Much to Know: An Evening of Dance

Dear Friends of Idaho Dance Theatre,

     My name is Mary Kate Sickel and for those of you who may not know I have been a dancer with the company for the past two seasons. Also I regret to inform you that I will not be dancing with the company in the next season 2011-2012.

     It has been such a pleasure to get to know so many of you and to have the opportunity to perform in such a rich and vibrant community. I hope everyone realizes how wonderful and supportive this community truly is. Everything from the people to the foothills have been embracing and welcoming. I can not thank you enough for the privilege you've provided me with.

     It is thanks to this all consuming kindness that I have the pleasure to present an evening of my own choreography on May 8th at 7:30pm in the Danny Peterson Theatre of the Morrison Center. The press release is below. I hope you can come and continue your support of local dance!


Boise State University Department of Theatre Arts and Idaho Dance Theatre are proud to sponsor "Much to Know: An Evening of Dance" featuring the five works by choreographer Mary Kate Sickel. Please join Sickel and her company for an exciting performance, including
two world premieres and a guest performance by Off-Center Dance Project. Using a mixture of recycled goods, commissioned sound-scores and a dynamic cast of community artists, "Much to Know" is a modern-dance Mother's Day treat!

Sunday, May 8th
7:30 p.m.
Danny Peterson Theatre of the Morrison Center
$5.00 student/$7.00 non-student

     Again, thank you to the board for making IDT a wonderful place to work full of kind people and great connections! Thank you to Carl and Marla for offering me the position and showing me the awesomeness of Boise. And thanks again to Marla, Fred, and Richard Klautsch for encouraging and providing me the opportunity to produce my own show!

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I wish you all a great summer and fruitful fall!

Mary Kate Sickel (the girl from Wisconsin)

Great Season

     What a great season it has been. We ended our 2010-11 season with a great show full of what we do best, dance and lots of it! We want to THANK all of our generous donors, sponsors and amazing audience members throughout the season. We would not exist without your amazing support.

    Now we look forward to a much needed break in the summer, but not before we hold auditions for our next season. This next Saturday, April 23rd, IDT will hold auditions to look for new talented dancers to possibly join our family.

     IDT is also very excited to announce the launch of its new endeavor in the fall of 2011, IDT Junior Dance Company. We see the young talent and future IDT dancers all over the Treasure Valley and we want to offer a pre-professional program where they can gain real life performing experience. Stay tune to hear and see this new and young company make an impact in the performing arts community in Boise.

Again, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to each and everyone of you who volunteered, donated, sponsored or attended one of our shows.

Be sure to check out the review of our Spring Performance at http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/04/17/1612897/review-idaho-dance-theatre-goes.html .

See you next season!

Sincerely,
Mary Kate, Caitlin, Lia, Melynda, Elizabeth, Eric, Yurek and Gonzalo

Improving It

     As part of downtown Boise's First Thursday, we spent this past Thursday improving and giving a sneak peak of our upcoming Spring Performance. DL Evans bank is our show sponsor and in their downtown branch is where we spent the evening dancing, improving and meeting many new faces.  Check out the clips of some of the fun dancing that happened. We also gave a little sneak peak of Jenn Freeman's piece Flux, one of four new pieces in our show!

     The show is this week, April 15th - 17th. Preview 'pay what you can afford' night is April 14th @ 7:00pm. So be sure to buy your tickets in advance!

See you at the show!

Dress To Impress

     A dance piece is incomplete until you add the final touch, costumes! Just like choreographers have different styles of movement they also have different approaches to dressing their piece. Essentially costumes can be just an accessory or they can be crucial in helping the piece tell a story or create the right ambiance.

     I am very excited to be premiering a new work in our upcoming Spring Performance. Even before I began to create movement and choreograph I decided to start with costumes. Usually its the other way around, choreography first then costumes. I wanted to create costumes that would inspired me and help me in describing and showcasing a story and characters.  I wanted these costumes to come alive and be transferred onto the dancers. I wanted the costumes to be the driving force of my choreography. 

     I was immediately in contact with Lito-John Demitita, costume designer and creator extraordinaire. I expressed my ideas and thoughts behind this piece and he took that and designed 8 different amazing costumes. With renderings in hand I immediately began to let me creativity run wild and I began to create a piece. 

     The costumes themselves are quite the characters. So once I matched the costume to the IDT dancers, it was magic! From the very beginning these costumes have been a very important element to the piece, without them the expression of the movement would not be the same. It just makes sense and you will be able to see the final result April 15th - 17th at Boise State's Special Events Center. 

     Lito-John has also designed and created the costumes for Marla's Orpheus & Euridice piece, which is also in the shows program. 

     I also had to raise the funds to have these costumes created and THANKS to lots of generous people I have ALMOST raised all of the money needed. If you would like to help out by making a taxable donation you can go to our website at www.idahodancetheatre.org and made a contribution to my costumes.  Under purpose of donation just put 'For Gonzalo's Costumes'. 

     Check out the renderings of the costumes and be sure to come to the show to see what these crazy costumes are all about. 

