FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT:
JENNIFER POLINS
413.536.8059
Jen@wiremonkeydance.com

DANCE MEETS SCAFFOLDING

“… beautifully conceived, vividly imaginative, and superbly performed. It is both riveting and viscerally thrilling.” The Boston Globe

MIFA/The Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts presents WIRE MONKEY DANCE, under the artistic direction of Saliq Francis Savage and Jennifer Polins, in the world premiere of Short Circuits - a multimedia event fusing dance on scaffolding with original music by Stephen Katz and video composition by WebHall Studios - at the Northampton Center for the Arts, 17 New South Street, Northampton, MA on Friday & Saturday, October 25 & 26 at 8:00 pm, Friday & Saturday, November 1 & 2 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, November 3 at 6:00 pm. Tickets are $15/$10 seniors & students. Wheelchair accessible. For reservations call 1 800 224 6432.

In its third season, Wire Monkey Dance (WMD) brings a new, gravity-defying performance to the Northampton Center for the Arts. Using construction scaffolding, huge pieces of fabric and video projection, the company’s powerful acrobatic dancers create a distinctive and compelling world. They swing, leap and fly through a three dimensional environment that transforms from isolated apartment units in X-Bar, the men’s trio, to a womb-like dream world in Bending Steel, the women’s trio. WMD creates art that comments on socio-political and cultural issues. Short Circuits explores the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, male and female archetypes, human relationships and power.

WMD debuted in the Pioneer Valley in 2000, and is appearing for the second year with MIFA/the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts. WMD has created 7 new works on scaffolding, including site-specific installations on the UMASS/Amherst campus and in a sugar cane factory in Chiautou, Taiwan. In 2001, WMD began refurbishing a turn of the century auditorium in the historic canal district of Holyoke, MA, into TREE STUDIO, their new company home.

WMD has gathered a diverse group of dancers: Fritha Pengelly, Ione Beauchamp, Jennifer Polins, Dan Bear Davis, Chris O’Connor and Justin Norris. They range from a young Holyoke break-dancer to seasoned artists who have danced for Doug Elkins, Bill Young, Zurich Operahouse Ballet and Dance Generators. Composer Stephen Katz blends techno-electronic rhythms with live cello accompaniment. Lighting design is by Kelly Parsley and video composition by WebHall Studios.

WMD is conceived and produced by Saliq Francis Savage, a teacher of Contact Improvisation, certified Laban Movement Analyst, certified teacher at the School for Body-Mind Centering© and a registered movement therapist. He performs, choreographs, improvises and teaches in North and South America and Europe. Co-director and co-choreographer Jennifer Polins has danced with the Joffrey Ballet, the Milwaukee Ballet, the Zurich Operahouse Ballet, and other American and European Modern Dance companies. She teaches dance, Pilates, Yoga and Gyrotonic and her choreography has been shown in Switzerland, Germany, France, New York, Boston and Taiwan.

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