An improvisation concert honoring late dance innovator Steve Paxton with collaborative performances by seasoned musicians and dancers using Contact Improvisation duets, ensemble play, video and audio recordings.
This concert brings freshly seasoned dance and music improvisers from Seattle and abroad to replay, discover and spread the gravity of late dancer extraordinaire, Steve Paxton, who famously said “…being essentially objective, Newton ignored what it feels like to be the apple…”
Paxton’s query regarding the small dance of standing, “Can it be smaller?” steers the Contact Improvisation style duet SMALLER by Karen Nelson and Nica Portavia in collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Evan Strauss and cellist Lori Goldston. The performers give their current answer as they explore the gigantic space found even within the most seemingly predictable outcomes.
“Tribute of Small Dance” includes a viewing of the 1989 video “Goldberg in Vermont,” voice recordings, and scrubby clips of Steve to fuel a creative recall played by an ensemble of performers including SMALLER joined by local performers Alia Swersky, Hannah Rice, Christian Swenson, Aaron Swartzman, Scott Davis, Casey Adams, and small dancing others. The urge is to bring a smidge of Steve’s many legacies, pointings, gestures, and queries consciously into this living moment.