iMEE ora

 

Dancing Through the Here and Now
iMEE takes ora to Italy

by Nancy Zastudil

Move over and make way as iMEE traverses masses of land and bodies of water to perform new works by Maurice Causey, Spencer Gavin Hering and Andrea Dawn Shelley.

Created especially for their international debut in Turin, Italy, as part of Teatro Astra’s 2013-2014 Season, infinite Movement Ever Evolving (iMEE) presents ora, an expansive interpretation of the ever-evolving concepts of what constitutes the here and now.

iMEE burst on the Houston scene in 2009 and has consistently brought together a high level of dancing and choreography in one package. Through the leadership and vision of Artistic Director Spencer Gavin Hering, Associate Artistic Director Andrea Dawn Shelley, and iMEE Resident Choreographer Maurice Causey, alongside a host of world class visual and performing artists, iMEE presents “a dance form aimed at evoking emotional thought processes harmonious with the mind, heart, and soul.”

With artistic excellence as the driving force of iMEE, embodied in world class dancers, it was only a matter of time before they would take their vision and version of dance to a global audience. The company’s connection to Teatro Astra came a few years ago by way of Shelley who, when she danced with Maximum Dance Company in Miami, Florida, had the pleasure of working with choreographer Paolo Mohovich, Artistic Director of Balletto dell’Esperia and the Director of Rassegna Palcoscenico Danza.

Mohovich has been keeping his eye on iMEE thanks to a Facebook reconnection to Shelley. She cites Mohovich’s consistent support of the company which, in 2012, led to an invitation for the company to create and perform a full program, presented by Rassegna Palcoscenico Danza, as part of Teatro Astra’s 2013-2014 Season. Mohovich extended the invitation for iMEE to return for the 2014-2015 season as well. (For those Houstonians who can’t get to Italy this year or next, you will have the chance to catch iMEE in early 2014 on their home turf.)

As their very first international tour, iMEE is honored to have been invited to Teatro Astra and to be presented by Rassegna Palcoscenico Danza, considering it to be a major achievement.

“It is encouraging to have been afforded this opportunity which provides us with the confidence to keep pressing forward and pushing iMEE to new heights,” says Shelley. “Having a contemporary dance company in this economy is tough. The idea of just surviving is one thing, but to survive, grow, evolve and touch audiences nationally and internationally, speaks volumes. It proves that we are headed in the right direction as a contemporary dance company.”

For this year’s Teatro Astra, that direction leads the audience though ora‘s seven pieces — Sus Miradas, UNTITLED, be of two minds, Mythical Laboratory, the back of beyond, elliptical, and Conglomerate — a collection of some of the company’s well received works. In this evening-length performance, choreographers Hering, Shelley, and Causey combine their three distinct styles to collectively present the expansion and growth of iMEE’s work and ideas over the last four years.

“The program represents where we are right now and where we have since evolved. As iMEE (infinite Movement Ever Evolving) we strive to be in the ‘now,’ to challenge ourselves and continually evolve as artists,” Shelley explains. “Although the individual choreographic voices are very different, all the works seamlessly compliment one another through a cohesive, connective idea. With this in mind, the program allows each dancer to explore their own unique movement qualities and personalities. This self exploration also lends to keeping the work current.”

In ora, the choreographers and dancers integrate dance with visual art and other art mediums to make visible ideas of “now” as they evolve within different situations and contexts. For example, how able-bodied and disabled people experience the world and each other, traveling and wandering and states of limbo, locating conscious and unconscious thoughts, myths of love and loss, real and imagined loneliness, artistic defiance and more.

Music is another entry point for iMEE audience members and ora is no exception, with contemporary ambient selections from Chemical Brothers, Deaf Center, Kronos Quartet, and Richard H. Kirk. ora‘s classical works include Vivaldi, Bach and more, plus an original soundscape arranged by Hering and iMEE Theatrical Artist/Musician, Graham Patzner.

By studying and addressing curiously familiar situations primarily through movement, ora allows audience members to grow their appreciation for and education of dance by evoking sensory and cognitive responses. And as Teatro Astra helps to grows iMEE’s reputation worldwide, Shelley is quick to appreciate the company’s existing situation of today saying, “We are fortunate to have a group of artists who are intelligent, hardworking, and committed. These artists believe in us, in iMEE, and are invested in our future.”

Nancy Zastudil is a curator and writer hooked on the permanent importance of the visual and performing arts.

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iMEE
ora
March 28 and 29, 2013
Teatro Astra
Turin, Italy