Upcoming: The Geography of Proximity, Ariel Dance Company at the Rollins Theatre, September 27 - 30

ARIEL DANCE THEATRE

presents

The Geometry of Proximity

A multi-media dance theatre work about transformation

Directed by Andrea Ariel

Choreographed and Performed by Andrea Ariel and Steve Ochoa

Music Composed by Graham Reynolds

Light Design by Jason Amato

Video Design by Colin Lowry

Costume Design by Kari Perkins

THURSDAY / FRIDAY / SATURDAY • SEPTEMBER 27-29 at 8:00 PM

SUNDAY • SEPTEMBER 30 at 3:00 PM

at the Debra and Kevin ROLLINS STUDIO THEATRE

at The Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Center for the Performing Arts

Tickets: $12 - $25 Sliding Scale/Purchase in Advance Online - Sliding scale THURSDAY & SUNDAY ONLY at www.thelongcenter.org

WEB: http://www.arieldance.org

AUSTIN, TEXAS –The Geometry of Proximity is a multi-media dance theatre work about human transformation and awakening. Andrea Ariel and Steve Ochoa have performed together as individual members and in spectacularly moving and audience favorite featured duets in Ariel Dance Theatre ensemble pieces for 7 years. Now Andrea and Steve collaborate to create the choreography and perform in an exciting new duet dance concert experience. The earth becomes an additional key performance element with integrated video design from Colin Lowry. An original score by Graham Reynolds for piano, cello and percussion weaves pulsating, rhythmic compositions with tender, beautiful melodies and compositions using water and air. Audiences will be taken on an engaging journey to explore the universal wisdom of following one’s heart to find our personal and collective destiny. The Geometry of Proximity is about seeking magic, dreams, and treasures outside of ourselves only to find those objects of desire and a lot more has always been and always will be within us. Movement of restless discontent disentangles to become stillness and breath, and new movement with flow, grace and connection to others is born.

This project is funded and supported in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future.

ABOUT ARIEL DANCE THEATRE: Ariel Dance Theatre, based in Austin, TX, is dedicated to cultivating a unique genre of dance theatre that synthesizes movement with other artistic disciplines. The company engages in a collaborative, ensemble-based process to devise original works exploring personal, social, political, and environmental issues with inquisitiveness and imagination. We aim to present bold theatrical performances that invite exchanges with audiences in thought-provoking, entertaining, and surprising ways. By nurturing creative, cultural, civic and educational opportunities the company is committed to community-based projects, professional training, school residencies and performances that build new and diverse connections to our communities. Founded in 1993 by Andrea Ariel, Artistic Director, Ariel Dance Theatre has presented over 50 original works, hosted numerous community projects and educational programs with youth and adults, and has provided opportunities for the development and presentation of hundreds of artists of diverse disciplines.

Four times voted “Best Choreographer/Best Fine Arts Dancer” by the Austin Chronicle Reader’s Poll, Andrea Ariel and the company’s collaborators have been honored with two awards and seven nominations by the Austin Critics Table, two B. Iden Payne Award nominations, and have been selected for the Austin Chronicle’s Top 10 Best Dance and Classical Events of 2005 and Top 10 Most Memorable Locally Produced Live Performance Offerings in 2008.

ABOUT GRAHAM REYNOLDS: Austin, Texas based composer-bandleader Graham Reynolds creates, performs, and records music for film, theater, dance, rock clubs and concert halls with collaborators ranging from Richard Linklater to DJ Spooky to the Austin Symphony Orchestra. As bandleader of the jazz-based but far reaching Golden Arm Trio, Reynolds has repeatedly toured the country and released three critically acclaimed albums. As Co-Artistic Director of Golden Hornet Project with Peter Stopschinski, Reynolds has produced more than fifty concerts of world-premier alt-classical music by more than sixty composers, as well as five symphonies, two concertos and countless chamber pieces of his own. Reynolds music has been heard through-out the world on TV, on stage, in films, and on radio, from HBO to Showtime, Cannes Film Festival to the Kennedy Center, and BBC to NPR. His score to the 2006 Robert Downey, Jr. feature "A Scanner Darkly" was named Best Soundtrack of the Decade by Cinema Retro magazine. His awards include the Lowe Music Theater Award, four Austin Critic’s Table awards, the John Bustin Award, an Amp Award, five Austin Chronicle Best Composer wins, a B. Iden Payne Award, Meet the Composer and Map grants, as well as support from the National Endowment for the Arts for several projects.

Graham learned to compose for dance through his work with Ariel Dance Theatre and choreographer Andrea Ariel. For more than a decade, their work together has developed, often in collaboration with fellow composer Peter Stopschinski. One early highlight was taking an old car dealership and transforming it into a performance space with the offices being visual art galleries and the main showroom become the stage and seating.

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