Nancy Karp + Dancers returns to ODC Theater with the world premiere of MEMORY/PLACE. Inspired by the current era of human mass migration, Artistic Director Nancy Karp has made a full evening work in three parts, the first two movements set to newly commissioned scores by Kui Dong and Robert Honstein, respectively, and the third to the late Lou Harrison’s almost 30-year- old Grand Duo for piano and violin. A sextet of dancers (Janet Collard, Sonsherée Giles, Sebastian Grubb, Katie Kruger, Amy Lewis, and Kevin Lopez) will be accompanied by three award-winning musicians including cellist Gianna Abondolo, pianist
Sarah Cahill and violinist Kate Stenberg. MEMORY/PLACE features the work of Bay Area visual artist Thekla Hammond, one of whose large-format abstract paintings will serve as a primary element in the evening’s scenic design.
“The painting we use in Memory/Place represents contradictory elements all at once: there’s stasis and movement, darkness and light, a solid foundation and liquid motion over it, and the boundaries between these opposites often appear mutable,“ says Karp.
“creating articulate and conceptually rich work that makes demands on the mind as much as on the senses.”
– Rita Felciano, The San Francisco Bay Guardian.
Nancy Karp has choreographed more than 70 works appearing in venues around the globe. Since the founding of the company in 1980, Nancy Karp + Dancers has earned a reputation for striking interdisciplinary collaborations, commissioning numerous composers, visual artists and designers in the creation of new dances each season.
The world premiere of Memory/Place is made possible with generous support from the Rainin Opportunity Fund of ODC Theater; the Lighting Artists in Dance Award, a program of Dancers' Group; and many individual contributors.