City Dance Company Presents It’s A Jungle Out There

Media Contact:
Susie Hairston
832-722-0810
shairsmom@gmail.com

CITY DANCE COMPANY PRESENTS: It’s a Jungle Out There, works by Houston Arts Alliance Individual Artist Choreography Fellowship Grant recipient Sherese Campbell, Stephanie Sermas, and emerging artist choreography grant winner Jaimee Vilela.  Performances Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013 at 3 p.m.

 

HOUSTON, TX – In It’s A Jungle Out There, made possible, in part by a Houston Arts Alliance Individual Artist Choreography Fellowship Grant to Sherese Campbell, jazz, modern and contemporary ballet pieces celebrate the beauty and grace of animals and their importance in our lives, as well as critiquing the horrors of abuse. It is a jungle out there, literally and metaphorically.

Shocking animal cruelty cases are reported daily in the media. Most cases are never reported, and most animal suffering goes unrecognized and unabated.  The Humane Society reports that dogs, specifically pit bulls, are the most common victims of animal cruelty.  The Report of the Mayor’s Animal Protection Task Force, published November 22, 2005, noted that “Houston does too little to save abandoned pets.  Adoption rates are low, in part because there is little demand for “used” pets and . . . euthanasia is the principal solution.”

By creating a multi-faceted portrait of animals and their interaction with humans, City Dance hopes to inspire the community to protect animals. City Dance Company will perform three pieces choreographed by Campbell: an expose on the violence of pit bull fighting, a celebration of the relationship between a mother and baby panda, and “Animal Farm,” a spoken word piece that explores the nature of many different animals as they interact with one another. The company will also perform Jaimee Vilela’s “Jellyfish.”

5.Seven will dance Stephanie Sermas’s “Whale Watchers.” The City Dance Ensemble will perform Campbell’s contemporary ballet “When Doves Cry” as well as her humorous “Monkeying Around,” performed to a drum work created specifically for this piece by Nick Cooper. The Ensemble will also perform Vilela’s exploration of the pack behavior of wolves.

The tour de force is Campbell’s “Elephant Poaching,” performed by all three companies to a live drum and saxophone composition created and played by Ilya Kolozs and Peter Sullivan.

Tickets are $20 for general admission/$15 for students with ID. They can be purchased by calling 713-529-6100 or at the performance at City Dance Studio, 1307 West Clay, Houston, Texas 77019. For more information about the concert or the jazz, modern, ballet, and tap classes offered at City Dance, call or visit their website at www.houstoncitydance.com. City dance is a non-profit dance studio and performing arts organization catering to dancers from ages 3 to 83.