Michele Brangwen Dance & Music Ensemble Tributes FOTOFEST’s 40th Anniversary with Present Moment

Contact: Michele Brangwen Dance & Music Ensemble
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www.brangwendance.org

THE MICHELE BRANGWEN DANCE & MUSIC ENSEMBLE TRIBUTES FOTOFEST’s 40th ANNIVERSARY BIENNIAL WITH “PRESENT MOMENT,” AN EVENING OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE & MUSIC EXPLORING THE GENERATIVE ASPECT OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Sunday March 8, 2026 at 7 p.m.

MIDTOWN ARTS & THEATER CENTER HOUSTON (MATCH)
3400 Main Street, Houston TX 77002

Tickets: $25-$35

The Michele Brangwen Dance & Music Ensemble presents an evening of contemporary dance and music that tributes the FOTOFEST 40th Anniversary Biennial theme of Global Visions and explores the generative aspect of photography through adding the sensations of sound and movement as an extension of the visual image. 

The program features the premiere of Rauschenberg Windjammers, a work inspired in part by the idea of the present moment – as in how do we keep moments of joy with us always – and by artist Robert Rauschenberg’s fabric works and combine/assemblages. The work features choreography by Michele Brangwen, music by Michael Eaton, and movement and music created in the moment by all nine performers. Rauschenberg Windjammers also includes costumes created using the fabric solvent transfer process. Obscured by a layer of mesh as in the famous Hoarfrost series by Rauschenberg, we want to know if you can feel the imagery as it is carried forth by the dancers and musicians. Photographers include Peter Josyph, Warren Sneed and Mads Ljungdahl. 

The program will also include The Decisive Moment, a music work by special guest artists Gabriel Martinez, percussion, Anthony Almendárez, trumpet and Juan Garcia bass. The three musicians will use the art of photography as a starting point for a performance score – the temporal and spatial movement of the subject beyond the instant of snapping the shutter. 

In celebrating FOTOFEST’s theme of Global Visions, the Michele Brangwen Dance & Music Ensemble also performs Creatures of Sound, a work that tributes the ideas and music of the great trumpeter and composer Don Cherry, featuring original music by Grammy-nominated trumpeter and composer Tim Hagans, choreography by Michele Brangwen, and movement and music created in the moment by all performers. Don Cherry was one of many American jazz musicians who moved to Europe to escape the racism and limited artistic opportunities for artists of color in the US. He traveled the world and incorporated many different cultural influences into his works as well as ideas about music being a force for unity.

John Pietaro writes about Creatures Of Sound in the New York City Jazz Record December 2025 issue: 

“The musicians’ interplay with the dancers was thorough: at times the music emoting from the latter was near audible and always swinging”. 

“Music director, trumpeter Tim Hagans (whose long history includes work with Thad Jones, Stan Kenton, Joe Lovano and Sweden’s Norbotten Big Band) played Cherry-mode short, splintered folk themes rolled into soaring free jazz”

Present Moment is performed by ADAM CASTAÑEDA dancer; MEREDITH FAGES dancer; CRISTIAN LAVERDE KÖNIG dancer; LINDSEY McGILL dancer; MICHELE BRANGWEN dancer; TIM HAGANS trumpet; ANGELA WANG voice, dance; WARREN SNEED saxophone; THORBJØRN STEFANSSON double bass; ANDREW SNEED drums;

SPECIAL GUEST ARTISTS: GABRIEL MARTINEZ, percussion; ANTHONY ALMENDÁREZ, trumpet; JUAN GARCIA, double bass

Sunday, March 8, 2026 at 7 p.m.

MIDTOWN ARTS & THEATER CENTER HOUSTON (MATCH)
3400 Main Street, Houston TX 77002

Tickets: $25-$35

https://matchouston.org/events/2026/present-moment