Dance Source Houston Presents Mind The Gap 31
Contact:
Mollie Haven Miller
Executive Director
Dance Source Houston
713.224.3262
mollie@dancesourcehouston.org
Dance Source Houston Presents Mind The Gap 31
HOUSTON, TX August 27, 2024 – Dance Source Houston (DSH) will present the 31st edition of Mind The Gap on Tuesday, October 8 at 7:30pm at Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston (MATCH), continuing the organization’s 20th anniversary season. This program will feature works by local dancemakers including Aidan Aloma, Bronte Hopkins, Ekta Popat (Storytellers School of Dance), Tessa Salomone, Emalie Vann Thok (Museum H Studios), and Jamie Williams. Audiences will experience a range of dance forms including contemporary, Kathak, and Khmer.
Tickets to the performance are available now at matchouston.org on a pay-what-you-can sliding scale for both in-person and livestream viewing, starting at $15, with all choreographers receiving a percentage of total ticket sales.
Launched in 2017, Mind The Gap has provided a performance platform to more than 130 independent choreographers and small dance companies in our community, helping artists navigate the space between creating and presenting new work. Through a partnership with MATCH, the program assists dance artists with valuable production, audience development, and administrative support.
Learn More About The Dancemakers & Works
Aidan Aloma is a senior at Sam Houston State University, where he is working towards achieving his BFA in Dance. He has had the opportunity to take instruction from Terrill Mitchell, Lenorris Arnold, Travis Lake, Adele Nickel, Francisco Graciano, Takehiro Ueyama, Dual Rivet, Brandon Coleman, Christian Denice, Madison Hicks, Tammy Dyke Compton and many more. Aidan has had the opportunity to guest artist for WhirlWind Dance, under the direction of Joshua Manculich and with NobleMotion Dance Company, under the direction of Andy & Dionne Noble. Aidan Aloma began dancing at the age of two at his mother’s dance studio, Star Systems & Co. Dance. For nine years, Aidan trained and competed with SSCD fueling his need to be on stage. He was privileged to train and perform with Ballet Theatre Houston under the direction of the late Ballet Master, Robert Underwood. Aidan has also trained and competed with Texas Academy of Dance Arts. Aidan has trained intensively as a pre-professional company member since his freshman year of high school. He was a METtoo at Houston Metropolitan Dance Company & Center, as well as a founding HC2 company member at The Institute of Contemporary Dance both under the direction of Marlana Doyle. Currently, Aidan is a Lead Assistant & Social Media Manager for Dupree Dance for their 2023-2024 Limitless Tour, as well as the Administrative Assistant for HTX Connect.
“‘The Process’ is a captivating and introspective choreographic work that delves into the intricate journey of self-discovery and transformation. As the performance unfolds, the audience is invited to witness the dancer’s inner turmoil and triumphs. The movement invention is deliberately crafted to convey a range of emotions, from the raw intensity of struggle to the serene beauty of acceptance. The sound-score, which immerses the audience in the dancer’s journey with its powerful melodies and throbbing rhythms, enhances the alluring experience.“
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Houston based, Bronté Hopkins teaches in the Department of Dance at Sam Houston State University while she is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts. Her thesis research includes immersive dance theater, storytelling, and inquiry-based learning. Prior to moving to Texas, she directed a High school dance department in Utah, choreographing and mentoring students while producing full-length evening concerts and sharing works at festivals. Hopkins was commissioned to choreograph for Wasatch Contemporary Dance’s “Illuminate” premiere and Brigham Young University’s “Straight on Till Morning.” She enjoys the collaboration process and has worked alongside other artists, musicians, filmmakers, creating film, projection and immersive theater experiences. Hopkins was honored at the Cucalorus Film Festival in North Carolina for her role in Robert Machoian’s dance film short, “The Wind and the Kite.” Hopkins grew up in Southern California, has lived in France, and loves country music.
“‘A Study in Light’ is a solo work that explores themes from William’s Arms Fisher’s (1861-1948) lyrics, “Goin’ Home,” an American spiritual inspired song set to Antonin Dvorak’s “Largo” theme. The two part work incorporates two distinctly different lighting concepts, meant to create an ethereal and intimate experience.
