Pas'sage a. A movement from one place to another b. The process of elapsing: the passage of time c. The process of passing from one condition or stage to another; (transition: the passage from childhood to adulthood) d. A section of text; particularly a section of medium length
The multifaceted performing artists of Back & to the Left Productions bring you Pas'sage, a collection of six different movement-based performance pieces, each with its own essence and energy. Using text, movement, improvisation and audience participation, Pas'sage is provocative and challenging, moving from a visceral understanding of what it means to be human today.
Back & the the Left productions, founded in 2000 believes in fostering creative collaborations between artists with an eye towards reaching out to non-dancers and incorporating them into the performance experience. The work created by the company is generated through collaboration, with each performer playing a vital role in the development of core ideas. The goal of Artistic Director, Jennifer Smith, is to provide a supportive environment in which these ideas can be explored and later, defined. The outcome of this process is the creation of performance pieces based in personal exploration, that touch audience members on a deeper level.
The cast
Cassidy Bires Role: Dancer / Company Assistant Cassidy Bires grew up in Oak Park, Illinois where she began taking dance classes at a local studio. She moved on to taking classes in downtown at studios such as Joel Hall and Lou Conte. For the last few years she has danced in faculty pieces at Knox College, participated in Dance Chicago, and traveled to Madison, Wisconsin for the American College Dance Festival. Cassidy showcased her own choreography this past spring at Knox College in the concert, Speciems. She is currently the Co-Production Manager of the Terpsichore Dance Collective.
Kate Cochran Role: Dancer Kate Cochran is entering her senior year at Knox College, working towards a Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in dance. She is currently the president of Terpsichore Dance Collective, a student run dance organization, and has choreographed and participated in several of the club's dance concerts, as well as both faculty and student choreographed pieces for departmental concerts. In the fall of 2008, Kate was proud to join Progression Dance, a company crated by recent Knox College alums. The company, based out of Chicago recently received the outstanding choreographer award at Dance Chicago. Kate has studied with such artists as Will Gill and AMEBA Acrobatic and Aerial Dance members, Chloe Jensen and Tracy Von Kaenel.
Brain Humphreys Role: Dancer Brian Humphreys is a recent addition to the dance world, having started his formal training in the fall of 2007. His first major work occurred during a dance residency with David Dorfman Dance at Knox College for which he got to perform in David's evening length work, Underground. Since this experience, Brain has inundated himself with dance, performing and choreographing various works put on by both students and faculty at Knox College. Since graduating this past June, Brian has moved to Chicago where he's currently training and trying to advance his dance career.
Rachel Lyman Role: Dancer Rachel Lyman is a rising sophomore at Knox College, studying biology and dance. She has been dancing since the age of 10 in her hometown of Raleigh, NC. Back in Raleigh, Rachel was a member of Gypsy Dance Company and the American Dance Project Dance Company. She feels privileged to have studied and danced with many great dancers and choreographers, both in NC and at Knox College.
Laura Mogilevsky Role: Dancer Laura Mogilevsky will be a sophomore at Knox College where she is studying Anthropology and dance. She started dancing in high school at Mainstreet School of Performing Arts in Hopkins, Minnesota. While there, she danced in multiple dance concerts and was in the school's dance company. She has also studied dance at Summit Dance Shoppe, Zenon, and most recently, with Mathew Janczewski's Arena Dance Company's summer intensive. Laura has spent most of her life living in the Twin Cities mixed in with various moments in her life spent elsewhere. She is looking forward to traveling soon once again.
Emma Poland Role: Dancer Emma Poland is entering her sophomore year at Knox College and is working towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in neuroscience and a minor in dance. She is actively involved with the dance scene at Knox and is the Vice-President of the Terpsichore Dance Collective. She was thrilled to perform for Progression Dance in the fall of 2008 at Dance Chicago and is very excited to have the chance to perform in the Minnesota Fringe Festival with Back & to the Left Productions.
Kevin Wickman Role: Dancer Kevin Wickman is 22 years old and is a native of Naperville, Illinois. He graduated from Knox College just this last spring and is very excited to get into the real world and start paying off his debts. before this past year the only experiences Kevin had with dance were quiet attempts to mimic Usher music videos and whatever happened after a few cocktails. Now he finds himself foxtrotting through the frozen food aisle, dancing in the bank and Texas two-stepping while stuck in traffic.
