MET Dance Soars Into 19th Season

MET DANCE SOARS INTO 19th SEASON WITH NEW DANCERS, NEW REPERTORY AND NEW COLLABORATIONS 

HOUSTON, September 10, 2014 – While the Houston dance landscape continues to shift, METDance, known for its invigorating jazz and contemporary repertory, announces its 2014-2015 Season, featuring five programs over the year. With its constant expansion and exploration, METDance has been at the helm of Houston’s dance revolution since 1995. Celebrating the company’s longevity, MET Dance will launch their season with Indivisible, at the Hobby Center for the Arts, Zilka Hall, November 21-22. In February, MET Dance presents DUO, an intimate look at the duet in dance at Spring Street Studios. An evening with Mercury, the company’s spring performance at the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater in April, invites baroque experts Mercury Ensemble, to join the dancers onstage for a unique collaboration and restaging of a major repertory work. In bridging MET Dance’s center and company, MET too Youth Company takes the Wortham stage with their annual spring concert in May, while the company will round out their season celebration at the Miller Outdoor Theater with Sizzling Summer Dance in June of 2015.

“This exploratory season shows the companies range. “ expresses Artistic Director, Marlana Doyle. “With collaboration and new creations being the lifeblood of the company’s legacy and future, this season is exemplary of spirited theatricality, sharp wit and a dazzling fusion of so many talents coming together for the universal sake of progressive art.”

After its most recent performance at Jacobs Pillow in August, MET kicks off its 2014-2015 season with Indivisible, the work of four diverse men, including two premieres by acclaimed dancemakerLarry Keigwin and Houston’s own jhon r. stronks. As numbers are the universal language used to count and define value, this collection of work embodies the company’s constant foundation and the drive to explore larger issues. MET’s 2014 Emerging Choreographer awardee, Steven Vaughnwill also present Shifts in Normality, and Joe Celej’s work, primed, highlighting fluid partnering, floor work, dynamic energy with musicality and theatrical imagery.

With the pairing of a couple, DUO is a fitting evening nestled in the heart of February’s romantic season, exploring the duets of the MET Dance repertory. Mimicking life, coupling on stage requires close timing, understanding and constant communication. Duet excerpts from works byPeter Chu, Marlana Doyle, Spencer Gavin Hering, Lauren Edson, Kiki Lucas and jhon r. stronks offer audiences an in the studio look at the intimacy between dancers in this constant dialogue and exchange of a pairing at the Spring Street Studios.

In the Spring, music and dance unite at the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater with An evening with Mercury on April 10, 2015. Upon inviting the baroque and beyond Houston chamber orchestraMercury Ensemble, the company presents Kiki Lucas’s The Vessel, restaged for this special collaboration with composer Ben Doyle. Paired with a World Premiere by Jessica Hendricks, the creation of sound, shapes, movement, rhythms, vibrations and melodies take center stage in exploring perspective and the realities it defines.

Committed to building a school upon solid training and professional experiences, MET too Youth Company, mentees of Doyle and the artists of MET Dance, inhabit the Wortham a month later in May with a collection of dancers, aged 12-18 representing the work of some of dance’s most notable choreographers and guest artists from their 2014-2015 Season.

Lastly, the company will bring a diverse and versatile program to the Miller Outdoor Theater in an all ages performance to close their extensive 19^th performance season in June, 2015. This evening will feature the world premiere of the 2015 Emerging Chorographer Commission awardee with special guest appearances by the MET too Youth Company.

Met Dance’s 19^th Season Calendar Highlights, November 2014 – June 2015:

November 21, 8:00 p.m. and 22, 7:30 p.m.: Indivisible
Hobby Center for the Arts, Zilka Hall
Primed, Joe Celej
Shifts in Normality, Steven Vaughn, 2014 Emerging Choreographer
Seven, Larry Keigwin  (MET Premiere)
World Premiere, Jhon R. Stronks

February 12-14, 8:00 p.m.: DUO
Spring Street Studios

April 10, 8:00 p.m.: An evening with Mercury
Wortham Center, Cullen Theatre
The Vessel, Kiki Lucas/Ben Doyle
World Premiere, Jessica Hendricks

May 20, 7:30 p.m.: MET too Youth Company Spring Concert 
Wortham Center, Cullen Theatre

June (date TBD), 8:30 p.m.: Sizzling Summer Dance
Miller Outdoor Theatre

MET Dance
Founded in 1995, Houston Metropolitan Dance Center Inc. strives to educate and revitalize a passion for dance through the finest instruction and performance. With professional and youthdance companies, as well as a strong community outreach program, MET Dance continues to be a leader in the vitality and diversity of Houston’s dance community. MET Dance Company has performed throughout the United States in dozen’s of theaters receiving high acclaim. The organization’s new state-of-the-art facility, located in midtown, offers comprehensive dancetraining for all ages and interests. The youth dance company and free educational outreach programs have reached the lives of hundreds in the Houston community.