April 5, 2005

AXIS Dance Company—a dynamic and thrilling leader in the field of physically integrated dance—performs at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• AXIS Dance Company
• The pioneering troupe in the field of physically integrated dance
• Their program will feature a new work by Ann Carlson that was co-commissioned by UCSB Arts & Lectures
• Thursday, May 12 / 8 pm
• UCSB Campbell Hall
• General public: $35 / UCSB students: $17
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535

AXIS Dance Company, internationally recognized for its high artistic standards and for being on the cutting edge of physically integrated dance, will perform on Thursday, May 12 at 8 pm at UCSB Campbell Hall. This pioneering, Oakland-based company has, since 1987, created an exciting body of work developed by dancers with and without disabilities. They will perform fascinating pieces choreographed by Bill T. Jones, Victoria Marks and a new UCSB A&L co-commissioned piece by award-winning choreographer Ann Carlson set to music by Meredith Monk. SF Weekly writes, “A dream repertory and here’s the kicker: AXIS is dancing with astonishing abandon.”

AXIS has performed throughout its home base in the Bay Area, on tour throughout the U.S., as well as in Germany and Siberia. Described as a “visual and physical discovery, creating fascinating works of movement art,” the Company has become internationally known for its innovative movement vocabulary. Under the Artistic Direction of Judith Smith, their stellar repertory includes works by the choreographers featured on the Santa Barbara program and Stephen Petronio, Joe Goode, Joanna Haigood and Sonya Delwaide.

AXIS has received numerous Isadora Duncan Dance Awards including Ensemble Performance, Company Performance, Choreography, Costume Design, Lighting Design, Music and Individual Performance in 2000 to Uli Schmitz, the first disabled dancer to receive such an award. Oakland’s Mayor Jerry Brown awarded AXIS a “Key to Creativity” in 2002 to honor their artistic achievements.

The Company has created over thirty repertory works, two evening length works and two works for young audiences. They were featured in WNET’s nationally-broadcast production of People in Motion and a documentary video Dancing From the Inside Out, which won over a dozen awards including Dance On Camera in New York and the National Educational Film and Video Festival. AXIS dancers have also served as consultants and models for the creation of Life Forms choreography software used to introduce disabled students to dance and choreography.

Among the Company’s most notable performances are the Olympic Arts Festival, Salt Lake City; Walker Arts Center/Southern Theater, Minneapolis; University of Koln, Germany; and Railroad Theater, Novosibirsk, Siberia. In collaboration with Dance Umbrella, AXIS planned and curated the International Festival of Wheelchair Dance in June 1997, the first event ever of this magnitude and prestige in the history of this relatively new dance form.

Arts & Lectures believes that fostering the creation of new work and facilitating its performance are fundamental to inspired presenting. Therefore, we annually commission an artist to choreograph, write music or create a theater piece. For the 2004-05 season A&L co-commissioned Flesh by Ann Carlson, the first choreographer to receive the prestigious Cal/Arts Alpert Award. Carlson took her inspiration from music by Meredith Monk and a 1909 futuristic story by E.M. Forster concerning humanity living underground in a mechanized complex, a young man longing to get free. In addition to Arts & Lectures, Flesh was made possible by support from Rockefeller MAP Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, National Performance Network, Zellerbach Family Fund, The Robison Foundation, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, UC Riverside and The Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College.

Members of AXIS will take part in numerous residency activities while in Santa Barbara. They will teach a Community Class in Physically Integrated Dance on Tuesday, May 10 at the Goleta Valley Community Center from 7:30-9:30 pm. The event, co-presented with the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance and the Rehabilitation Institute of Santa Barbara is open to all dancers ($15 fee) and observers ($5 fee); for information call (805) 966-6950.

Other residency events not open to the public include: two 35-minute assemblies for students at Santa Barbara Junior High on Monday, May 9 at the Marjorie Luke Theatre, co-presented by the Arts Education Outreach Program of the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation; a conversation about disabilities and access in public spaces and at events with AXIS Artistic Director Judith Smith; an AXIS Dancer; Executive Director of the Marjorie Luke Foundation Rod Lathim; the Acting Director of UCSB Disabled Students Program Gary White; and a representative of the UCSB student Commission on Disabilities and Access on Tuesday, May 10 at UCSB Campbell Hall; and two advanced dance technique classes for UCSB dance students on Wednesday, May 11.

This residency is funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Ford Foundation. AXIS Dance Company is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures as part of the Annual UCSB Primavera Festival—a festival of the arts running from May 11-May 15—and sponsored by KRUZ FM. Tickets are $35 for the general public and $17 for UCSB students who must show valid ID at ticket purchase and the evening of the show.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.