This article appeared in the April 30, 2003 Cambridge Chronicle.

80 moving minutes

by Susie Davidson

CORRESPONDENT

Eight Boston-based dance companies will take ten this weekend at Green St. Studios. The ensembles were chosen from an original pool of 26 at a recent Lewiston, Maine audition curated by Laura Faure, Director of the Bates College Dance Festival. Selectees were, in alphabetical order, EgoArt, Inc., FlipSide Dance Theatre, Jody Weber and Dancers, Lorraine Chapman The Company, Lostwax Productions, Malinda Allen of The Moving Laboratory, She-figured Dance and Snappy Dance Theater.

“Tens The Limit is an annual, informal showcase of new works and works-in-progress by eight local dance artists in a studio setting,” said Mary Curtin, publicist for event sponsor CRASHarts. On Friday and Saturday, contemporary pieces, all under ten minutes in length, will be premiered by an array of eclectic, experienced and innovative artists and groups.

EgoArt, Inc., directed by Emerson College faculty member and Green St. co-Executive Director Nicole Pierce, offers a lively stage mix of professionals and less-slick extras. Formed in 1999 as The Ego Show, the group debuted at Green St. and the Arden Theater for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Choreographer, dancer, teacher and pianist Pierce has performed in the companies of Marcus Schulkind, Jody Weber, Ruth Birnberg and Nicola Hawkins, and studied mine with, among others, Marcel Marceau. "My new piece Jaunt,” said Pierce, is choreographed very closely to the music, structured and formal, though hopefully not stuffy.”

“EgoArt, Inc. is committed to the exploration of our current cultural psychology and the universality of experience by fusing personal histories, mixed media, live music, visual art, video and creative pedestrians to create one eclectic whole,” said Curtin.

Politically Speaking, FlipSide’s quartet inspired by the 2000 presidential election and recently resurrected, is set to music by the Celtic band Solas. “It felt relevant,” said company founder Christine Reynolds, who holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Emerson and will direct the Ipswich Moving Company Summer Dance Program. “FlipSide seeks to create compelling, thought-provoking and often comedic dance theatre works for the public,” said Curtin.

Weber, an avid historian as well as performer and choreographer, spoke at the New York Public Library’s recent Dance History Scholars Conference, her work funded through Bridgewater State College’s Hall of Black Achievement program. Director of programming at Green St. and a 2001 Somerville Artist Fellowship Grant recipient, she teaches modern dance and helps bring dance programs to Cambridge libraries and schools. She holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from SUNY Purchase and a master’s degree in dance history from American University.

Chapman, who teaches ballet and modern dance at Emerson, Dean College, the Ballet Arts Centre of Winchester and the Cambridge School of Weston, promises a wild time. “I am creating a film noir in ten minutes, with people shooting each other and everything,” she said. “It delves further into how I feel about violence and the state of the world today.” Chapman, a 2002 Boston Globe Top Ten Pick for Dance who will be commissioning a 2004 work for the Alberta Ballet in Calgary, lauded this effort. “World Music/CRASHarts’s stepping up to the plate, since Dance Umbrella folded, is so generous and so necessary. In creating opportunities for us, they are doing very important work.”

Lostwax combines the painting talent of Aaron Henderson and the choreography of Jamie Jewett. A US Indonesian Foundation grant fostered Jewett’s melding of Buddhism, technology and postmodern dance. With a bachelor’s degree in movement and Buddhist studies from the Naropa Institute and a master’s degree in dance and technology from Ohio State, he has taught both in the US as well as in Bali, Java and Nepal.

Henderson studied painting and critical theory at the University of Michigan and traditional painting in Kyoto, Japan, and worked as curator, director, costume designer, and performer with the Columbus, Ohio-based ENVIRONMENTS collective.

“Lostwax explores the dramatic relationship of live performers to the saturated image-world of digital culture and the human imagination. Inner and outer landscapes are reflected in electronic as well as environmental rituals and digital media, and in the dialectic that emerges at the intersection of living bodies and cinematic habits of viewing,” said Curtin.

The Moving Laboratory, founded in 2001 by performer, linguistics and cognitive studies scholar Malinda Allen, encourages experimentation and innovation.

The recipient of an American Dance Festival 1999 Bessie Schoenberg Scholarship for Choreographic Potential, Jil Matrisciano, who holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Bridgewater State College and a master’s degree in choreography and performance from SUNY Brockport, directs She-figured Dance. Co-founder Serena Smith studied at the Edna Manley School of Dance in Kingstown, Jamaica, and holds a master’s degree in dance from SUNY Brockport. Their entry “Assuming the Position” examines womens’ role in society. “It is witty, sweet and serious,” said Matrisciano. “We feel strongly about about creating a forum where both sexes can get a fresh look at a common topic.”

Martha Mason, co-Founder and Artistic Director of Snappy Dance Theater, who received a NEFA “New Forms” award, two International Theatre Institute awards and two LEF New England awards, builds on 30 years of international experience. According to Mason, the company’s "Flip/Switch," which builds in momentum and includes risky partnering,will be accompanied by music by Yann Tiersen.

“Tens the Limit has provided companies exposure to new audience members, connections within the dance community, and a break from often grueling self-promotion,” said Reynolds. “For any emerging company, these opportunities are welcome.”

CRASHarts is a division of World Music, Inc. World Music is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

CRASHarts presents Tens The Limit on Friday, May 2, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. and Saturday, May 3, 8 p.m. at Green St. Studios, 185 Green St., Cambridge. Tickets are $10; the show is general admission. For tickets and information call CRASHarts 617- 876-4275 or online at www.CRASHarts.org.