Come See “142 Mercer Avenue” at the NC Dances Concert May 1, 2011, at Cary Academy’s Theater at 7:30pm. The show is Free! It features many of the area’s best independent choreographers.
Also, we may be showing the fun and lively work “Live From the Laundry Room” at Raleigh’s Artsplosure in May. Stay tuned for confirmation!
Currently, URBAN GYPSIES modern dance company is proud to showcase the following dancers: Liz Hawley Ennis, Kimmie Grimes, Pierre laPierre, Stephani Paschal & Chrissy Hawley Pressley.
In the past 15 years of making independent dance works, this is the piece that gives me the biggest sense of pride as an artist. It took a solid year to complete, and a lot of input from the dancers, friends who choreograph, a talented technical director/lighting designer, friends and family….and in finality, it was a successful work. I enjoyed using dramatic and sparse “pedestrian” or non-dance movement alongside dancing, as well as incorporating props and furniture to create a more definitive space.
My mother, Joyce Hawley, allowed me to use excerpts from her autobiography (which were stories I had heard throughout my life) as the impetus for creating this work. It is moderately based on her family life as a child, or at least one particular period of her life. I abstracted and distorted parts and characters as I wanted to at times. My grandparents, portrayed by Peace dance alumni Stephani Paschall and UNCG dance alumni Pierre La Pierre, were colorful, complex and dynamic people: their offspring (four daughters and one son) survived a childhood of laughter amidst desolation, blessings, comraderie and perserverence. I admire all of them as elders.
Real life experiences, mine and those around me, give me the most compelling reasons to create dance works…..I find completion in setting the motions and relationships of humans against a backdrop of music, rhythm and interactions.
A video of this work will be posted soon. This work will also be performed during the NC Dances Concert at Cary Academy in May 2011.
This version is the most current revision of LIVE FROM THE LAUNDRY ROOM set to music by Jill Austin of Charlotte, NC (childhood & college friend of mine), who used to write and perform her songs for me in the laundry room in our dorm at UNCG. This is still a work in progress…..
Performed at Peace College Theater Department for the Peace Dance Company Dance Concert in 2008.
