David Popalisky's 3rd Act Dancers presented by Lineage Dance - May 4 and 5
Saturday, May 04, 2024 from 07:00pm to 08:30pm
Lineage Performing Arts Center, 920 East Mountain Street
USD 20.00
After an incredibly successful premiere in the SoloDuo Festival in New York last year, David Popalisky's 3rd Act Dancers arrive in Pasadena with Old Man Adagio and three new dances on May 4th and 5th. Featuring Popalisky and Deborah Marcus, who both draw upon contemporary dance backgrounds, and Kim Gardner and Michael Hazinski who share notable ballet careers, this performance involves vigorous movement not afraid to poke fun at the vagaries of one's life experience. Without acknowledging each performer's six decades of life experience, the dances challenge assumptions that dancing is a young person's game.
The evening's repertoire opens with Old Man Adagio which embraces the joy of moving aesthetically, from harmonious flow to bursts of physical rambunctiousness.
Mary Seidman wrote in New York's eyeondance:
"they elegantly portray two older men reminiscing on their careers, friendship, and longevity with humor, understanding, and poignancy... to convey years of body experience, knowledge, and love of the stage."
Barnard Dance Professor Caroline Fermin wrote:
"Often in the dance world, performers move from stages to classrooms as they age, ... implying they are beyond their allotted time to dance. ... What Popalisky and Hazinski do, just by nature of being on the stage, is push back against that narrative. ...This piece is a poignant and effective call to action."
Both Popalisky and Hazinski will premiere new solos. In conclusion, a full company dance suite Been There, Done ... Not Yet, to a John Adams score, pushes the envelope of dancing through life, from parenting mishaps to over-caffeinated days celebrated, endured and delightfully survived. The movements entitled "Hello," "One of Those Days," "Showoff," and "Bring it Home" dare to laugh at what is laughable and move with power, precision and perspiration through the immediacy of the dancing moment.
Select performances by the Lineage's Dance for Joy dancers will precede the 3rd Act Dancers suite of dances. A talkback "Dancing Over a Lifetime" that questions narratives of who "can" and when "should" one dance follows Sunday's May 5 performance.
About the Artists:
David Popalisky, an independent choreographer and Associate Professor at Santa Clara University, has choreographed over 90 dances, performed and taught throughout the United States, in Italy, Korea, Belize and China. Full evening performances include The Water Project (2021 (https://vimeo.com/625022340/62167b0cb9), Migrations (2010), The Fatherhood Project (2008) and Barred from Life (2004). Other dances have been presented in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City. He has shared his research on fathers in concert dance at Dance Studies Association conferences.
Michael Hazinski began dancing professionally with the Milwaukee Ballet Company and then danced with the San Francisco Ballet from 1980 thru 1984. He has danced in contemporary and classical works by George Balanchine and Michael Smuin among others in festivals around the world including performing in Smuin's "Song for a Dead Warrior" on the PBS "Dance in America" series. After a second career in the water utility industry, Michael returned to dance through online ballet classes and performed with David Popalisky in the SoloDuo Dance Festival in New York City in February 2023.
Kim Gardner is a former ballerina and longtime ballet and Pilates instructor with over 35 years as a movement educator. She began her professional career performing many of the classics with Milwaukee Ballet, then contemporary ballet with Alonzo King's LINES, and toured the United States in Oakland Ballet's eclectic and Diaghilev era repertory. All together Kim's performing career spanned 17 years to which she credits her Pilates training. After a 26-year hiatus and raising teenage twin girls, Kim is pleased and a bit astonished to be performing again, discovering new and familiar capabilities.
Deborah Marcus has enjoyed a 40 year career as a dancer, choreographer, and since 1997, a Pilates teacher. In NYC in the 1980's she danced, choreographed and performed with her own intergenerational company called Marcus Dance Theater, which was produced by Dance Theater Workshop and Lincoln Center Outdoors, counting Liz Lerman as one of her mentors. Deborah earned an MFA in Dance from New York University and is a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher. She has enjoyed the challenge of learning choreography again with Third Act Dancers!!
For more information contact David Popalisky at dpopalisky@scu.edu or 408-674-8800. For information about David Popalisky"s 3rd Act Dancers' performances at Lineage Performing Arts Center contact lineagedance@gmail.com
URL:
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/2325597-0?pid=91