Museum H Studios is an internationally showcased collective creating exhibits, media, and dance, with dance direction by Emalie Vann Thok who has graduate degrees from the Harvard Museum Studies Program and Teachers College, Columbia University. While choreographing and researching museum education through dance, she also worked for the Harvard Dance Center, studied the Khmer language with the University of Hawaii, anthropology at Rice University, theater dance forms at Sam Houston State University, and various dance styles primarily at Houston and New York studios and with the Royal Ballet of Cambodia master class. Often collaborating with multidisciplinary artist and lead soloist Julian Grandberry, Museum H Studios is performing contemporary Khmer dance to traditional and remixed Khmer American beats for this Mind the Gap with dancers Indigo Ghonima, Kelley Mansfield, Rachel Dickson, and with percussion accompaniment by Karim Ghonima.
“Robam Sahrahmunthee or Museum Dance is a series of contemporary Khmer theatrical dances. These colorful, concert Khmer dances have a style and music that draws from both traditional, theatrical Cambodian dance and pop performance dance forms. To share dancework on a stage with a diverse group of dance creators to an audience interested in appreciating dance. My desire to create and connect with my Cambodian culture in my way through dance. I’m excited to incorporate larger scale projections and lighting with live dancing through Dance Source Houston’s support. This is how I create and connect with my Cambodian culture in my way.”
Ekta Popat, Founder and Artistic director of Storytellers School of Dance (SSD). I train over 200 students in the Indian Classical Dance form Kathak. We are affiliated with Bharti Vidyapeeth University in Pune, India and offer a certification program through the university. I take pride in teaching this beautiful art form in the most authentic way possible to the future generations.
“Kathak can be broadly classified into two components – Nritta (pure technical dance) and Nritya (expressive storytelling dance), both of which will be demonstrated in this performance. We hope to give the audience a window into the magical world of Kathak. The first part of the performance will be a Tarana, whose lyrics are agnostic to any language. It was said that a Persian musicologist Amir Khusro traveled to India in the 14th century to learn Hindustani (Indian) music. To facilitate learning, he replaced Hindi words from the compositions with abstract syllables like taanom, dirdir, tadaare, naadere, etc, this popularized the concept of Tarana. The second part of the performance will be a storytelling piece showing the vibrant and joyous celebration of Hori (The Festival of Colors) which marks the arrival of the Spring season in Lord Krishna’s village.“
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Tessa Salomone recently graduated with an MFA in Choreography from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance in London as a Leverhulme Arts Scholar and holds a BFA in Ballet from Texas Christian University where they were a Nordan Fine Arts Scholar. Tessa received their early training from Fort Bend Academy of Dance and later studied year round at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC and the Joffrey Ballet School Trainee Program in New York City on merit scholarship. While in New York, they toured the tristate area and North Carolina as a dancer with Ballet for Young Audiences. Tessa has danced professionally in Houston with LEON Contemporary Dance Company, Juxtapose Arts Collective, and as a guest artist with NobleMotion Dance. They trained and performed in Rome with VIVO Ballet and spent two seasons with PDX Contemporary Ballet in Oregon where they had the opportunity to develop their first commissioned work. Tessa has facilitated choreographic workshops with iMEE blank | SLATE and the The Playing Fields. They are a 2024 Aimed Dance Emerging Choreographer Fellow and currently teach at Bay Area Arts Conservatory in League City.
“‘Five Inclined’ is a twelve minute representation of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s Five Stages of Grief (Depression, Anger, Denial, Bargaining, Acceptance), but as it relates to the “death” of a relationship, both in the loss of one’s partner and the loss of one’s former self. In using one dancer for five different solos, the piece portrays the emotional extremes one faces during the grieving process. One dancer performs this in the form of five unique solos, demonstrating the vast range of emotions one might experience., creating a unique soundscape that accompanies the dance.“
Jamie Williams holds a Bachelors Degree and a Masters Degree in Dance from Sam Houston State University. She is a certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst through Integrated Movement Studies (IMS) and a Registered Yoga Teacher at the 200-hour level. Jamie currently serves as a dance professor and the dance program coordinator for San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas.
This work is a solo that explores the inner complexities and anxieties of the performer. Amidst a hoard of things, the performer sorts through her audible thoughts as they arise, while also sorting through boxes of stuff. The overwhelm of the physical stuff combines with the relentlessness of the mental stuff to finally reach a resolution.
About Dance Source Houston
Dance Source Houston is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the diverse individuals and organizations working in the field of dance throughout the Greater Houston region by means of advocacy, inclusive community engagement and support services. Founded in 2005, Dance Source Houston is a resource for all things dance in the Greater Houston area and provides programs and services to address the evolving needs of the local dance community. Dance Source Houston is funded in part through support from The City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, Houston Endowment, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Texas Commission on the Arts. www.dancesourcehouston.org
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