Shop and give...at the same time

You already do it; Google anything you want to find online, get your prescriptions from drugstore.com, download that movie or album from iTunes, buy every one's gift at Amazon.com. Online searching and retail shopping have become part of our everyday lives. Now there's a way you can become a supporter of brooks & company dance without writing a check, without any heavy lifting, from the same place you are sitting as you read this and (here's the best part) at NO COST to you or to us.

It's called The Giving Seed and it is a brilliant way to get folks to support non-profits by doing something they are already doing...online shopping. It's simple:

1. Visit http://www.thegivingseed.com/

2. Click on brooks & company dance from the drop down menu
3. Select your favorite online retailer from the drop down menu
4. Shop as usual

It also works with Google search. Simply go to http://www.thegivingseed.com/ and enter what you'd like to search for in the Google window.

I've already made it my homepage...and I think you should, too!

A big thanks to keif for uncovering this incredible company, thanks to the wonderful people I've had the pleasure of meeting from the The Giving Seed and thanks to all of you for shopping, for searching and for supporting BCD!

Saturday Night- RELIEF WORK

brooks & company dance
and eight local dance companies have joined Zoetic Dance Ensemble to present

RELIEF WORK

A BENEFIT DANCE CONCERT TO SUPPORT THE AMERICAN RED CROSS
EFFORTS IN HAITI

January 30, 2010
8:00 PM

7 Stages Theatre
1105 Euclid Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30307-1925

TICKETS: $20 general admission, $15 students, senior & artists

CHECK OR CASH ONLY AT THE DOOR OR PURCHASE TICKETS

at

www.ticketleap.com

photo courtesy of Will Day

"Atlanta’s dance Renaissance gets national exposure in Dance Magazine"

Dance educator and critic Cynthia Bond Perry has a overview of Atlanta's expansive dance scene and a retrospective of the Atlanta Ballet, its leadership and its ethos published in this month's edition of Dance Magazine.  Highlights of these articles are featured on the local arts blog ArtsCriticATL in her own words.  Her articles and sidebar and accompanying images do a great job of placing dance around the city and educating readers about the unique aspects of the 70+ artists, companies, schools and studios she names.  As a must-read for those of us on the scene, it's a good starting place to get to know our extended familty.

Mini Mob Makes Dance Debut

Diehard Flashers braved the elements on New Year's Eve to dance for the sheer joy of it.  The Durski's provides this link to video of the mini mob and LynnBob shot this one.  Photos are courtesy of Eddie Hatchett. We were excited that Beth Lewis joined in... she has just returned to the states from completing Pilobolus' Shadowland tour which concluded with a special performance for HM Queen Elizabeth II.  Thursday's dance marked a 50 year celebration for Flasher Susan Asher.  Long time BCD supporters Lynn and Bob were there to specifically start off their New Year dancing among friends!  Other Flashers: Lisa, Su, Honora, Red, Kelley, Christy, Cherlyn & her friend, Jo and Kayte.  Thanks to our supporters for coming along and thanks to photographer Joeff Davis from Creative Loafing for dropping by.  We'll post more video and images shortly.  Also, thanks to @atlantabike of the Atlanta Bike Coalition and @joeventures for helping spread the word about the mob.

Contact us at info(at)brooksandcompanydance(dot)org if you are interested in participating in a Flash Mob.

2009 New Year's Eve Flash Mob Tutorial

Come dance along with Atlanta Flashers in Kenny's Alley (Underground Atlanta) at 5pm on Thursday, December 31st, 2009.  That's right -- it's another Flash Mob and we'll be saying goodbye to the old year and hello to the new one during Underground Atlanta's New Year's Eve Peach Drop 2010.  Jump in for the last three song clips from Miley Cyrus, Michael Jackson and the Black Eyed Peas and you'll be a Flasher, too!

For all you FCAC Contractors for Services, look real close at this video for our celebrity Flasher.  Also, Happy Flasher Birthday to Susan Asher.  Big thanks to Ophelia, Bubba, Paulina & Dance 101 for giving us the space to rehearse.

You can view an extended version of the NYE Dance Tutorial here.

BCD's Composed named one of the AJC's Top 5 Dance Events in 2009

In his opening remarks for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Top 5 Dance Events of 2009, local arts critic Pierre Ruhe states that "Atlanta’s dance scene is exploding — new talent, new audiences, a new ambition that the city is finally ready to be a national-quality hub for the art form. The recession has hampered expansion of the performing arts, yet dance accelerated in 2009, and this year dance fans came here to see what we’re up to."

We agree. We've got great peers here in town and you can find dance all around you year-round.  There are also a number of producing entities that attract top-tier national companies and a smorgasbord of international companies to perform here in Atlanta. Surrounding colleges and universities offer competitive and exciting  dance programs and attract talented students, instructors and acclaimed professionals as guests. There are solid dance schools here that are preparing the next generation of artists & dancemakers and teaching adults every kind of dance style you can imagine.  Music videos and other commercial reels are filled with talented dancers who work it here in the ATL. Atlanta has an exciting, diverse, elegant and expanding dance community---don't miss out on it!

One way to stay informed is to check out the ATLANTADANCES blog and get connected to the local dance scene.  You can also follow local dance critic Cynthia Bond Perry whose recent critiques have been published on ArtsCririticATL.com and in the AJC and Dance Magazine.

Congratulations to fellow dancers with gloATL, Atlanta Ballet and Come Fly With Me, and choreographers Lauri Stallings, John McFall, Mark Godden and Twyla Tharp for sharing this year-end, Top 5 distinction with us.