Spring Performance - April 15th-17th, 2011 - Boise State University - Special Events Center

April 14th - Preview Night "Pay what you can afford night".

~ Gonzalo

BAM!

What an exciting and diverse concert we have planned for our final performance of the season. Four brand new works will be premiered April 15th-17th, thats in two weeks!

Along with our artistic directors, Marla and Carl, Jenn Freeman and myself will be part of the nights line up of stunning, daring and provocative choreography that IDT is known for.

     A very unique element of this show is the collaboration between the Boise Art Museum, Boise State University, Opera Idaho and Idaho Dance Theatre. All these great organizations have come together to create the production of Orpheus and Euridice.

     Ricky Ian Gordon’s song cycle, a 70-minute modern and personal take on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Euridice, stars soprano Laura Rushing-Raynes and clarinetist Leslie Moreau, performing the title roles, accompanied by pianist Mark Hansen and dancers choreographed by Marla Hansen of Idaho Dance Theatre.  It will be performed in BAM’s Sculpture Court, Stephen Knapp’s lightpainting will provide the backdrop for a new, visionary retelling of this age-old tale.  

     Enjoy this full-version of the Opera including performances by IDT at the Museum for this very special event, April 8th-10th, 7:30pm and 2:30 pm on the 10th. For tickets please visit BAM’s official website @ http://www.boiseartmuseum.org/events/fiesta.php . 

     You can also see the shorter dance version of this opera at our Spring Performance, April 15th - 17th at Boise State’s Special Events Center. This jam packed Spring performance will be one to remember so be sure to get your tickets.

See you at the show!

~ Gonzalo

Busy Busy Busy

     Holy smokes! It is time for an update... IDT has certainly been very busy these last few weeks! So let me fill you in on all of our exciting adventures.

     Our Winter Performance went absolutely swell. Marla's piece was a crowd pleaser, Lauren's was a big hit, and Carl's creative vision of Boise showed our companies versatility to mixed media and risk-taking style.

     From there it was one day of rest and then right back to the grind. Jennifer Freeman, an IDT alum and current free lance dancer/teacher/choreographer, flew in from New York to set a piece on the company. The piece is a gorgeous play of energy, flow, and constant change. I don't want to reveal too much information because it is a piece to be experienced! So don't miss Jenn's talented choreography in our April show.
 
     After that it was on to work with Marla and Carl. Carl is setting new work that is challenging in both the physical and mental capacities. Rehearsal has been a blast! Marla has a special collaboration work with Opera Idaho. We will be teaming up to perform Orpheus in the Boise Art Museum as well as on stage in the SPEC for our show. Check out our website for more information.

     Now rehearsals aside we just had the pleasure of putting on a very successful Gala. Our third annual Dancing Through the Decades Gala was a big hit in the Stueckle Sky Center with the band High Street getting us up and boogeyin' till our shoes fell off. This year in our tradition of decades theme we honored the 60s and 70s. All of our guests donned their old closet hideaways, rented costumes, or clever attire and partied until the cows came home! 
     
     We again put on our ever popular Dancing with the Stars competition and let me tell you it was a riot! We had great returning celebs and some fresh newbies! The award went to our newest crew and it's so much deserved praise. All I can say is Joe Critchfield who is 6'5" kicked to his ears, beat boxed like a pro, and to finish ended in the splits. Now of course he had help from his fellow crew members of Diana Turner and IDT dancer Eric. 


     If you are among the crowd who didn't make it you definitely missed a great party. No worries because you can bet we will be ready for next years hoopla! Any ideas for decade? We have already done the 80s, and 20s as well.

     As for the dancers we have been busy with rehearsal, school shows, and our other jobs/school. We cannot wait to show you our new work for April. It is going to be a fabulous show. Complete with another new work from company member Gonzalo Valdez. Stay tuned to hear/see what he has up his sleeve...

Until next time!

~ Caitlin

Curtain Call

     As the curtain rises and my eyes adjust to the darkness, I see hundreds of eyes looking back at me. For me, this is by far the most exciting part of every show.  Show week fast approaches and I look forward to being back on stage and seeing those eager eyes awaiting that first sign of movement.

     Our Winter Performance is this next week, Jan 21st - 30th, starting with our preview night on the 21st. This is a great opportunity to bring the whole family as it is our "pay what you can afford" night. It starts at 7pm and its a chance to see a professional dance concert at a great price.

     Im very excited to share this performance with our audience as it has everything a dance performance can have. Carl Rowe has created a video project that incorporates Boise itself and the IDT dancers, you will fall in love with Boise all over again. Marla Hansen has choreographed a piece that will have live piano music played by Del Parkinson.  And to top the show guest choreographer Lauren Edson has set a new work that will showcase the company's strength and versatility. Video project, live music and guest choreographer make for a great performance.

     If you have not yet gotten your tickets to the show be sure to check out our website for details and ticket purchase @ www.idahodancetheatre.org.

Hope to see you at the show!

~ Gonzalo