Sarah Council Dance Projects

Photo by Sarah Council Dance Photographer

BOOM Performance:
“The Shift Project and Other Stories”

Sarah Council Dance Projects: Dance

The Shift Project and Other Stories is a contemporary dance performance that includes “The Shift Project: Phase 1” – a multi-layered, inquiry-based collaboration – combining movement (Sarah Council Dance Projects – SCDP), poetry (de’Angelo Dia) and music (Ron Parks). The Shift considers the questions: How does context affect meaning? How does our perspective influence what we see? The performance will also include “A History of Dirt,” SCDP’s exploration into the body as a keeper of histories.

Sarah Council Dance Projects was curious about how context affects meaning and wanted to explore this idea collaboratively, through poetry, movement and sound. The performers were excited to begin this process because through it they hoped to create a generative space for collaborative, open-ended questioning, investigation and discovery.

Expect to experience: Shifting bodies, images and narratives. Compelling, thought-provoking poetry. Immersive multi-layered sound. Authentic performance.

Artists:

• Sarah Council Dance Projects (SCDP) is a contemporary modern dance company currently based in Charlotte, NC, founded by choreographer Sarah Council. SCDP is focused on dance research, creation and performance and works to share these experiences with others through presentations, workshops and residencies.
  
  SCDP has performed and taught extensively throughout New York City and the East Coast region. SCDP has received support from the Queens Council on the Arts, The Puffin Foundation, The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and Arts and Science Council.
  
  Sarah Council’s works range from intimate observations of daily life and relationships, to wider focused explorations of pressing social justice issues. Her choreography is grounded in a visceral theatricality — producing dances that are thought-provoking and emotionally transporting. (SCDP dancers’ bios are also listed below)
• de’Angelo Dia is a poet, theologian and doctoral student at Union Presbyterian Seminary. Dia investigates public opinion and contemporary beliefs on cultural, social-political and theological issues through poetry, visual art and performance, and he has studied art in Athens, Greece; Guadalajara, Mexico; and Nairobi, Kenya. He received a BS in Applied Communication and Sociology from Appalachian State University, an MA in Literature from UNC Charlotte, and a Master of Divinity from Union Presbyterian Seminary. His artistic influences include photographer Martha Cooper, ethno-gothic literature, comic books and graphic novels, and neo-Appalachian art. Dia is an alumnus artist-in-residence of the McColl Center for Art + Innovation, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture (Artist Roundtable), and a Cave Canem Fellow. He is also a member of the Goodyear Arts collective and the artist/activist collaborative Loss for Words, both based in Charlotte.
• Ronald Keith Parks’ compositions have been performed worldwide. He has written for a wide variety of resources including the Beo String Quartet, Bechtler Ensemble, Sarah Council Dance Project, Duo XXI, Charlotte Civic Orchestra, Out of Bounds Ensemble, NeXT Ens and many others. He is currently Professor of Music Composition and Music Technology at Winthrop University. More information on his music and career can be found at ronparksmusic.com.

SCDP Dancers

• Reba Bowens has been working with dance and capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian art form combining acrobatics, martial arts, music and dance) in Charlotte communities and schools. She holds an MA in Arts Administration from Winthrop University, along with a BA in Dance Performance and a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting. She has had the opportunity to work with Caroline Calouhe, Gaspard & Dancers, Moving Spirits Inc., Triptych Collective, Rachel Barker and many others. Along with dance, Reba is an avid martial arts practitioner studying Shaolin Kempo Karate for 14 years and has attained the rank of 2nd Degree Black Belt. Her current focus, capoeira, has allowed her opportunities to travel to Russia, Brazil and various places across the US. For Reba, movement allows for infinite creativity and exploration with body and mind that she enjoys sharing with others.
• Sharlie Duncan: Originally from England, Sharlie has extensively toured Europe, Asia and the US in a diverse collection of shows spanning all genres of dance and musical theatre. Sharlie spent five years touring with “Spirit Of The Dance” in many of their shows worldwide before settling in NC where she continues to teach and perform around the Carolinas.
• Anna Edwards is a dancer, choreographer and teacher. She earned her MFA in Dance from Hollins University in 2019, and she received her BA in dance from UNC Charlotte in May, 2018. She is an active choreographer and has presented work at the 92nd Street Y, North Carolina Dance Education Organization Festival, Loose Leaves Showcases and the Sarus Equinox Festival. As a teacher, Edwards has facilitated contemporary dance workshops around North Carolina. Edwards hopes to combine her interests in dance practice, choreography, research and pedagogy to become a professor of dance at a university in her future.
• Jenn Jones has worked professionally in the many facets of the dance community. She attended Columbia College in Chicago and the University of South Florida in Tampa, earning an AA degree in Secondary Education, and a BFA Degree in Dance Performance. Jones has performed with Busch Gardens, Bella Danza Collective, Enigma Dance Kru, VYB Dance Company, Event Show Productions, TOC Project, and Karen Peterson and Dancers. Jones has choreographed for Jobsite Theatre Company and has taught dance at Patel Conservatory, Tampa Preparatory School and the Academy of Holy Names.
• Samantha Salvato is an arts marketer and dance artist working as the marketing manager for the College of Arts + Architecture at UNC Charlotte and as a freelance designer. She is currently dancing with choreographers Megan Payne and Sarah Council. In 2019, she performed at ladyfestCLT, BOOM Festival, Tobacco Roads Dance Productions and Greensboro Fringe Festival. In 2017, she graduated magna cum laude from UNC Charlotte with a BSBA in Marketing and a BA in Dance with a concentration in Performance, Choreography & Theory. There, she performed in works by Paul Taylor, Martha Graham and distinguished faculty, and also performed on renowned stages such as the Joyce Theater in New York. In 2015, she conducted undergraduate research to reconstruct a lost 1962 work for choreographer Paul Taylor, presenting at five research symposiums and performing in the work, which was added to the company repertoire.

Performance date(s) and time(s) will be announced in March, 2020.