RACC Press Releases
April 21 , 2006
Ten Tiny Dances at the Portland Building
May 1-26, 2006
See Performance Schedule
The Regional Arts & Culture Council presents the performance/installation, Ten Tiny Dances, in the Portland Building Installation Space, May 1-26, 2006. The Portland Building, located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue, is open to the public from 7am - 6pm, Monday through Friday.
In its usual form, Ten Tiny Dances is dance/theater performance in confined space which challenges choreographers to invent new choreography that responds to the possibilities of a 16 sq. ft. performance area. The performance celebrated its tenth installment at a sold out event at the Wonder Ballroom this past March.
For the month of May, Portland based choreographer Mike Barber (at right) takes the performance series into a municipal building where performances will occur in the ground floor installation space and range in length from 3 minutes to 1 hour. Veteran “tiny artists” involved in the project are Mike Barber, Carla Mann, Cydney Wilkes, Margretta Hansen, and Linda Austin. Over four weeks, viewers will experience five artists’ different reactions to the challenge of site specific performance. Performances will happen primarily early in the morning, at lunch time and at the end of the work day. Some of the times will be posted while others will occur as ‘found’ performances. A visual history of Ten Tiny Dances using photographs, video and written narrative will occupy the walls of the space.
Tiny dances will also happen on a second tiny stage (2 ft x 3 ft) in one of the building’s elevators. These dances will begin the week of May 15th. Employees and visitors will not know whether a dance will be happening in their elevator or not…or which elevator.
Background
Mike Barber has produced and appeared in Ten Tiny Dances since 2001 (www.tentinydances.org). He has been part of the Northwest performance scene since 1985 and has performed in works by both Portland and Seattle choreographers. He is the former director of Portland’s aero/betty aerial dance theater. Barber has also collaborated with Cydney Wilkes who spent 20 years in New York City presenting dance and performance works. One of her recent local venues was on the banks of the Willamette River where she collaborated with Barber on Penta, a project of the Regional Arts & Culture Council’s in situ: Portland program. She has been part of several Ten Tiny Dances events. Carla Mann has contributed to six Ten Tiny Dances and has been choreographing, teaching and performing contemporary dance since 1981. She has performed with a number of local choreographers and currently serves as Assistant Director of Dance at Reed College. Margetta Hansen is a frequent contributor to Ten Tiny Dances and has performed in the Portland area with an array of local choreographers and companies. She currently teaches at the Center for Movement Arts in Southeast Portland. Linda Austin has been making dances of all sizes and shapes for more than 20 years. Currently she runs Performance Works Northwest and is hatching plans for a multidisciplinary project to premiere in 2007. This will be her sixth Ten Tiny Dances event.
Sponsored by the Regional Arts & Culture Council since 1994, the Installation Art Series at the Portland Building invites the general public to re-examine its expectations and definitions of art, encourage dialogue about the role of art in public spaces, and provide artists with alternative exhibition space for their work. Artists featured through 2006 include Tim Young, June 5-30; Jenine Nagy, July 17-August 11; Rachel Siegel, August 21-September 15; Adam Kuby, September 25-October 20; Rhoda London, October 30-November 24.
Below is the schedule for 10 Tiny Dances in the Portland Building for May, running from 7am-5pm:
Wednesday, May 3 Margretta Hanson, 10:30-11:30; 3:00-4:00
Thursday, May 4 Mike Barber, 7:30, 11:45, 5:00
Friday no performances scheduled
Monday, May 8 Surface, film by Carla Mann all day
Tuesday, May 9 Cydney Wilkes, 12:05, 3:05, 5:05 and at other unannounced times
Wednesday, May 10 Margetta Hanson, 11:30-12:30, 3:00-4:00
Thursday, May 11 Mike Barber w/Tracy Broyles, 7:30, 11:45, 5:00
Friday, May 12 Linda Austin video booth, 11:00-2:00
Monday, May 15 Mike Barber w/Tracy Broyles, 7:30, 11:45 5:00
Tuesday, May 16 Cydney Wilkes, 12:05, 3:05, 5:05 and at other unannounced times
Wednesday, May 17 Margretta Hanson, 10:30-11:30, 3:00-4:00
Thursday, May 18 Mutable, film by Carla Mann
Monday, May 22 Mike Barber, 7:30, 11:45, 5:00
Tuesday, May 23 Cydney Wilkes, 12:05, 3:05, 5:05 and at other unannounced times
Wednesday, May 24 Margetta Hanson, 11:30-12:30, 3:00-4:00
Thursday, May 25 Displaced, film by Carla Mann
Friday, May 26 Closing day performances; all artists plus guests
Through vision, leadership and service the Regional Arts
& Culture Council works to integrate arts and culture in all aspects of
community life.
####
Back to RACC Press Release page
View News Archives
Request RACC Press Releases via email. Contact: Mary Bauer, mbauer@racc.org
RACC Staff to Contact
Jeff Hawthorne
Director of Community Affairs
503.823.5258
jhawthorne@racc.org
Mary Bauer
Communications Associate
503.823.5426
mbauer@racc.org
| 
