Internationally recognized artists Chris Aiken & Angie Hauser are known for their skill in crafting the dynamic and unpredictable compositional possibilities found in performance improvisation. Since 2003, they’ve been creating performance projects together that blend articulate physicality with musicality and engage the poetic imagination of the audience. On Saturday, Dec 5 at 8pm and Sunday, Dec 6 at 4pm, the duo presents their evening of work, Degrees of Freedom, in collaboration with musicians Roger Braun and Andre Gribou. Also featuring a pre-performance, site-specific work performed by local dancers, created with the artists in a four-day intensive for the community.
About Chris Aiken
Chris Aiken is a leading international teacher and performer of dance improvisation and contact improvisation. Over the past two and a half decades, his work has evolved through ongoing investigations of performance, composition, movement technique and design. His work has been significantly influenced through the somatic practice of the Alexander Technique, ideokinesis and the study of embodied cognition and ecological psychology. Chris has performed and collaborated with many renowned dance artists including Steve Paxton, Kirstie Simson, Nancy Stark Smith, Peter Bingham, Andrew Harwood, Ray Chung, Patrick Scully and Angie Hauser. He has received numerous awards for his artistic work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Bush Foundation Fellowship, as well as commissions from the Walker Art Center, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Dance Theater Workshop, Bates Dance Festival, Florida Dance Festival, Dance Link, the New York Improvisation Festival and the National Performance Network. Chris is an Assistant Professor and the MFA Director in the Department of Dance at Smith College and the Five College Dance Department.
About Angie Hauser
Angie Hauser is a choreographer, performer and teacher. Since 2000, Hauser has been a member of the Bebe Miller Company, receiving a BESSIE Award for her creative work with the company. Her work is featured in the online score “TWO” as part of MotionBank, a Forsythe Company project. Some of her other choreographic projects include collaborations with gifted dance artists including Chris Aiken, Jennifer Nugent, K.J. Holmes, Darrell Jones, Andrew Harwood, Kathleen Hermesdorf and musicians Mike Vargas, Jesse Manno, Tigger Benford and Andre Gribou. Her long-time collaboration with Chris Aiken has yielded multiple grants from the National Performance Network and work presented at national and international venues. She has danced with the companies of Elizabeth Streb, Liz Lerman and Poppo Shiriashi and taught dance technique, choreography, contact improvisation, improvisation throughout the United States, as well as Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France and Scotland. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Smith College in the Department of Dance where she teaches choreography, creative process, improvisation and dance technique.
WHAT: Chris Aiken & Angie Hauser
WHEN: Saturday, Dec 5 at 8pm and Sunday, Dec 6 at 4pm
WHERE: Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE, Washington, DC 20017; two blocks from Redline Brookland/CUA Metro station; free and convenient parking
TICKETS: $30 Admission At the Door; $25 Admission (Advance Sales only)*; $20 Dance Place Members, Seniors (55+), Artists (Advance Sales only)*; $15 College Students and Children (17 & under)
*Advance Sales end 4 hours prior to performance start time.
To purchase tickets, visit danceplace.org or call 202.269.1600202.269.1600
