Next week the gang at Spectrum Dance Theater will start performing some really fantastic dance peices that are a must-see for any dancer or anyone who is in love with the craft. There will be three weekends of shows that will certainly amaze even the toughest critics. These performances showcase the long, beautiful, creative, and thought provoking line of choreography of Donald Byrd.

Week 1: Relationships: October 8-10, 2010  The first week of the Fall Studio Series brings a mixed repertory program of works that deal with the subject of relationships: how people relate to each other, how they relate to society and how the audience relates to the performance. Included in this week will be Donald Byrd’s Drastic Cuts: Duet (1992), a revised version of Soap Box (2007), and the return of Sentimental Cannibalism (Act I of Bristle, 1993). Additional pieces in the program will be announced in the fall.

The first week of the Fall Studio Series brings a mixed repertory program of works with pieces created for Spectrum Dance Theater and Donald Byrd/The Group. Spanning the last two decades of Donald Byrd's career Relationships sees the return of audience favorites Drastic Cuts: Duet and Sentimental Cannibalism. Also on the program is a unique opportunity to see a piece which lead to the creation of 2007's Interrupted Narratives/War, Byrd's exploration of the effects of the Iraq War. Soap Box was conceived as a site specific piece originally performed in downtown Seattle at Westlake Park. Soap Box includes voluntary audience participation. Have something on your mind? Want your opinions to be heard? Come prepared to take a stand and speak out on the Soap Box. Also on the program is Conte Fantastique, a recent commissioned this summer by the American Harp Society.

Weeks 2 & 3: Peering into the Ballroom: 3 Dances October 15-24,2010  Utilizing the ballroom of the late 19th Century, each of the works in this program explores the complexity of relationships between men and women. Featured in this program is La Valse (Act II of Bristle, 1993), Longing (2005), and La Bal Noir (2006).

"Think of these late 19th Century ballrooms as a kind of social platform where complex personal dramas, charged relationships, distortions of memory and time, societal anxieties, anticipative excitement about, or despair facing impending change might play themselves out. These rooms were a place where the previous two centuries of European culture and its societies converged and were distilled into a single iconic image – elegant embracing couples spinning gracefully in a beautiful chandeliered room."
-Donald Byrd

Performance Dates & Times

• Fri, Oct 15, 8:00pm
• Sat, Oct 16, 5:00pm
• Sat, Oct 16, 8:00pm
• Sun, Oct 17, 6:00pm
• Fri, Oct 22, 8:00pm
• Sat, Oct 23, 5:00pm
• Sat, Oct 23, 8:00pm
• Sun, Oct 24, 6:00pm

Tickets are $16 in advance and $20 at the door. A limited number of Studio Series Passes are available for $40. A pass allows you to see as many performances as you like during the series (excluding the Opening Night Benefit on Oct 8). Simply purchase the pass and RSVP at least 24 hrs in advance of the show you wish to attend.

To purchase tickets call 206.325.4161 or online at www.brownpapertickets.com.