Dance Umbrella presents Austin artist and recent BESSIE Award Winner, Deborah Hay with an international cast in "The Match", “… a fascinating, vibrant battle of wits that unfolds through a silent score of movement.” TimeOut, NY Issue #435, 2004

Dance Umbrella will present Deborah Hay’s quartet, "The Match", Thursday through Sunday, January 13 - 16, 2005 at The Off Center, 2211-A Hidalgo Street at 8:00 p.m.

"The Match" is a quartet, choreographed by Deborah Hay that premiered at Danspace in New York City in February 2004. It was made for a select group of highly experienced dancer/performers: Ros Warby, from Melbourne, Australia, Chrysa Parkinson from Brussels and New York City, Scott Heron, from New Orleans (who replaces Wally Cardona for the Texas tour), and Mark Lorimer, from London, and Brussels.

The dance contains meditation-like exercises that invisibly bind the dancers to the material by establishing a mental, emotional, and bodily rigor that is visible in performance. As one major New York critic wrote, “There is no musical accompaniment, so the focus is on the dancers: their mystifying travels and relationships, both spatial and personal, and the satisfying way Ms. Hay distributes them about the space…” NY Times 2/13/04

Following the Danspace performance each dancer began a solo adaptation of the quartet. Sensations, memories, fragments, and details from the group piece are embedded in the solos. Each solo became collaboration rather than a bodily reenactment of already existing material.

The four performers will perform “The Match”, and two solo adaptations of the quartet each night. Performances begin at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Group rates are available. Advance tickets can be purchased online at www.danceumbrella.com or by calling 512-450-0456.

The company will open its doors to the public on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 11 - 12 from 11am – 4pm for open rehearsals. Deborah Hay will give a special presentation Playing Audience to groups participating in these open rehearsals. While the performers practice the quartet, The Match, or one of the four solo adaptations of The Match, choreographer and performer Deborah Hay will join the audience and suggest a variety of perspectives for watching the dancers at work. There will be ample opportunity for questions and feedback. The goal of Playing Audience is to provide the audience with an array of experiments that can broaden and deepen their experience of seeing dance. For more information or to schedule a Playing Audience time, contact Dance Umbrella at 512-450-0456 or visit www.thematch.info.

This presentation has been funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from National Endowment for the arts and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Ford Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission for the Arts, the City of Austin under the auspices of the Austin Arts Commission plus individual contributors.

See Austin Statesman Review

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