Dance Source Houston Presents Mind The Gap 32
Contact:
Mollie Haven Miller
Executive Director
Dance Source Houston
713.224.3262
mollie@dancesourcehouston.org
Dance Source Houston Presents
Mind The Gap 32
HOUSTON, TX November 4, 2024 – Dance Source Houston (DSH) will present the 32nd edition of Mind The Gap on Tuesday, December 3 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 This program will feature works by local dancemakers including Jai Alexander, Randall Flinn, Jasmine Hearn, Persi Mey, Violet Moon, Robbie Moore, and Stacy Skolnik.
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
Jai Alexander is a movement experimentalist and creative based in Houston, Texas. His unique movement vocabulary draws inspiration from the fluidity of roller-coaster rides, the rhythmic patterns of waves, and movements that deeply resonate with the human body. Jai is currently furthering his studies in the Theater and Dance Department at Lamar University, where he also serves as the Administrative Assistant for Aimed Dance, a non-profit Dance Company dedicated to enriching the Southeast Texas community. Recently, his work has been presented at Dance Source Houston’s Mind The Gap XXIV (2024), Pilot Dance Project’s 4th Annual Texas Latino/a/x Contemporary Dance Festival (2024), and Dance Afrikana’s Houston Black Dance Festival (2024). Additionally, Jai has presented his work at The Oklahoma Contemporary Dance Festival (2024) this summer as a resident choreographer.
This work is intended to approach a deeper subject with an element of fun and unpredictability. By using light and shadow as metaphors, I hope to juxtapose lighthearted imagery with more complex emotional undertones, crafting a performance that invites both introspection and enjoyment. The piece aims to challenge conventional boundaries of choreography while engaging the audience in a playful yet meaningful exploration.
Jasmine Hearn, born and raised on occupied lands now known as Houston, TX, is an interdisciplinary artist, teacher, doula, performer, and organizer. They currently are leading Memory Fleet – a continually expanding, episodic, migrating performance supported by the New England Foundation of the Arts with a National Dance Project grant award (2024). Jasmine is a recipient of a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award (2023), Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Rome Prize in Design with collaborator Athena Kokoronis of Domestic Performance Agency (2023), a Creative Capital Award (2022), a Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship (2019), New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Awards for Outstanding Performer (2021, 2017), and Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grants (2022, 2017). They have been awarded residencies through SummerStages at Institute for Contemporary Arts, Boston, MA; Pittsburgh Foundation, Pittsburgh, PA; and the Camargo Foundation, Cassis, France.
Jasmine remembers moments from their time in Rome, Italy sourcing movement and choreography made while a 2023 Rome Prize Fellow. Sharing video and dance, they will tell a nonlinear tale of what they saw and experienced.
Persi Mey is a movement artist creating for both stage and film. Their work is informed by a variety of athletic styles including: contemporary, breaking, tap, jazz, modern, muay thai, and ballet. Currently, they’re performing both as an independent artist and as a company member of Urban Souls Dance Company, and creating work as a resident artist at Houston Met Dance. Persi grew up in Clawson, Michigan and relocated to Houston in 2022 after spending a couple of years in Kansas City, Missouri. They received their BFA in Contemporary Dance from Indiana University. During their undergrad, they also had the opportunity to spend a year studying on scholarship at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.
This is an athletic contemporary solo exploring the need to adapt to your environment in order to thrive. I would like to show my work to more local audiences.
Robbie Moore grew up dancing from age six in Houston, Texas, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In 2010, he was named Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Robbie graduated from the Juilliard School in 2014. Robbie toured internationally with L.A. Dance Project, under the direction of Benjamin Millepied, from 2015-2017. In 2017, Robbie moved to Belgium to work for Eastman – Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, where he continues to collaborate. In Antwerp, he trained under Anna Rubau to become a certified True-Pilates instructor. Robbie worked as Resident Choreographer from 2020-2021 and continues still as a Guest Artist with Houston Contemporary Dance Company. In 2022, he performed and toured with Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève. In 2023, he appeared in Iconoloclast’s commercial ad for Lady Gaga x Dom Pérignon directed by Yoann Lemoine. In June 2024, Robbie performed aboard the MS Europa 2 cruise ship in Norway for a one-night-only production by Alexander Ekman. He currently resides in Houston, working as a freelance dancer, Pilates instructor, movement coach, and choreographer.
