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Monica Bill Barnes & Company

Saturday, July 10
Schaeffer Theatre, 8 p.m.
$22/$12 (Students & Seniors)

kate weare
Monica Bill Barnes & Company - Julie Lemberger

Monica Bill Barnes makes intelligent, quirky dances with a lot of heart. Barnes presents the Maine premiere of “Another Parade” -- a go for broke, all out dance event that packs a punch while straddling the awkward and debonair. Set to music by James Brown, Tina Turner, Bach and Elvis, “Another Parade” features winning performers who flirt with subtlety while wearing their hearts on their sleeves. (Family friendly, appropriate for all ages.)


One of the wittiest choreographers around…

                                                                      -- Deborah Jowitt, Village Voice


"Barnes has made zippy and understated magic…"
                                                                      -- Apollinaire Scherr, The New Yorker

"…the performance of Monica Bill Barnes' dance was too much fun to miss.
 

                                                                     -- Jack Anderson, The New York Times

Sneak Preview: Monica Bill Barnes offers a free Lecture Demonstration, Monday, July 5, Schaeffer Theatre, 7:30 p.m.

Post Performance Q&A: Please join us for a discussion with the artists immediately following the concert.


Watch Video
Read Interview with Monica Barnes

What was the inspiration or starting point for Another Parade?

I don't usually have a particular starting point, I just love to work
and I spend as much time as I can afford in the studio with the
company. I usually make a large amount of material and at some point,
I stumble upon something that seems interesting.

What was the process for creating the work?

In 2007, company member, Anna Bass and I were in the middle of our
rehearsal process for an evening length duet titled, Suddenly Summer
Somewhere. We had hit a creative wall and we were just tired of
making this dance. So as a distraction and because we had two hours
left of studio rental, I create our duet to the James Brown song, "Get
Up (I feel like a sex machine). This duet esstenial made fun of the
other duet, Suddenly Summer Somewhere. Then we forgot about it for a
year. In 2008, Anna and I were at a residency at Silo and we started
to play around with this material again. During that residency, we
created the first 15 minutes of Another Parade.

What was the greatest challenge you faced in making this work?

I feel like the greatest challenge is always to try to understand the
logic of the work that you are making and then to attempt to make that
work to the best of your ability. I find that the challenge comes
with understanding the particularities of each
piece and then build a structure that supports those particularities.

Is there anything else you want to say about the work or its presentation at
Bates?

Since this work is an exploration of the act of performing and the
relationship that we create with an audience, each performance is an
incredible learning experience for us. It is a thrill and a pleasure
to perform this piece.

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