rufus Reid, double bass
Roberta Cortes, Robin Gilbert, Brit Wallis, Michele Brangwen, dancers
Tim Hagans, trumpet
Thomas Helton, double bass & Sousaphone
Seth Paynter, saxophone
Joe Hertenstein, drums & percussion

The Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble is a contemporary dance company featuring all new choreography, live original music, and the integration of all our musicians into the visual imagery, so that dancers and musicians break the boundaries of traditional ensemble interaction. The Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble is based in New York City and Houston. Now entering our 17th Season of performances, we have presented our work in New York, Houston, Austin, Chicago, and cities in Europe.