This event is sold out.
Body music percussive choir MoToR/dance presents an intimate evening of story, dance, music and community.
MoToR/dance and Rhythmix Cultural Works present the World Premiere of Water in the Kettle, MoToR/dance’s first evening-length production, featuring Artistic Director Evie Ladin’s body music choreography (harmony singing, body percussion, rhythm dance). Water in the Kettle illuminates the maddeningly recurrent struggles of modern women, and the country, with intention, humor, and connective rhythm. MoToR/dance reimagines the performance space, bringing the audience close, as in a village square. Layering rhythmic systems in hands, feet and body, adding three+part harmonies, MoToR/dance illustrates a collective consciousness, a precision requiring performers to listen intently to each other. From self-directed hum to blaring sarcasm, MoToR/dance tells choreographed stories with emotional impact. “It’s an explosion of molecules as we reach a boiling point.” Put some water on, we have a lot to discuss.
Three concerts lead into an Interactive Body Music Experience as part of the International Day of Body Music on Sunday, Feb 5th.
MoToR/dance ensemble members are Evie Ladin, Valerie Gutwirth, Keira Armstrong, Tammy Chang, Kristen DeAmicis, Heather Arnett and Sydney Lozier. Additional performers include chorus members JJ Hansen, Cynthia Mah and Linda Carr, and musicians Amber Hines (vocal, percussion) and Lisa Berman (vocal, banjo, slide guitar). Click here for Full Artist Biographies
Three performances only!
Friday, Feb 3rd at 8pm
Saturday, Feb 4th at 5pm & 8pm
*Angel tickets help support the full costs of this production. Thank you for your support!
ABOUT MOTOR/DANCE
Under the Artistic Direction of Evie Ladin, the all-female MoToR/dance creates powerful interlocking percussive dance arrangements with layered vocal harmonies and large group choreography in a moving choir. Creating emotionally in-depth works, MoToR/dance pushes the envelope in Body Music and Contemporary Dance. Company members and audience remark that the work is singular in its visceral power and integration of systems, exceptional in drawing audiences into shared human experience. MoToR/dance pieces often overtly reunite African diaspora polyrhythms with Appalachian/American traditional song (the basis of Ladin’s training); conflating the cultural miscegenation of Black, Brown and White in foundational American music/dance with the painful reality of its origin. MoToR/dance has debuted three works, live and as films: Ain’t No Grave (2015), The Storm (2018), and DRUMSET (2020). All three filmed works have been featured at several dance film festivals – San Francisco, Boulder and Durham at the American Dance Festival. Live Appearances include: International Body Music Festival, 8x8x8 Choreographers Showcase, Albany Bulb Dance Festival, and Trolley Dances. Water in the Kettle is their first evening-length performance. MoToR/dance Website.
ABOUT EVIE LADIN
Evie Ladin is a percussive-dancer, choreographer, singer, songwriter, banjo player and square-dance caller with a lifetime of experience in traditional American cultural arts and intercultural music/dance performance and education. Based in Oakland, CA, Evie grew up in a traditional folk scene on the East Coast of the US, and early on was drawn to other cultures where music and dance are an integral part of social communication. Her performances, recordings and teaching reconnect Appalachian arts with other African-Diaspora traditions in the American folk music world, the international Body Music and percussive dance communities, and at all levels of education. Evie has choreographed numerous works with partner Keith Terry and his intercultural, rhythm-based Crosspulse ensembles, performing from Lincoln Center, NY to SFJAZZ, Brazil to Bali. She is Executive Director of the International Body Music Festival, directs the moving choir MoToR/dance, and is an ace freestyle flatfooter. Evie also teaches banjo at the Freight & Salvage, online to over 350 students at Peghead Nation; calls and plays for square dances; has won contest ribbons, and writes clever, poignant songs. A truly entertaining performer, Evie enjoys facilitating arts learning in diverse communities. She is a 2020-21 Jubilation Fellow, awarded to those who facilitate music and rhythmic learning.
Banner photo by Dean Bosche.