FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2007

Program contact: Karen Farber
713-743-2623 (office)
kfarber@uh.edu

Big Dance Theater has dazzled audiences around the world with performances that blend dance, literary narratives, design, drama, music and multimedia effects. Soon, this exciting collaborative company will make its Bayou City debut with two performances of its newly commissioned work at the University of Houston.

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at UH (CWMCA) will present Big Dance Theater’s “The Other Here,” at 7:30 p.m., May 2 and 3 in the Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre. This event is free and open to the public.

Big Dance Theater, an American company based in New York, was commissioned by the Japan Society to create “The Other Here,” which premiered in February. The energetic new work juxtaposes elements of eastern and western cultures, blending contemporary Okinawan pop music with classical Okinawan dance and the short stories of Japanese author Masuji Ibuse. Visually unique and often surreal, the stage narratives vacillate between a jovial sales meeting, a master-servant conflict and a tale of a man in possession of a prized carp. Each of these interwoven plotlines reflects a quest for purpose in the modern world.

“Big Dance Theater is a phenomenal company, and I am delighted to introduce Houston audiences to their exquisite, multi-dimensional work,” said Karen Farber, director of the CWMCA.

Founded in 1991 by artistic co-directors Paul Lazar and Annie B-Parson, Big Dance Theater has been lauded by both critics and media as innovators in collaborative performing arts. The troupe has received Obie and Bessie awards and has performed in a host of venues and festivals including Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and France’ VIA and EXIT festivals.

To reserve free tickets for “The Other Here,” call 713-743-2929, or for additional information, visit the CWMCA Web site at http://www.mitchellcenterforarts.org/.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.