2008-2009 Season

White Bird's 2008-2009 Season Overflows with More New Companies, More Performances in More Venue Than Ever Before

About to enter its 11th season, White Bird launches its next 10 years of contemporary dance from around the world with more performances by more companies in more venues than ever before. The busy 2008/2009 schedule includes 12 companies, 8 of whom White Bird will present for the first time, from as far away as Finland, Israel, Australia, and Brazil.

We are also excited to introduce a brand new series: White Bird Uncaged, which replaces the White Bird/PSU Dance Series while Lincoln Hall undergoes two years of deferred maintenance and seismic upgrading. White Bird will move out into the community, presenting four groundbreaking companies in adaptable venues in four Portland neighborhoods.

White Bird Dance Series at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 7:30 pm (unless otherwise noted)
Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet with the Shaolin Monks,  Wednesday, September 24.
Ballet meets martial arts in Alonzo King’s recent thrilling creation Long River, High Sky, a collaboration with the Shaolin Monks of China that demonstrates an unprecedented synthesis of Eastern and Western forms of movement.

Inbal Pinto Dance Company, Tuesday, October 7
Inspired by the little glass snow globes that that fill with snowflakes when shaken, Israeli choreographers Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollack have created a new work called Shaker, set in the snowy landscape of a  dreamlike world that is at once magical, surreal, dangerous, and playful.

Tero Saarinen Company, Wednesday, October 29
Explore the macabre milieu were childhood memories, carnal desires, and ancestral ghosts transform reality into an hallucinatory nightmare in the compelling new work Next of Kin by acclaimed Finnish choreographer Tero Saarinen,. This haunting work will merge diverse influences from butoh and film noir, to German Expressionist and surrealist painting, and the horror stories of Edgar Allen Poe.

Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Wednesday, January 28
Celebrating its 40th anniversary with its first US tour in more than a decade, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company makes its White Bird debut with a program of new and retrospective work by one of America’s most versatile, popular and well-known choreographers. The New York Times has called Lubovitch, “one of the ten best choreographers in the world.”

Trey McIntyre Project, Wednesday-Friday,  February 25-27. Newmark Theatre
A dazzling choreographer who has worked with Oregon Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago among others, Trey McIntyre brings his new company to Portland for the first time, using classical ballet as the point of departure to create emotionally charged work that defies categorization, set to a wide range of music from classical, to rock to blues. Co-Commissioned by the White Bird/MKG Financial Group New Works Fund.  

Compañia Nacional de Danza 2, Wednesday, April 22
One of the world’s outstanding choreographers, Artistic Director Nacho Duato creates dances of robust originality, fluid movement and Mediterranean sensuality. CND 2 is Duato’s 16-member company of younger dancers who display such dazzling technical skill and deep emotion that you will think they have been dancing these masterworks all their lives.

White Bird Exclusive Events
Bad Boys of Dance, Thursday-Saturday, January 15-17, 7:30 pm, Newmark Theatre
A sensation at the 2007 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Bad Boys of Dance are a superb all male company assembled from the worlds of ballet, modern, Broadway, and even TV (“So You Think You can Dance”). Led by the charismatic young dancer Rasta Thomas, the group dissolves the aesthetic boundaries that separate contemporary dance from popular culture.

Dance Brazil, Wednesday, April 1, 7:30pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Direct from Salvador, Bahia, Dance Brazil is a stunning company that melds traditional Brazilian capoeira with contemporary twists. Artistic Director Jelon Vieira is credited with introducing capoeira to the United States in the 1970’s, and for 35 years the company has toured the world with its rich blend of colorful music, beautiful costumes, and athletic movement.

White Bird Uncaged_(formerly White Bird/PSU Dance Series)
Kidd Pivot, Wednesday-Saturday, November12-15, 8pm, Kaul Auditorium, Reed College.
Kidd Pivot is the brainchild of Canadian Choreographer Crystal Pite who has created an astonishing work, Lost Action that celebrates the intricacy and freedom of the articulated body, unfolding to reveal the pulsating heart at its innermost core.

skinner | kirk + bielemeier: Wed-Sunday, December 3-7, 8pm, Matinees 2pm Sat & Sun, 7 Shows, Portland Opera Studio Theater
Eric Skinner, Daniel Kirk, and Gregg Bielemeier are three of Portland’s best choreographers. Eric and Daniel have created acclaimed work for BodyVox, of which they are founding company members, as well as their own Skinner/Kirk DANCE ENSEMBLE; Gregg created the stunning Odd Duck Lake, which launched White Bird’s first subscription season in October 1998. They will create a program that is athletic, sophisticated, and moving. Commissioned by the White Bird/MKG Financial Group New Works Fund.

anoukvandijk dc: March 6-7, Fri and Sat,  7 and 9:30 pm, March 10-13, Tues-Wed, 8pm, Thurs--Friday, 7 and 9:30 pm, Venue to be announced shortly
The celebrated Dutch choreographer Anouk van Dijk makes her Portland debut with STAU.  A confined, square stage opens out to expansive, limitless space. Intimate, exact gestures become dynamic, spectacular movements as spaces shift and the relationship between spectator and performer becomes increasingly connected in the extraordinary work.

Chunky Move: Wed-Sunday, April 15-19. 8 pm, Matinees 2pm Sat and Sun, YWCA 10th Avenue Athletic Club
There is nothing predictable about Chunky Move – one of Australia’s most original dance companies. In their latest work, Two-Faced Bastard, the stage is divided in two, so that neither side of the audience can see what the other is watching.

General Ticket Information
Subscriptions to the 2008-2009 season are now on sale through White Bird. For a season brochure with subscription information, call 503-245-1600 ext. 201 or visit www.whitebird.org.

On sale dates for single tickets to performances include:
August 22, 2008 – Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet with the Shaolin Monks, Inbal Pinto Dance Company, Tero Saarinen Company, Kidd Pivot (Uncaged), skinner | kirk + bielemeier (Uncaged)
November 21, 2008 – Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Trey McIntyre Project, Bad Boys of Dance, CND 2, Dance Brazil, anoukvandijk dc (Uncaged), Chunky Move (Uncaged)