CriticalDance Forum

Summerfest/dance Presents

WEST WAVE DANCE FESTIVAL 2003

Summerfest/dance, the Bay Area’s premiere summer showcase of contemporary dance, presents West Wave Dance Festival 2003, July 6 – 27, a three week festival of performance works by 26 well-established and emerging West Coast choreographers. From solo dances to new works for large ensembles, Summerfest/dance continues to be the summer destination for observing the latest and best in dance, including no fewer than 20 world premiere works. <a href=http://forum.criticaldance.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=001313 target=_blank>more</a>

Take two
Summerfest paired choreographers and composers with good results.

By Rita Felciano
THE CHOREOGRAPHERS AND Composers Consortium (July 11, McKenna Theater) is the best idea Summerfest/dance West Wave Dance Festival has come up with in 12 years of showcasing local dance. Last February, 20 choreographers and 13 composers came to a Summerfest jam session to network and share ideas. Four pairs, Cathleen McCarthy and Daniel Feinsmith, Amy Seiwert and Jonathan Norton, Janice Garrett and Matthew Pierce (the only nonlocal composer), and Amy Helmstetter and Nurit Jugend, ended up collaborating, and with one exception, these new works are as good as any seen on local stages in a long time – and the live music was such a great bonus.

New wave?
Summerfest mixes the hot and the cold.
By Rita Felciano
SUMMERFEST/DANCE'S fourth program for its West Wave Dance Festival 2003– two more are scheduled for this coming weekend – raises questions about how to structure a local festival. Should programming balance the new with the known, or should it squarely focus on the latest creations? For those who prefer the latter, the upcoming performances are the way to go; three of last weekend's six pieces had been presented before.