KSD & Kin: January 13 at 8pm, and January 14 at 5pm.
An evening of dances by Karin Stevens and two KSD company dancers, with commissioned music by Seattle composer Heather Bentley, and other regional and national music artists.
“This is a community of dancers for whom movement means something.” - Sandra Kurtz, SeattleDances
“Karin’s works are a magnicent blend of innovation, elegance, and flowing power. Please keep them coming.” - James Leonard, KSD board member
(Seattle) – A fixture of the Seattle dance scene, Karin Stevens Dance presents KSD & Kin with three works by Karin Stevens and two works by KSD company dancers, Sara Caplan and Anja Kellner-Rogers, as part of KSD’s commitment to support the development of dance artists in the Seattle dance ecosystem, January 13 at 8pm and January 14 at 5pm, at Nod Theater on Capitol Hill.
Parts of the Whole 2023 (World Premiere: Seattle International Dance Festival, as a James Ray Residency and Touring recipient, June 15, 2023), with music by John Luther Adams, explores the internal parts within us that make or divide the whole of ourselves and our relationships; the waves and undercurrents of our emotions upon and under the surface of our lives; and the spiritual concept of individuation and wholeness.
Created and presented in 2019/2020, A Small Space of Wildness, featuring original music by Seattle composer Heather Bentley, was choreographed from Stevens’ improvisational practice with her backyard landscape in winter and summer. This work is an extension of Stevens’ ongoing interest in the human body in relationship with the greater ecology. Stevens’ breadth of work moves within the stream of philosopher Dr. Bayo Akomolafe: “Decoloniality if it means anything, it must mean coming down to earth. It must mean returning to a body. Not to the bodies of the Euro-American Enlightenment; not that body. But to a body that is now dancing; always performatively entangled with the world around it.” (This work, as part of a body of place-based dances, developed into a writing and video-essay project. The first video in a series of four was premiered in the KSD November 2022 performances. You can view the first video-essay HERE.) The 2023 iteration of A Small Space of Wildness is performed with a recreation of the music by Bentley and new costuming by Sarah Mosher.
Remember River 2023, a solo choreographed and performed by Karin Stevens, will premiere in the January performances. The solo is an embodied empathic and spiritual response to a line from the poet Mary Oliver: “Who can imagine in what heaviness the rivers remember their original clarity.” The electro-acoustic music, by Jeff Grienke, from his album A Thousand Year Flood, is composed with one instrumentalist–cellist/violinist Heather Bentley.
Two new works by KSD company dancers will also premiere in the January performances. Sara Caplan (2022-present) and Anja Kellner-Rogers (2015-2017 & 2019-2023) were in the choreographic process throughout the summer. KSD is committed to the development of the Seattle dance ecosystem by providing opportunities for KSD company dancers and their dance-making practice. Measured Reflections, choreographed by Caplan, will explore how we fit into our daily lives. Through playful exchanges, solo contemplations, and unison struggle we discover how we exist in our own bodies among others and within a community. Solitary Rhythms, choreographed by Kellner-Rogers, is a solo that explores themes of aloneness, touch, repetition, and ritual. The choreography weaves together a tapestry of soft, smooth, right, and sharp touches, evoking a symphony of sensations that explore the spectrum of human emotion.