DANCE

DiverseWorks Art Space presents Teresa Chapman & Leslie Scates: The Convenient Woman.

With her Houston choreographic premiere of Upended in 2006, Nancy Wozny proclaimed Teresa Chapman’s work as “uber-physical and risk-taking.” In her latest dance theatre production, The Convenient Woman, Chapman joins forces with choreographer and performing artist Leslie Scates and designer Frederique deMontblanc to develop a dance-theatre performance that takes a personal look at the current culture of dissatisfaction. Performances are Friday & Saturday, April 3 & 4, April 10 & 11, 2009 at 8pm in the DiverseWorks Theater.

“We are surrounded by products and services that are meant to make our lives more convenient, our bodies more convenient, but what is really happening? We’re only creating more clutter internally and externally. What happens when you strip those things away?” - Teresa Chapman

Working macro to micro, Chapman and Scates have developed this text-based choreography inspired by a variety of obsessive behaviors from codependency to on-line shopping. Accumulation, for example, is a theme repeated throughout the performance. Movement, boxes, bodies, and ideas all accumulate in the space.

In the process of developing The Convenient Woman, Chapman and Scates have created a vacuum where elements of personal life are tossed about. “Yes it’s conceptually based, but we’ve used these ideas as starting blocks for a choreographic dialogue that is slightly presentational, occasionally sarcastic, and most often intimate.” – Teresa Chapman

Designer Frederique deMontblanc is an integral part of the performance. Her prerecorded video clips are time-based, pertaining to aspects of feminine identity where make-up is used as an ambiguous mask and clothing a re-affirmation ritual. There is also a live video component as she inspects objects under the eye of the camera and creates collages in real time. These images are then projected into the space as the performance continues.

Steven Wallace, the University of Houston’s Director of the School of Theatre & Dance, is the lighting designer for this project. In addition to his numerous credits as a director and a developer of new plays, he was also awarded a Robbie Theatre L.A. nomination for Best Lighting Design for Deaf West Theatre’s production of Road to Revolution. “I am thrilled and honored to be working with him on this project!” –Teresa Chapman

The result of this collaboration is an abstract moving landscape of rich textures and intimate reactions to a culture that is obsessed with conveniences, yet still plagued by discontent.

The Convenient Woman was commissioned by DiverseWorks, is co-sponsored by UH Center for Choreography and supported in part by the UH Small Grants Program.

Teresa Chapman As an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Houston, Chapman teaches courses in dance technique, pedagogy and aesthetics. She also directs the UH Dance Ensemble. Chapman has enjoyed a wide variety of experiences in her dancing career. She has preformed for various choreographic artists in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, where she enjoyed a career in commercial dance and film. She can be seen in movies such as Viva Rock Vegas and Man on the Moon. She has also been a guest artist in residence and choreographed for the University of Nebraska, West Virginia University and Bucknell University. Her work has been presented in at Barnevelder Movement Arts Complex, UH’s Wortham Theater, Moore’s Opera House, Discovery Gree, and the Cunningham Studios in New York City. Most recently, she performed as an adjunct artist with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and became a member of Travesty Dance Group-Houston. Chapman holds a B.F.A in dance from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an M.F.A. in dance from California State University, Long Beach.

Frederique De Montblanc Born and raised in an international community in Brussels, De Montblanc is an accomplished costume and set designer, director, performer, producer and videographer. For juxtaposition with the choreography in The Convenient Woman, she has recorded fast-paced video clips pertaining to female identity, whether questioning the idea of make-up as an ambiguous mask or portraying clothing as a reaffirmation ritual. During the show, she will also produce a live-feed component, including video collages made from magazine articles and clippings related to femininity and media representations of it. De Montblanc earned her B.F.A. in theatre at Concordia University, and an M.F.A. from CalArts. While in Los Angelos, she produced and directed many performances and video installations in collaboration with multimedia artists including Raul Vincent Enriquez & Janne Larsen. She also provided personal assistance to French artist Orlan at the Getty Research Institute.She currently resides in Texas and recently designed set and costumes for Dominic Walsh’s adaptation of Titus Andronicus. Her artwork has been shown at Artstorm and the Lawndale Art Center.

Leslie Scates An independent choreographer and dancer, Scates has been performing as well as producing dance works in Houston since 1989. She is the Assistant Director for Dance Programs at Rice University’s Recreation Center, where she teaches contact improvisation and modern dance. She also directs Rice Dance Theatre. She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Houston, where she teaches Improvisation each spring. Scates has set commissioned works on Chrysalis Dance Company, Rice Dance Theatre, UH Dance Ensemble, InterActive Theatre Houston and Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre. She studies performance and improvisation techniques with Lower Left Dance Collective and teaches and performs with the Collective when invited. This month she is attending her 4th March2Marfa dance laboratory session to investigate improvisational dance/performance intensively with Lower Left and Deborah Hay. Scates studied dance at Sam Houston State University and received her B.A. in psychology at the University of Houston.

ABOUT DIVERSEWORKS ARTSPACE Known for its groundbreaking artistic and education programs, DiverseWorks is one of the premiere contemporary arts centers in the United States. DiverseWorks has been a hub for the presentation of daring and innovative work, a commissioner of major artistic projects in all disciplines, and an advocate for artists worldwide. Founded by artists for artists, DiverseWorks continues its commitment to bold artistic exploration, creative risk-taking, and building audiences for contemporary art.