Contact:

Kathleen Pender

Administrative Associate

spdanthcontact@gmail.com

763-­521-­7738

STUART PIMSLER DANCE & THEATER PRESENTS

35th ANNIVERSARY SEASON

SENTRY, SWIMMING TO CECILE, JOY, THE MEN FROM THE BOYS

VALENTINES DAY WEEKEND, FEBRUARY 14 & 15, 2014

THE COWLES CENTER FOR DANCE AND THE PERFORMING ARTS

(Minneapolis, MN) -­-­ Minneapolis-­based Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater (SPDT) will celebrate their 35th Anniversary Season, February 14 & 15, 2014 at The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts. In honor of this occasion, SPDT will revive four works created by Artistic Co-­Directors Stuart Pimsler and Suzanne Costello which represent significant landmarks in the companys evolution and are touchstones for the companys continuing aesthetic of emotional physicality and original text that comment on the human condition.

Sentry, premiered in New York City in 1983, has been praised by The New York Times as a remarkable piece of work and one of the most powerful pieces that have been seen in a long time. SPDTs scenic designer and former Vogue Design Director, Ronald Aiji Kajiwara, created Sentrys stage set of more than 100 multi-­colored sandbags. Sentry comments on the futility of war and conflict, a recurrent theme for SPDT since the companys inception.

Swimming to Cecile, a trio for three women, is a personal lamentation inspired by the loss of a deceased parent. A solo figure at a microphone recites a monologue to that lost person Where are you? I dont know where youre hiding. I just want to talk with you. In 1990, the Washington Post said, In its acknowledgement of loss, its existential questioning and its search for comfort where it can be found, Swimming to Cecile is a profoundly moving work.

The other two works to be revived, Joy (1988), a solo for Mr. Pimsler and The Men from the Boys (1990), a male duet, are early examples of the ways in which SPDT defies formal artistic boundaries through its blending of emotionally compelling movement and original text. In Joy, an autobiographical solo, Mr. Pimsler was branded the Woody Allen of modern dance (New York Times) by the national press. The Men from the Boys is a poignant commentary on male intimacy as an authority figure and his subject engage in a series of one-­upmanships.

The show will feature SPDTs 8 company artists, Suzanne Costello, Brian Evans, Heather Klopchin, Andrew Lester, Kari Mosel, Jesse Neumann Peterson, Stuart Pimsler, and Roxane Wallace-­Patterson.

Tickets for the show can be purchased through The Cowles Center Box Office -­ 612-­206-­3600 (www.thecowlescenter.com). A special Valentines Weekend package is available in partnership with Masons Barre & Restaurant, $40 for a three-­course meal and ticket to SPDTs 35th Anniversary show.

In addition, SPDT will offer movement workshops for caregivers from Hennepin County Medical Center in which Swimming to Cecile will be used as a tool to explore the complex feelings associated with their profession through the integration of movement and voice. SPDT will also partner with local veterans organizations to focus on veterans stories of conflict and their experiences once their enlistments have ended. Sentry will serve as a creative focal point for these workshops and discussions. Complimentary tickets will be made available to all workshop participants. These workshops and complimentary tickets to SPDTs 35th Anniversary show at The Cowles Center are made possible in part through support from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.

Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater (SPDT) is an internationally-­recognized performance company, founded in 1978, that is co-­directed by Suzanne Costello and Stuart Pimsler. In the US, SPDTs work has been presented at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Dance Theater Workshop (NYC), Jacobs Pillow, and The American Dance Festival, among many other venues. Internationally the companys work has been presented in Canada, Europe, Israel, Taiwan, Russia, and Bermuda. Based in Minneapolis since 2000, the company has twice been presented by the Guthrie Theater, as well as in communities throughout Minnesota. Most recently SPDT was the only US company selected to perform on the official program of the Internationale Tanzmesse in Dusseldorf, Germany;? Mr. Pimsler was a guest artist at the Beijing Modern Dance Festival in China;? and SPDT engaged doctors, nurses, universitystudents, and local community members in a two-­week residency and performance at the Centro Cultural Roberto Cantoral in Mexico City with support from the US Embassy.

SPDTs Community Connections programs reach a diverse array of groups -­ students, caregivers, audiences, and communities -­ both locally and nationally. The companys outreach programs have been cited as a national model by The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and its Arts & Healthcare work has been recognized for best practices by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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