Craig Choma Role: Lighting Designer / Stage Manager Craig is an Associate Professor of Theatre and the Resident Designer & Technical Director at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He holds two MFA's from Carnegie Mellon University in Scenic & Lighting Design for the Theatre. Craig is also a professional designer in Chicago, designing sets and lights for a variety of theatre & dance companies. He is currently the resident scenic designer for Vitalist Theatre Company in Chicago. Some of his Chicago designs include: A Passage to India, Mother Courage & her Children, Floating Rhoda and the Glue Man, King Lear, The Mill on the Floss, Anna Karenina, Death & the Maiden and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Jennifer Smith Role: Artistic Director Jennifer Smith received her BA in Dance and her MA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College Chicago and holds and MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Jennifer has presented her company, Back & to the Left Productions, nationally in Chicago, Detroit, Ann Arbor and Milwaukee, and internationally at the Fringe Festival for Independent Dance Artist in Toronto, Canada and at the Festival Off'Avignon in France. In 1999 she was named one of the "30 Young Show-Stoppers under 30" by the Chicago Tribune and later in 2002, she was granted an artists residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts where she worked with New York choreographer, Doug Elkins. Most recently she presented her work as a part of the internationally recognized 2008 - Dance Chicago Festival. She is currently the Director of Dance at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.
Back & to the Left Productions
Passage
Thu., Jul. 30 @ 8:30 p.m. Fri., Jul. 31 @ 8:30 p.m. Sat., Aug. 1 @ 5:30 p.m. Mon., Aug. 3 @ 10:00 p.m. Wed., Aug. 5 @ 7:00 p.m.
VenueMixed Blood Theatre For ages 6+ Choreographed by Jennifer Smith From Galesburg, IL genres Dance, Improv subjects Family, Relationships features Audience participation, Regional premiere (Minneapolis-St. Paul), Original script/choreography, First-time Minnesota Fringe Festival producer
Overall rating
User reviews
Slowly captivating by Igor BlokhintsevFollow this reviewer Rating 4 kitties Enjoyable, captivating. Somtimes unexpecting, surprising. Leaving show with a smile, relaxed and ready for next Fringe shows. Igor
Nice by Laura McClanahanFollow this reviewer Rating 4 kitties As a dancer, and an older dancer at that, I am always looking for new, hasn't been done yet 'stuff'. This had some 'been there, done that' in the two improv sections, but they were entertaining and used up some time. I liked the "Raven" because, well, who doesn't like Edgar, I mean, really. Jennifer did a great job in a very demanding role. I loved the last piece, prom dresses, black boots, great energy. Way to hang in there with a costume blow-out, too! The two aspects that I liked about this group the most were: Jennifer's choreography and their energy. The dancers are still developing but most of them have great 'presence'. So, way to go and hang in there!
An Engaging Gateway by John MungerFollow this reviewer Rating 3 kitties This earnest and energetic group is youthful in many ways. A fair portion of the show involves genuinely unpredictable improvisation. For example, one piece (timed by a kitchen windup at exactly seven minutes) involves the audience calling out words or phrases to which the cast on stage reacts. Examples included “primordial ooze,” “fast forward,” “be covered with bees,” “be runway models” and “CHARGE!!” The good news is that these folks are friendly, engaging, have clearly worked hard, and do a good job of making friends. It’s like giving a rewarding book, such as anything by Doctor Seuss, to a young reader of a particular age. It’s not Shakespeare, but it has value in its intended context. The wider perspective is that most dance professionals or committed dance fans in the audience have been there, seen that, and done that. It’s a good job conducted on a pre-professional or student level. The physical training of the dancers is in many cases commendable. They are not just amateurs or students. Based on a conversation or two and on programme notes I suspect that their relaxed, improvisational and soft-edged approach is a philosophical choice. They want to bring dance at an accessible level to people who may need to receive it on that kind of level. God bless ‘em. For more discussion and detail see my Fringe dance blog at tcdailyplanet.net.
Very Innovative by Richard HeiseFollow this reviewer Rating 4 kitties I'm sure not everyone is going to like this show but it was innovative and well done. I especially liked the improv and the number done to the reading of portions of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven"
Solid Four by J Emily PeabodyFollow this reviewer Rating 4 kitties If you get a chance, this show is worth your time. The performers are from out of town. They are disciplined, and their teacher does an excellent solo piece. What this troop has to offer is definitly worth the effort of seeing.
Pretty Cool by Kassie ChurchFollow this reviewer Rating 4 kitties I am not a dance expert at all, but I liked this show a lot. The movement was beautiful and interesting. Each piece kept my interest and was unique. There was humor, drama, improv and some cool ideas. It was good.
