presents KATE WEARE COMPANY Kate Weare, Artistic Director Douglas Gillespie, Assistant Director Julian De Leon, Rehearsal Director Tuesday, June 21-Thursday, June 23 at 8:00pm Reynolds Industries Theater Performance: 50 minutes Marksman (World Premiere) Choreography Kate Weare Dancers and Creative Collaborators Julian De Leon, Kayla Farrish, Douglas Gillespie, Kellie Ann Lynch, Thryn Saxon, Ryan Rouland Smith Original Music and Sound Design Curtis Robert Macdonald, featuring performances from Bobby Avey (piano), Patrick Breiner (tenor saxophone), Ari Chersky (electric guitar), Curtis Macdonald (alto saxophone, ukelin), Alon Tayar (piano), Christopher Tordini (acoustic bass), Kyle Wilson (melodica) Set Design and Fabric Imagery Clifford Ross Lighting Design Mike Faba Costume Design Sarah Cubbage Associate Costume Design Maria Ozmen Costume Construction Jennifer Fadel, Mary Readinger Choreographer's statement: I've always been thrilled by the willfulness of formation in nature; a tiny sprout ruptures the earth on its way out, the sea rhythmically rubs a sharp object smooth. This energetic process is evident to me in our own formation and relations as human beings. I marvel at the intensity that delivers nascency to form, with a focus so singular it can only be life force at play. The title of this dance comes from my fascination with a book from the 1950s called Zen in the Art of Archery, chronicling a man's pursuit of the venerable art of Japanese bow marksmanship. This archery practice centers around a simultaneous loosening and focusing of energy as a spiritual path toward accuracy and self-development. The book articulates a beautiful concept of forming while being formed, playing while being played, aiming while being aimed. As humans we may practice willfulness and seek control, yet nature pours through us still; we are formed and transformed by it with an awe-inspiring accuracy. "You must hold the drawn bowstring," answered the Master, "like a little child holding the proffered finger. It grips it so firmly that one marvels at the strength of the tiny fist. And when it lets the finger go, there is not the slightest jerk. Do you know why? Because a child doesn’t think, 'I will now let go of the finger in order to grasp this other thing.' Completely unself-consciously, without purpose, it turns wholly from one thing to the other, and we would say that it was playing with the things, were it not equally true that the things are playing with the child." Marksman was co-commissioned by The Joyce Theater and the American Dance Festival with support from the SHS Foundation and the Charles L. and Stephanie Reinhart Fund. The creation of Marksman was supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The New York Community Trust, the CalArts Evelyn Sharp Summer Choreographic Residency Program and was created in part during residencies at The Tisch Dance Residency Festival. ADF’s presentation of Marksman is made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts. ABOUT THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR KATE WEARE (Choreographer and Artistic Director) is recognized as a preeminent American choreographer whose dances are lucid, layered, and visually sophisticated. Raised by a painter and a printmaker in Oakland, CA, Weare draws on visual art sources, language, poetry, contemporary music, psychology, and nature in her work. Called by Dance Magazine, “the voice of the it’s complicated generation,” Weare just celebrated her company’s 10th anniversary season at BAM. Recent awards include The Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship Award in 2014, Inaugural BAM Fisher Artist-in-Residency and Commission Award in 2013, White Bird’s Barney Creative Prize in 2015, Inaugural Evelyn Sharp Summer Artist-in-Residency at CalArts in 2014, The Joyce Theater Creative Residency Awards in both 2014 and 2011, and the Princess Grace Fellowship in 2009. Weare’s 2013 debut in Next Wave Festival led to her Company’s 2015 season at BAM Fisher as part of the BAM/DeVos Professional Development Program. Companies worldwide including Scottish Dance Theater have commissioned Weare to set work on their dancers, most recently Cleveland’s Groundworks Dance Theater and ODC/San Francisco in a co-commission with White Bird’s Barney Creative Prize. Weare and her company members enjoy working with students. Most recently Weare acted as Guest Faculty at Princeton University, and with her company taught at NYU’s Summer Residency Program, The Juilliard School, Gibney Dance Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Keene State University, Marymount Manhattan, and ODC’s Summer Program, among others. Committed to collaborating with composers, Weare has commissioned original scores and performed live with extraordinary musicians such as Michel Galante of NYC’s Argento Chamber Ensemble, SF-based violinist David Ryther, SF-based old time band The Crooked Jades (Jeff Kazor & Lisa Berman), composer Barbara White of Princeton University, Brooklyn- based indie band One Ring Zero (Michael