Overview
NobleMotion Dance, known for its physically daring and visually stunning work, brought Storm Front: Experience the Elements to The Hobby Center’s Zilkha Hall, August 28 & 29 at 7:30 PM. The evening features a storm front on stage as 33 dancers interact with wind, rain, snow, and light. NobleMotion consistently receives critical acclaim for their “extraordinary athleticism” and “cutting edge” programming and is recognized as one of Houston’s “A-list” Dance companies. This ain’t your momma’s ballet; Storm Front is a ferocious evening of “big juicy dance!”
The Dances
Audience favorite KinkyKool Fan Blowing Hard returns to Houston after five years. Critic Theodore Bale stated, “Certain dances are like brilliant ruptures, and this one was without a doubt the biggest of 2010. It’s the kind of piece that smacks you in the face, and you like it.” KinkyKool is an irreverent and entertaining dance that uses three industrial fans as motivation for dancers to catapult through space and roar like rock-stars. Critic Neil Ellis Orts exclaimed, “the company exhibits an extraordinary athleticism.”
Collaboration
Tower is a 15-minute storm that slowly builds, unleashing 33 dancers in waves until the entire stage is packed with moving bodies. It is unrelenting until the very end when it finally rains on stage. Co-choreographed by Andy Noble and Laura Harrell, it is the largest dance NobleMotion has made to date and will feature guest dancers from many of Houston’s top contemporary dance companies. “It’s an exhilarating and exhausting ride,” states co-choreographer Andy Noble. “You don’t get to see a big dance like this very often!”
Is it snow, or is it ash? Flash Burn, arguably the most visually striking work of the evening, draws inspiration from images of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb. An original light installation by David J Deveau and stage make-up by Raul Pardo create a haunting and stark world where the dancers respond to moments of chaos. It is beautifully disfigured as images of technology are juxtaposed by the eloquence of nature and snow falling.
Arts Respond
Wasteland rounds out the evening with a set full of trash and a compelling story of a disposable society. Co-choreographed by Andy Noble and Jennifer Mabus with original costume design by Barry Doss, Wasteland combines subtle nuance, athletic virtuosity, and theatrical narrative. Dancers interact with the trash, become the trash, and use leaf blowers to cleanse the performance space. The audience even gets a taste of the action. This work represents a proud partnership between NobleMotion Dance and the Houston-Galveston Area Council Trash Bash, a non-profit supported by the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality and whose mission is to clean Texas waterways.
Evening’s Sponsors and Supporters
First National Bank of Huntsville
Body Rock Pilates
David Tausig & Associates
Texas Commission on the Arts
Houston Arts Alliance
Project Details
Storm Front: Experience the Elements
The Hobby Center, Zilkha Hall
August 28 & 29, 2015
Photos by Lynn Lane
Volunteer for the Environment
Learn more about River, Lakes, Bays N’ Bayous Trash Bash. Visit www.trashbash.org for details about how you can help keep our Texas waterways clean.
