NATASCHA GREENWALT and CORIOLIS DANCE
Danses des Cygnes
JUNE 6-9 / 7:30PM
Velocity 1621 12th Ave
$20 ($25 at the door) / $17 MVP-Friend / $15 under 25 (w/ ID) / $50 Patron
Natascha Greenwalt of Coriolis Dance is bringing her “universally brilliant” cast to Velocity June 6-9 for the full-length world premiere of Danses des Cygnes, a feminist re-imagining of Swan Lake. Greenwalt premiered “Dances des Cygnes” as a work in progress through the James Ray Residency at SIDF 2018, but will be expanding upon it for the co-production with Velocity.
“For more than a hundred years, ballet fans have marveled at the beauty of this ‘love’ story, but Coriolis turns the patriarchal power structure of Swan Lake on its head…” – City Arts
Danses des Cygnes is a contemporary feminist re-telling of Swan Lake that explores the power dynamics at play in the ballet, expressing the abuse of Odette but ultimately telling a story of female empowerment and community. Danses des Cygnes uses the reclaiming and retelling of this fable as a way to own our power as women.
“Coriolis’ egalitarian, female-forward sensibility is no coincidence, but the fruit of collaborative female leadership, and that is radical in the often male-led, hierarchical ballet world. If you love ballet, go to Coriolis for the gorgeous dancing, stay to support independent women artists.” – City Arts
As a female co-led and co-founded dance company, Coriolis has been passionate about pushing the political and formal boundaries of ballet from the get-go. Founded in 2008 by Natascha Greenwalt (dance artist, choreographer of Danses des Cygnes) and Christin Call (dance artist, filmmaker, visual artist, poet), the company has made its mission to expand and re-imagine the capabilities of ballet as an artistic medium. In the 35+ works in its repertoire, Coriolis approaches ballet technique “as a self-aware vocabulary that, through manipulation and molding, is contextualized with contemporary issues.” Danses des Cygnes will be the company’s eighth original full-length production.
“Graceful, airy movement mixes effortlessly with grounded floor work—the dancers seem just as comfortable balanced in a suspended arabesque as they do tumbling creature-like across the floor. Partnered flips and contemporary lifts add an acrobatic element, while liquid spines add emotional nuance.” – City Arts
“William Blake-esque in their contradictory qualities of innocence and insanity … layers of meticulously planned detail, meaning, and exquisite dancing.” – SeattleDances
PHOTO – Bret Doss Photography
ARTIST BIOS
Natascha Greenwalt is a Seattle based performer, teaching artist, choreographer and GYROTONIC® Instructor. In 2005 she graduated magna cum laude from Cornish College of the Arts as a Kreielsheimer Scholarship recipient and has performed with companies such as Spectrum Dance Theater and House of Verlaine. She has received choreographic commissions from Ballet Bellevue, Western Washington University, and Cornish College of the Arts. She teaches ballet at Exit Space: School of Dance, and has served as a guest instructor for Whitman College SDL and the Montana Dance Arts Association, DANCE This and Velocity Dance Center’s Strictly Seattle. This year marks Coriolis Dance’s 11th season for which she is the co-artistic Director and co-founder along with Christin Call. Natascha continues to explore matters of the heart through emotionally driven technical contemporary ballet.
For more info please visit. www.coriolisdance.com
Coriolis is two women in leadership–Co-artistic Directors/Co-founders Natascha Greenwalt and Christin Call. They work together to create stories of strength and resilience through vulnerability. Their works are complex, emotionally raw, and highly stylized experiences designed to immerse audiences in meaningful and challenging ways. Formed in 2008, they are also the originators of Postballet, an expansion of rigorous ballet technique infused with contemporary practices of improvisation, embodiment, and conceptualism.
