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| Twelfth Anniversary: The Puzzle and The Path: New dances to live Music |
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Denver, Colorado – SPEAKING
OF DANCE is pleased to announce that we will hold the Winter 2004 Session of
our community program in Capitol Hill, "Building Community Through Dance."
SOD has just completed the Fall Session of the sixth year of this highly successful
program of free dance workshops in which neighborhood residents of all ages
work together to use the art of dancemaking as a vehicle to enhance community-building.
During the first five and a half years, over 1,000 children and adults have
attended workshops. Over 4,000 audience members have attended the free final
performances choreographed and danced by participants at the end of the winter
session each year. Participants report that their lives change as a result of
the programs. They develop trust in others, increase their self-esteem, and
create stunning, heart-felt, original choreography. People of all ages create
enduring intergenerational friendships, and children increase their school attendance
and improve academically.
The Winter 2004 Session of the workshops will run for eight weeks beginning
in January 2004. No previous dance experience is necessary. Workshop sites include
Del Pueblo, Moore, Swansea and Cheltenham Elementary Schools, Lake Middle School,
East High School, and the First Unitarian Church. The workshops teach dance
and community building skills through the group process in a safe environment,
and participants use them to tell their own stories in their own way. Our final
performances of "Opposing Forces: A Search for Peace" will take place
on March 20 and 121, 2003, at the Temple Events Center Uptown. For information
about participation, please call 303-722-0902. No previous dance experience
is necessary.
SOD is a community-based dance organization with considerable experience collaborating
with neighborhood organizations to achieve common goals. SOD Artistic Director
and choreographer Deborah Reshotko and her dance company work with Capitol Hill
residents to use art to build bridges between individuals and groups. SOD has
received two National Endowment for the Arts grants in recognition of our outstanding
community arts work.
This community development project is funded in part by generous grants from
the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, the City and County of Denver,
Xcel Energy, Wells Fargo Bank, the Denver Foundation, Target Stores, Capitol
Hill United Ministries, and the Janus Foundation. Performance and rehearsal
space has been donated by the Temple Events Center Uptown, a non-profit organization
whose mission is to support arts and culture in the Metro area. Workshop space
has been donated by the First Unitarian Church.
# # # #
Calendar:
Free community-based intergenerational dance workshops. Teens and Adults, Thursday
evenings, 7:00-8:30 p.m., January 15-March 4, First Unitarian Church, 1400 Lafayette
Street, Denver. No dance experience necessary. Rehearsals on Saturday mornings
for kids eight and older, teens and adults, January to March for performances
on March 20 and 21. Call SPEAKING OF DANCE, 303-722-0902, for information about
workshops and rehearsals and to register.