Art Bridgman/Myrna Packer with Percussionist Glen Velez

KEENE, NH, 3–6–03 – The acclaimed New York dance duo Art Bridgman/Myrna Packer and Grammy Award–winning composer/percussionist Glen Velez will perform their collaborative hit Carried Away at Keene State College’s Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond on Friday, March 28. The performance begins at 8 p.m. in the Main Theatre. Dance partners and choreographers Bridgman and Packer are known for their breathtaking and catapulting partnering. With Carried Away they explore the desires to be carried away and to get carried away. As part of the simple yet dramatic set design, there is a translucent wall of red hanging fabric where images are created in both light and shadow. The shadow projections permit the performers’ movement to transform, altering the view while creating a simultaneous, parallel existence. Percussionist/composer Glen Velez, who has created a score of soaring vocals and intricate, driving rhythms, will perform live for the piece. Jennifer Dunning described Carried Away as “the downtown equivalent of a Cecil B. deMille spectacular…sudden shifts in perspective are both funny and magical.” “Carried Away is not only great dance, but great entertainment,” says Brickyard Pond Director Bill Menezes, “and will appeal to children as well, especially eight or older.” The performance is made possible by funds from the New England Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the six state arts agencies of New England. Tickets are available through the Brickyard Pond box office, 603–358–2168, or on the web at www.keene.edu/racbp. They are $18 and $14 for the general public, $16 and $12 for seniors, KSC faculty and staff, $8 and $ 7 for youth 17 and younger, and $5 for KSC students with ID. Call for group rates for parties of ten or more. Also on the program will be Point A to Point B (You Can’t Get There From Here). A humorous mix of video and live performance, the piece delves into the giving and following of directions and the choosing of one’s path. The program will also include Bridgman and Packer’s Cups, a wild, crazy, and intricate rhythm piece created and performed by Bridgman, Packer and their 13–year old son, Davy Bridgman–Packer. The program will also feature a solo by Velez, whose work The New York Times described as producing “a galaxy of timbres and inflections [with] remarkable rhythmic fireworks.” Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer’s work is known for its charged physicality, sensuality, humor, and edge. Based in New York City, they have choreographed and performed together since 1978. Their work has been produced in New York City by Dance Theater Workshop, P.S. 122, Lincoln Center’s Serious Fun Festival, and Central Park’s Summerstage. As a duet company they have toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, performing in festivals, art centers, and universities. Packer and Bridgman are recipients of six National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowships and two NEA Dance Company Grants. They have received two New York Foundation for the Arts Choreography Fellowships and five “First Light” Commissions from Dance Theater Workshop with funding from the Jerome Foundation. They have recently been hosts of and had their work featured on MetroArts/Thirteen, WNET’s cable program on the arts.

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