Contemporary Dance Theater

Guest Artist Series

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Contemporary Dance Theater
Presents

JANE COMFORT AND COMPANY
January 23 & 24, 2009 8:30 pm
Jarson-Kaplan Theater, Aronoff Center for the Arts

2 for 1 Ticket Deal:

Here is the link for the Jane Comfort 2-for-1 discount

(promo code = THE COMPANY):

http://ev9.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=PR:PR:544845434F4D50414E59&linkID=cinarts&shopperContext=&caller=PR&appCode=&prc=THECOMPANY

Tickets to Contemporary Dance Theater’s presentation of
JANE COMFORT AND COMPANY are $27 & $22; $17 students & seniors; ETA member benefits apply and may be purchased at the Aronoff Center Ticket Office at (513) 621-2787 or on-line at www.cincinnatiarts.org.

"Ms. Comfort’s muscular, often violent physical language is unsettlingly evocative… "
- New York Times

Cincinnati, Ohio: JANE COMFORT AND COMPANY’s “An American Rendition” presents a provocative and unsettling glimpse of contemporary society. Feeling powerless to affect government policies? Intrigued or astonished by the success of reality TV? Create your own reality in a theater setting with JANE COMFORT AND COMPANY.

Known for creating dance theater works that push the intersection of movement, language and video to a new form of performance, JANE COMFORT AND COMPANY’s Cincinnati concert offers a savage parody of popular TV shows like American Idol and America’s Next Top Model in which a US citizen is kidnapped and undergoes “enhanced interrogation” in a secret prison while the channel surfing country remains distracted with reality television. Two worlds exist: an upper world of pop culture into which we are daily plugged, and an underworld occurring simultaneously that we cannot see and of which we choose to remain unaware.

photos by Arthur Elgort

“In a stellar turn from her Pandora’s box of devastating surprises, JANE COMFORT lays irony upon irony in her latest work, ‘An American Rendition.’ She brilliantly manipulates the way movement reinforces dialogue.”
- Dance Magazine

“An American Rendition” teams colleagues Joan La Barbara (music), Steve Miller (visual design), David Ferri (lighting), Jung-eun Kim (video projection design), and Liz Prince (costumes) to skillfully arrive at
biting satirical theater. Composer La Barbara has created a score that performers sing live along with karaoke versions of pop songs. Visual artist Miller creates an evocative montage of x-ray images of guns, jewelry, Chanel bags, bones, brains, high-heeled shoes, luggage and flowers to denote the cultural domestication of violence. Lead dancers take the roles of the victim, his tormentor and his desperately confused wife. Other performers serve as airport security, television contestants in wacky garb, and government staff. There is even an unpleasant game show host whose disconcerting chatter echoes the torturous events suffered by the imprisoned protagonist.

JANE COMFORT’S artistic excellence has been recognized by numerous grants and awards from the NEA, the NY Foundation for the Arts, and the NY State Council on the Arts. She has received a BESSIE Award, and has also been awarded The Doris Duke Award for New Work along with support from the Creative Capital Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts, The Mary Flagler Cary Foundation, American Music Center, Meet the Composer, The Fund for US Artists, Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, Altria, NPN, Arts International, BUILD, and other organizations.

“…a post modernist pioneer…”
- New York Times

JANE COMFORT AND COMPANY’s “An American Rendition” is co-commissioned by Contemporary Dance Theater, the National Performance Network, and the New York State Council on the Arts. Contemporary Dance Theater is a partner of the National Performance Network (NPN). This project is made possible in part by a grant from the National Performance Network's Performance Residency Program. Major contributors of NPN include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), Altria, MetLife Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation.
The National Performance Network is a group of cultural organizers and artists facilitating the practice and public experience of the performing arts in the United States. The NPN serves artists, arts organizers, and a broad range of audiences and communities across the country through commissions, residencies, culture-centered community projects and other artistic activities. For more information: www.npnweb.org.

Contemporary Dance Theater's 2008-2009 Season is sponsored by:

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The Wohlgemuth Herschede Foundation
The William O. Purdy Foundation
and The Louise Taft Semple Foundation as well as individual donors.

Educational Outreach is sponsored by a grant from

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The January 23rd performance launches Enjoy the Arts "Art and About" member event series.

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CELEBRATING ITS 36TH SEASON!

Contemporary Dance Theater was founded in 1972 by Jefferson James and remains the only arts organization in the Tri-State dedicated to promoting and presenting contemporary dance. CDT operates a dance studio and performance space in the historic College Hill Town Hall, 1805 Larch Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224. For more information call (513) 591-1222 or visit www.cdt-dance.org.