Program: Dorrance Dance
DORRANCE DANCE
SOUNDspace
May 19 & 20, 2023
The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
Sponsored in part by Eric Klotch and Catherine Owens.
The creation of SOUNDspace was made possible, in part, by the Danspace Project 2012–2013 Commissioning Initiative, with support from the New York State Council on the Arts. As part of Danspace Project’s Choreographic Center Without Walls, Dorrance received a production residency supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
SOUNDspace (2013)
Choreography by Michelle Dorrance with solo improvisation by the dancers
Additional Choreography by Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie and Byron Title
Original Music by Gregory Richardson
Original Body Percussion Score by Leonardo Sandoval
Lighting Design by Kathy Kaufmann
Dancers Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie, Elizabeth Burke,
Michelle Dorrance, Luke Hickey, Addi Loving,
Claudia Rahardjanoto, Leonardo Sandoval, Byron Tittle
Understudy Dylan Szuch
Musician Gregory Richardson (Bass)
ABOUT DORRANCE DANCE
Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based in New York City. Led by Michelle Dorrance, the company supports dancers and musicians who embody and push the dynamic range that tap dance has to offer. The company’s mission is to engage with audiences on a musical and emotional level, and to share the complex history and powerful legacy of this Black American art form through performance and education. Founded in 2011 by artistic director and 2015 MacArthur Fellow Michelle Dorrance, the company has received countless accolades, won rave reviews, and performed at venues including Danspace Project, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Vail Dance Festival, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Carolina Performing Arts at UNC Chapel Hill, and Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, among many others, including international venues in Canada, France, Germany, Spain, England, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Russia.
As seen in tonight's performance, Dorrance Dance is deeply committed to creating new works and employment opportunities for tap dancers. Please join our mailing list for updates and consider donating to support the art and artists!
Dorrance Dance is generously supported by the Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, MacMillan Family Foundation, Shubert Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Evelyn Sharp Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, and Harkness Foundation for Dance. Rehearsal and development for this performance was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. These performances are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. This program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Dorrance Dance is a recipient of a US Small Business Administration Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, made possible by the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Charles D. Schumer.
www.DorranceDance.com
Instagram: @dorrancedance
Facebook: facebook.com/dorrancedance/
DORRANCE DANCE STAFF
Artistic Director Michelle Dorrance
Executive Director Andrea Nellis
General Manager Tina Huang Abrams
Production Manager/Sound Designer Christopher Marc
Development Manager Amanda Hameline
Assistant to Artistic Director Gabby Benavides
Co–Dance Captains Elizabeth Burke & Byron Tittle
Musical Director Gregory Richardson
Lighting Designer Kathy Kaufmann
Financial Administrator Belina Mizrahi, Arts FMS
Artist Representative Barbara Frum, outer/most
ARTIST BIOS
Michelle Dorrance (Artistic Director/Choreographer/Dancer) is a New York City–based artist. Mentored by Gene Medler (North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble), she was fortunate to study under many of the last master hoofers. Career highlights include STOMP, Derick Grant’s Imagine Tap!, Jason Samuels Smith’s Charlie’s Angels/Chasing the Bird, Ayodele Casel’s Diary of a Tap Dancer, Mable Lee’s Dancing Ladies, and playing the bass for Darwin Deez. Company work includes Savion Glover’s Ti Dii, Manhattan Tap, Barbara Duffy and Co., Jazz Tap Ensemble, and RumbaTap. Solo work ranges from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to commissions for the Martha Graham Dance Company, Vail Dance Festival, American Ballet Theatre, and New York City Center. Dorrance made her Broadway choreographic debut with James Lapine’s Flying over Sunset at Lincoln Center Theater in 2021. A 2018 Doris Duke Artist, 2017 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, and 2015 MacArthur Fellow, Dorrance is humbled to have been acknowledged and supported by United States Artists, The Joyce Theater, the Alpert Awards, Jacob’s Pillow, Princess Grace Foundation–USA, The Field, American Tap Dance Foundation, and the Bessie Awards. Dorrance holds a BA from New York University and is a Capezio Athlete.
Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie (Dancer) is a New York City–based b-girl, performer and director-choreographer and a 2016 Bessie Award winner for innovative achievement in dance. Asherie has received numerous awards to support her work including Dance Magazine's Inaugural Harkness Promise Award, a Jacob's Pillow Fellowship at the Tilles Center, and two National Dance Project Awards. As artistic director of Ephrat Asherie Dance (EAD), Asherie's work has been presented at The Joyce Theater, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Spoleto Festival USA, and Art Power! at UCSD, among others. For more info, visit www.ephratasheriedance.com.
Elizabeth Burke (Co–Dance Captain/Dancer) has worked full-time with the company since its inaugural 2010–2011 season. Before Dorrance Dance became her artistic focus, she spent 11 years under the mentorship of Gene Medler in the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble. She’s also an alumna of the School at Jacob’s Pillow. Burke teaches, choreographs, performs at tap dance festivals across the country, and works with fellow Carolinian Luke Hickey. She thanks Amelia Peden for their inimitable support.
Luke Hickey (Dancer) is a New York City–based tap dance artist and choreographer, named by Dance Magazine as among 25 to Watch in 2020. Hickey credits his knowledge and achievements to the incomparable brilliance of his mentor, Juba! Award recipient Gene Medler (North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble). His choreography has been presented by Jacob’s Pillow, Birdland Jazz Club, and the Chelsea Factory, to name a few. Addi Loving (Dancer) is thrilled to join Dorrance Dance on this season’s tour. Hailing from North Carolina and St. Louis, she trained under Gene Medler and was later involved with the Muny St. Louis. Now stationed in New York City, she is currently a junior at Pace University studying arts management to further her dance career. “Anything you do, let it come from you, then it will be new” (Stephen Sondheim).
Claudia Rahardjanoto (Dancer), born and raised in Berlin, Germany, started her professional dance career at the Deutsche Oper Berlin at the age of nine. At 15, she fell in love with tap dance under the tutelage of Sven Göttlicher and Marie-Christin Zeisset and moved to New York City in 2003 to pursue a career in tap dance. A Dorrance Dance member since the company's inception, Rahardjanoto hopes to continue to share her love and passion for music and the art of tap dance through teaching and performing worldwide.
Gregory Richardson (Musical Director/Musician) is a multi-instrumentalist focusing on upright and electric bass. He's the co-creator of Music from the Sole, an Afro-Brazilian tap dance and live band show that is currently in residence at Lincoln Center Education. He's played drums, keys, and guitar with the band Darwin Deez at the world’s largest music festivals in the UK, Australia, Japan, Germany, and Austria.
Leonardo Sandoval (Dancer), Brazilian tap dancer and choreographer, is renowned for blending America’s great tap tradition with Brazil’s rich rhythmic and musical heritage. A member of Dorrance Dance since 2014, he also directs Music from the Sole, a tap and live music performance, with composer Gregory Richardson. Sandoval appeared on Dance Magazine‘s 2021 list of 25 to Watch, received a 2022 Vilcek Foundation Prize for Creative Promise, and is a 2022 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in choreography.
Byron Tittle (Co–Dance Captain/Dancer) at a young age started tap dance with David Rider and the American Tap Dance Foundation in his hometown of New York City. Wanting to study other disciplines, he also trained at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway. Tittle recently toured the United States, Australia, and New Zealand with Hugh Jackman in The Man, The Music, The Show, and is humbled to have received a 2019 Princess Grace Foundation Dance Fellowship Award.
ICA TECH CREW:
Master Electrician: Andrew Andrews
Master Carpenter: Cidalia Santos
Audio Lead: Kevin Corzett
Wardrobe Mistress: Nancy Flessas
Videographer: Lee Francois
House Manager: Miranda Agnew
Crew: Kevin Barnett, Emily Bearce, Jaime Carty, Matt Cost, Violet Gayzagian, Greg Hanawalt, Wesley Scanlon, Jakob Mall, Colby Stack, Brian Vlasak
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