DANCE

Dance Source Houston once again brings together three vibrant Houston dance companies in celebration of their anniversaries: Dance Days at Discovery Green - The Anniversary Show 2011.

The companies - the Houston Metropolitan Dance Company (15th season), Urban Souls Dance Company (5th season) and the Brazilian Arts Foundation (10th season) - will celebrate their significant career milestones with a free concert at Discovery Green's Anheuser-Busch Stage and Fondren Performance Space on Wednesday, March 16, 2011, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Since 1995, the Houston Metropolitan Dance Company (The Met) has presented contemporary dance that explodes with movement, color and emotion. Known across Houston for their technically trained dancers and diverse repertoire, the company mixes both edgy and classical dance and music into a kaleidoscopic experience of energy. The Met marks their 15th season with two works: Semi Detached, choreographed by Resident Choreographer Kiki Lucas, and Consumed by New York-based choreographer Kate Skarpetowska, previously a member of The Parsons Dance Company and currently working for The Battleworks Dance Company and Lar Lubovitch Dance Company.

Celebrating its 5th season, Urban Souls Dance Company, led by Artistic Director Harrison Guy, presents works that address pressing social issues. The company was founded in 2005 through a free to the public modern-dance class that attracted a wide variety of passionate dancers that coalesced into Urban Souls Dance Company. Since then, Urban Souls has been featured in dance performances throughout the Houston area.

"Guy is a dance man with a mission: to present dance stories that matter and touch our souls. In the past, the company has addressed the crisis in Darfur and AIDS/HIV. No subject is too complex, which sometimes makes them controversial." (Nancy Wozny, Culturemap, 10.30.2010).

The Brazilian Arts Foundation Ensemble (BAF), marking 10 years, heads up the program with a pre-show of four signature works. BAF's mission is to build community through the preservation and sharing of the Brazilian culture - including the Portuguese language, Brazilian music, traditional and contemporary dances, folk dance and capoeira, an Afro Brazilian martial art.

BAF will be offering Maculelê (pronounced: mah-koo-leh-LEH), a folkdance from Northeastern Brazil that represents the traditional ritual performed by African slaves before the sugar cane harvest. Their second work, ILÊ AIYÊ showcases the African influence in Brazil's music, movement and culture, and third piece, O que é? O que é? is a contemporary Brazilian Samba Enredo song celebrating every moment of life. BAF caps their performance with Capoeira, a unique art that combines martial arts, dance and music. This art form was developed in the slave quarters of Northeastern Brazil in the 1500's and at one point was outlawed by the Brazilian government.

Dance Source Houston and Discovery Green present Dance Days at Discovery Green - The Anniversary Show 2011 on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. at Discovery Green's Anheuser-Busch Stage and Fondren Performance Space, 1500 McKinney, Houston, TX, 77010. This family friendly performance requires no tickets. Seating is on the hillside lawn. Discovery Green is served by Metro buses and is six blocks east of the Main Street Square Light Rail station.

Dance Source Houston is a service organization supporting the creation and presentation of contemporary dance in Houston. Other Dance Source Houston projects include: The Dance Card, a bi-monthly calendar of area dance events; The Dance Table, sharing dance community information at area performances; the Dance Source Weekly Newsletter, an e-newsletter; and the website www.houstondance.org  for upcoming performance information; previews and reviews.

These activities are supported in part by a grant from the Houston Arts Alliance. Dance Source Houston is a participant in the MODE Arts Incubator Program supported by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.

Discovery Green is a 12-acre park created by a public-private partnership between the City of Houston and the non-profit Discovery Green Conservancy. Since the park opened in April 2008, it has welcomed more than 2 million visitors and hosted more than 800 public and private events. The Discovery Green Conservancy works with hundreds of programming partners to present three dynamic programming seasons each year most of which are FREE and open to the public. As a non-profit organization, the Conservancy raises all the funds needed for the programming that Houstonians enjoy. Help to ensure that Discovery Green remains an accessible and incomparable public gathering space by becoming a member of the Green Team.

Pictured above: Urban Souls.