Hearst & Joshua Camp), Brooklyn-based electro-acoustic cellist/composer Christopher Lancaster, and most recently, Brooklyn-based saxophonist/composer/producer Curtis Robert Macdonald. Kate Weare Company has been presented nationwide by Jacob’s Pillow, American Dance Festival, Chicago Dancing Festival, Bates Dance Festival, ArtPower at UC San Diego, Ringling Museum of Art, Dance Celebration Philadelphia, ODC Theater, Spring to Dance St. Louis, Northrop Concerts and Lectures at the University of Minnesota, and Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, among many other venues. In New York, the company has been presented by Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Joyce Theater, Fall for Dance at New York City Center, The 92nd St. Y, Symphony Space, BRICarts, The Skirball Center, Dancemopolitan at Joe’s Pub, Dance Theater Workshop, and Danspace Project, among others. DANCERS DOUGLAS GILLESPIE (Assistant Director and Dancer) has been an originating member and creative contributor throughout Kate Weare Company’s first decade. Now the company’s Assistant Director, Gillespie assists Weare on commissions, sets and re-stages repertory, facilitates outreach and teaching, oversees touring, and is integral to the company’s spirit. He teaches at colleges and dance centers around the world, most recently at The Juilliard School, NYU Tisch Summer Program, Gibney Dance Center, and National Taiwan University of the Arts. Gillespie has created his own student commissions for Cleveland State University, University of Florida, and Santa Fe College. Two of his most recent works have premiered at American College Dance Association. Gillespie premiered his first solo project in Taiwan in November 2015, and its US debut is slated for 2016. Gillespie has recently performed in Punchdrunk Emursive’s Sleep No More and Third Rail Projects’ Then She Fell. Gillespie was born in San Diego, raised in Jacksonville, and received his BFA in Dance from Florida State University in 2005. JULIAN DE LEON (Rehearsal Director and Dancer) joined Kate Weare Company in 2014, bringing with him a deep history within the dance field and a breadth of expertise in supporting the creative work of choreographers. As Rehearsal Director, De Leon helps to evolve work in process, maintain and restage repertory, integrate new dancers, and support tour logistics. De Leon began his dance training at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts in California. In 1997, he moved to London, England to study at the Laban Center for Movement and Dance. In 2000, he joined Wayne McGregor's Random Dance Company. De Leon moved to San Francisco, CA in 2003 where he danced for Kunst- Stoff, Janice Garrett and Dancers, and Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. In 2007 he moved to New York City and danced with Stephen Petronio Company for seven years. RYAN ROULAND SMITH (Dancer) hails from Colorado where he graduated from the Denver School of the Arts. A recipient of the Carpenter Scholarship, Smith graduated cum laude from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Dance and Choreography. While at VCU he performed works by choreographers Stephanie Batten Bland, Christian Von Howard, and Kate Weare. A scholarship recipient at the American Dance Festival, Smith worked with John Jasperse and Reggie Wilson as well as performing in the first reconstruction of Bill T. Jones’ Love Redefined. This is his second season with Kate Weare Company, having joined the 2015 tour of Dark Lark and Unstruck. KAYLA FARRISH (Dancer) was born and raised in Raleigh, NC, in a dance-loving family. She graduated from the University of Arizona in 2013 summa cum laude and was granted the Gertrude Shurr Award for excellence in modern dance and passionate dancing. Since moving to New York, she’s had the opportunity to work with wonderful choreographers including Aszure Barton and Artists, Helen Simoneau Danse, Gallim Dance, Chris Masters Dance, Bryn Cohn, Elena Vazintaris, Bare Dance Company, Schoen Movement Company, Matthew Westerby Dance Company, CEMA Dance, and others. She is excited for her first season with Kate Weare Company! THRYN SAXON (Dancer) was born and raised in Miami, FL where she attended New World School of the Arts High School. In May 2014 Ms. Saxon received her BFA in Dance from Florida State University. Thryn spent her first year in New York as an apprentice with the Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Company and had the honor of performing with them in New York and Baltimore, MD. Ms. Saxon has also had the privilege of performing in NYC in works by Rosie DeAngelo, Erica Lessner, and the Daughter’s Collective. Thryn began working with Kate Weare as an understudy in September 2015. She is thrilled to be starting her first season as a company member with Kate Weare Company. KELLIE ANN LYNCH (Guest Artist) graduated from Smith College with her MFA in dance in 2007. She is a CT-based dancer who co-founded Elm City Dance Collective in New Haven around the time she joined Adele Myers and Dancers in 2008.