Stacy Skolnik grew up dancing from age 3 in Houston, TX where she trained at Margot Marshall ballet studio. She also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Stacy graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance in May 2014. Stacy was a former company member of Gaspard&Dancers in Durham, NC and showcased a new work at Duke University, which led to being a part of the APAP conference held at the Lincoln Center in NYC. In 2016, Stacy moved back to Houston, TX where she became a founding member of Open Dance Project. She also became Stotts certified Pilates teacher during that time. She has been teaching all forms of group fitness and focused on Pilates training at the Houstonian Club and other places in the greater Houston area. Performing with the company for over 7 years, she decided to pursue a freelance career and recently has choreographed/performed her own work. Her works have been showcased twice through Dance Source Houston’s, Mind the Gap. She continues to teach and share her dance/Pilates knowledge for all ages and is in the midst of creating new projects to hopefully be performed!
This work is about redefining our human connection. At first, we find each other again after not seeing one another for a long time. Together we explore the joyous layers reuniting can bring. We share the heartache of losing figures in our lives as we mature. Themes of communication, compromise an confusion will play a part.
Randall Flinn is the founder and artistic director of Ad Deum Dance Company, a professional contemporary/modern dance company established in 1991 in Houston, Texas. He has served as a guest dance educator and choreographer for Cirque Du Soleil, Hong Kong Ballet, Guangzhou Modern Dance Company, Houston Ballet Academy, Alvin Ailey Educational Outreach, American College Dance Festival, Ballet Magnificat, Zion Dance Project, Storling Dance Theatre, Xaris Danz Europe, Project Dance NYC, Paris, London, and Sydney, The Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, Belhaven University, High School Of Performing Arts Houston, The University Of Houston, Palm Beach Atlantic University, The University Of The Nation Hawaii, Society For Performing Arts Houston, Overflow Dance Festival Paris, Sofia, Bulgaria Life Camp, Hillsong Church Sydney, and Redding Civic Dance Company. His choreographic work with Ad Deum has taken the company nationally and globally, performing for Dance Salad Festival Houston, Dance Gallery Festival NYC, Bailando Dance Festival, Texas Weekend Of Contemporary Dance, East Meets West Festival, Project Dance NYC, Paris, London, Los Angeles, and Houston, and performance tours throughout Europe and Asia. Mr. Flinn also serves as a guest artist and lecturer for Christian Dance Leaders and Educators Conference, The C.S. Lewis Foundation, Youth With A Mission, The Lausanne Committee For World Evangelism Arts Focus, Creative Missions Europe, and International Christian Artists Fellowship. He also serves as an adjunct/guest teaching artist for Palm Beach Atlantic University, University Of St Thomas, Bayou City Ballet, and Houston’s High School for Performing/Visual Arts.
Ad Deum Dance Company is a moving force of contemporary dance and physical theatre. Pure passion, grace and elite athleticism abound as these artists explore the mysteries of faith, the wonders of life, and the brokenness and beauty of our world through the art of dance. Ad Deum embraces the imaginative and creative freedom of the body, soul, and spirit of mankind as the signature of God’s design upon humanity. Ad Deum has received outstanding reviews for local and national performances, as well as international tours to Poland, Austria, Great Britain, France, Thailand, Japan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Canada.
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.
Violet Moon (they/them) is a polymathic artist who has performed across the United States as a selected dance artist, soloist, and touring company member. They are a City of Houston and Houston Arts Alliance Let Creativity Happen grant recipient and have had their paintings featured across the city. They write, sing, make music, craft, and value the process of Natalie Rogers’ model of Creative Connection. Recently, Violet has been exploring movement and artistry beyond conditioned Western structures. Their work is driven by a hope of dismantling indoctrination and the hierarchy of privilege to honor cultural and ancestral movement patterns. They are passionate about creating meaningful experiences that translate stories of pain, pleasure, and loss into something honest, resonant, and human. Their accomplishments include a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, somatic and expressive arts therapy training, guest dance artist contracts, international residencies, and a loyalty to their creative practice. Rooted in a deep reverence for the ever-evolving Self, Violet remains devoted to life’s dance.
This performance is an intimate exploration of what it means to be viewed, but not seen. It confronts the persistent weight and alternating tension of living in a femme-presenting body through the lens of desire or expectation— to be sexualized or in service. The piece challenges the audience to reflect on why they are watching the performer and what they are seeking in the act of looking. Through movement, the work navigates the delicate balance between vulnerability and safety, inviting viewers to witness a story that is as much about their perception as it is about the performer’s reality.
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. dancesourcehouston.org
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