Hyde Park Art Center and The Seldoms dance company announce free public

Hyde Park Art Center and The Seldoms dance company announce free public

CHICAGO — Hyde Park Art Center is partnering with experimental dance
company The Seldoms to announce a series of free weekly performances and conversations in conjunction with the Toolbox @ Twenty exhibition. The unique multidisciplinary art installations activated by new choreography celebrate the group’s twenty years of performance in Chicago and globally, on view September 24 – November 13.

Toolbox @ Twenty is a performative exhibition that includes new collaborative works created by four pairs of dancemakers and visual artists. From this dialogue, the dancemaker identifies one essential word
undergirding the visual artist’s practice, then translates it to a choreographic “tool” for use in generating movement and building
new dance. The four tools developed in this exhibition includes: “splice,” “mask,” “knot,” and “bowerbirding” (building a nest from decorative objects).

The dance pieces will be presented in the forms of both live performances
throughout the duration of the exhibition and recorded videos seen in four art installations including large paintings, a sound installation, and massive woven fiber work. Toolbox @ Twenty is curated by Carrie Hanson, Artistic Director of The Seldoms, in collaboration with Allison Peters Quinn,
Art Center Director of Exhibitions and Residency. The four visual artists — all Chicago- based, female, with human movement present in their media — were selected by Hanson and Quinn to celebrate the female
led dance company.

The exhibition and its related free public programming introduce four new dances: Bower Dance choreographed by Carrie Hanson and performed by The Seldoms ensemble; DisKontinue choreographed and performed by Damon Green; Reroute en Route choreographed and performed by
Maggie Vannucci; and KNOT IN choreographed and performed by Sarah Gonsiorowski. The series of free public programs, featuring live dance performances and artist talks at the Art Center, include:

Toolbox dance performances by The Seldoms Saturday, September 24, 1:30pm, and 3pm

The exhibition kicks off with two sets of performances of the four new dances from all four pairs of dancemakers and artists: Damon Green/Sadie Woods, Sarah Gonsiorowski/Jacqueline Surdell, Carrie
Hanson/Edra Soto, and Maggie Vannucci / Jackie Kazarian.

Performance and conversation with choreographer Carrie Hanson and artist Edra Soto

Thursday, October 6, 6-7:30pm Following the performance of all
four new dances, Hanson and Soto will discuss the process of generating the tool “bowerbirding”: the dancer is “building” a dwelling around the body by drawing trace pathways. The dwelling is informed by a personal history/impetus and appears to surround the body. There is embellishment, using pattern or decorative gestures.

“Bowerbirding” reflects Soto’s artistic works and practice that incorporate
architectural patterns of the rejas and quiebrasoles found in her birthplace, Puerto Rico. She makes immersive sculptural installations to consider the porous living nature of domestic space. The tool word is derived from the behavior of the Australian male bowerbird, which decorates his nest
with shells, feathers, and found materials to attract females.

For more information, visit www. hydeparkart.org.

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