DANCE

Blending an athletic and technically virtuostic mix of ballet, jazz, modern and contemporary dance as their signature style of movement, Houston Metropolitan Dance Company presents Quirky Works Texas at the Cullen Theater, Wortham Center on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 8 p.m.

The performance program features three works created for the company in 2009 including: Where Beauty Washes the Soul by Randall Flinn; Elevated by Salim Gauwloos; and History by Braham Logan Crane. Guest companies Travesty Dance Group/Houston and CORE Performance Company each perform a work on the evening program.

Flinn's work for Houston Met Dance, Where Beauty Washes the Soul, features the music of Yo Yo Ma and Ennio Morricone. Flinn describes his new work as "truly pure movement, not contrived or worked, but simply experienced and given in return."

Elevated examines Gauwloos interest in an after life of "perfect balance and harmony" informed his work, Elevated, set on 11 dancers this past June. Gauwloos created a work of quiet reverence that builds to an exuberant conclusion.

Braham Logan Crane re-set his seven section dance theater piece, History on the 13-member company this month. The 32-minute piece includes music; multi-media projections and precise movement that informs a narrative that celebrates life.

Travesty Dance Group/Houston reprises their 2008 work, Raw Silk, choreographed by Karen Stokes, which is inspired by the cool hypnotic jazz sounds of Bill Ryan, combined with intricate gestures melded with explosive athleticism to mezmerizing effect. CORE Performance Company will perform Alicia Sánchez's work Tus Pasos Encontrados (Your Found Steps) which brings to life poignant, frantic characters in a surreal landscape of solitude, desperation, and humor.

Quirky Works was created by Michelle Smith, Executive Director of Houston Metropolitan Dance Company in 2003 to showcase the company and offer it the opportunity to travel and present its work nationally. Over the past seven years, Houston Met Dance has shared the performance bill with Altered Modalities, California; Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, Michigan; Chrysalis Dance Company, FLY Dance Company, Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble, all of Houston; and Tapestry Dance Company of Austin.

Founded in 1995, Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, familiarly known as "Houston Met Dance", embraces a comprehensive dance style that fuses the dance idioms of contemporary dance, jazz, tap and ballet. The company is committed to commissioning new works by internationally renowned and emerging choreographers as well as nurturing the creative talent from within the company.