Here's to a great 2010 for the entire Atlanta Dance Community!

Critic's Review of Composed

Dance critic Cynthia Bond Perry wrote a review of our most recent performance Composed for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the ArtsCriticalATL blog.  Here is a link to that review.

Images from that performance courtesy of Will Day and Eddie Hatchett.

Meet Stephen Loch

Cara, Sally & Stephie do a guest performance this weekend

Well, as if last week's performance at Composed, and the week before that at Volta's Coiled at the Base of Our Spines, wasn't enough work for Cara, Sally & Stephie... they are performing again this weekend as part of Good Moves' production of Until We Dance Again.  Our trio will perform the second movement of 4.3.5 

The young people of Good Moves Consort, Apprentices & Ed Source (and Carolyn & Annette) have put together a thoroughly entertaining show.  You'll see their integration and demonstration of modern dance techniques (Graham, Limón, O'Donnell) coupled with their ballet training (Cecchetti).  They are well versed and solid.  Klimchak makes a special appearance, too.

Performances are Saturday, November 21 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 22 at 3:00 p.m. at 7 Stages in Little 5 Points (1105 Euclid Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307).

A Big Thanks

Thanks so much to everyone of you who came to see our performances of Composed this past weekend.  We had a blast and we're so grateful for your support.

We're glad that those of you at the Friday performance got to see the work of Matt & Emily Kent.  Keep your eyes open for them and their company Pickleshoes.  The two of them have been great mentors for those of us coming up through the ranks in the local dance community.

Also, be on the lookout for work by Joe Futral, who designed the lighting for our show.  He is currently lighting things up over at the Horizon Theatre for their holiday shows.  Our Stage Mgr., Lisa Watson, is getting things going over at True Colors Theatre Company for their upcoming production of Black Nativity (the company and this production are recent recipients of a few Suzi Bass Awards). Other members of our production team, T.O. staffers Christopher Kettrey and Jonathan Summers, will tech-out Theatrical Outfit's upcoming production of  Amahl and the Night Visitors.

We hope you'll get a chance to see these shows and that you'll continue to support the performing arts here in the metro area.  You're the reason we're all on the stage!

So much beauty

I just got home from the theater. And I just got butterflies in my tummy writing the word "theater."

Composed is simply beautiful. I have not see the production as you will, I have only seen the separate elements in development and out of context; the lights as they were being gelled and focused, the costumes in bits and pieces, choreography inside dimly lit dance studios, the dancers in their sweats and t-shirts with hair all over the place.

Each piece of the production is just so pretty. Even though I have yet to see all of those elements come together I am taken by how beautiful, how singularly pleasing to the eye each of these elements are by themselves. It's a little bit like walking through the mall as a kid and seeing that candy store coming up, knowing that in just a few moments all that color, sweetness and fun will be everywhere I look. Even the program covers are gorgeous!

I am so excited to see everything become one work. This production is going to blow you away.

And to top off all that loveliness flying around this weekend...

A very special guest appearance is happening on Friday night only. Matt & Emily Kent will be performing a luscious pas de deux. This dance is the one element I have seen as a complete work. It is absolutely breathtaking. I am humbled and honored to have the Kents bring their beauty to our stage.

So much beauty. You don't want to miss this one.

Today is Wednesday so that means...

...you have until 6pm tonight to purchase your advanced sale discounted tickets.

Click Here to Buy Tickets Online

In order to get the advanced-sale price you must purchase your tickets online. Follow the link above and on the Order Summary page, use the drop-down arrow under the Discount Heading to manually select the discount for each ticket. You should see the price and total change. If you do not get the discounted price DO NOT CONTINUE WITH THE ORDER. Please call the Theatrical Outfit/Balzer Theater box office at 678-528-1500 for help during their hours of operation Tuesday-Friday, 12pm - 6pm. (If you call or leave a message, please indicate that you are purchasing tickets for the brooks & company dance production of COMPOSED.)
For Children's tickets and Student/Senior discounted tickets call the Theatrical Outfit Box Office at 678.528.1500

Once your internet order is placed, all sales are final.

brooks & company dance (BCD) is proud to present COMPOSED, an evening of dance that explores the chaos and order that composes the inner psyche and external world.

Friday, November 13, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 3:00 p.m.
A pre-show lecture will begin 45 minutes before each performance.

Theatrical Outfit’s The Balzer Theater at Herren’s
84 Luckie Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30303

$25.00 General Admission
$15.00 Student/Senior
Admission is free for children 12 and under.


COMPOSED features two distinctly different views of chaos and order and the effect they have on the human spirit:

Chiaroscuro, which is the interplay of light and shadow, focuses on the inner landscape of the mind. Choreographer and founding member of BCD Kristyn McGeehan examines the moments of darkness in the psyche and the struggle to control the chaos of that internal battle. McGeehan brings those invisible forces that provoke anxiety and depression to life as dancers manipulate one another on stage, unraveling the struggle between the conscious and the subconscious. “The moments of darkness that occur when facing an emotional dilemma have the power to strengthen an individual, which ultimately produces a beautiful lightness in the soul and extends outward into the world”, McGeehan notes.

4.3.5., choreographed by Joanna Brooks, Artistic Director of BCD, explores those external elements of the world that appear chaotic but are actually composed of precise structures and order, often overlooked by the eye. Brooks uses models in nature which are described by deterministic equations and fractal theory to inspire her choreography. “Branching veins, dried mud flats and the surface of the skin create patterns that continue to evolve”, Brooks explains. “I tried to create a choreographic visualization of these mathematical equations to illustrate the order that appears from the seeming chaos in the world”.