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What's Coming in 2011

ODU Dept of Dance November Dance Concert
NOVEMBER 13-16, 2011
All shows at 8pm & S
aturday matinee at 2pm
Old Dominion University Faculty Dance Concert
University Dance Theater 49th st. & Hampton Blvd. Norfolk, VA -
-RTG Dance will be showing a solo choreographed by Rachel Thorne Germond and danced by Megan Thompson.

Mnemonic (Under the Rainbow)
is a short solo about the experience of having a memory of a specific place. It is slow moving at times and at others shifts into restlessness with quick precise movements. Critic Laura Molzahn of the Chicago Reader described this solo as Òa perfect balance of reserve and emotionÓ.
Choreography: Rachel Thorne Germond
Performer: Meghan Thompson (Associate Prof. at ODU)
Music: Wonderland Falling

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What's Coming in 2012?

Sunday, February 12, 2012
Sundays at Three- 92nd St. YMCA- Barbara Mahler
Rachel Thorne Gemrond (RTG DANCE) will perform the solo
Scarlett, I Dare Ya
(part of the evening lenght work titled Look at Me)

Sunday Feb. 12 @ 3pm

at 92nd St. Y's Harkness Dance Center Buttenwieser Hall -
92nd St. YMCA
1395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10128

For tickets/info call 212 415 5500

 

 

 

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See the Press & Reviews from our last performances in Chicago May 2010 at the Drucker Center:

 

May 24 Ð See Chicago Dance Website review by Tribune critic Sid Smith:
RTG Dance A Wild Patience Has Taken Me This Far
By Sid Smith
http://seechicagodance.com/company/261#reviews

Turns out that the RTG Dance performance over the weekend at the Drucker Center will be the troupeÕs last for a whileÐartistic head Rachel Thorne Germond will be moving to Virginia for the next two years, joining her partner, whoÕs earned a fellowship. Good for them, bad for us. The modest, threadbare presentation over the weekend, dubbed "A Wild Patience Has Taken Me This Far," ably demonstrated GermondÕs inimitable talents and appeal. She is a stern, unfancy, intellectually enticing artist, tough in her aesthetic, though in a more muted way than, say, Atalee Judy or Jonathan Meyer. "Dance theater" is a buzz phrase of the past couple of decades, but, at SundayÕs performance, I kept thinking instead of "dance drama," in that Germond works in a purely abstract realm and yet mines subtle conflicts and animosities inherent in movement and ensemble configuration. She doesnÕt tell stories, but she explores battles, alliances, break-ups and betrayals, rarely relying on the traditional beauties of flowing contemporary dance. Who her dancers are touching at any given momentÐand whyÐare questions that keep recurring, just as the ever-changing patterns concern human will, control, isolation and even doom much more than aesthetic confection. One compliment a writer can pay her: While the viewer remains most of the time compelled, wondering whatÕs next, her work is very difficult to put into words. The four dancers in "A Wild Patience," the only ensemble piece on last weekendÕs fare, constantly change poses, arrangements and affinities. They begin in two separate pairs. Johannah Wininsky stands beside Celia Weiss Bambara and repeatedly thwarts her ill-fated efforts to move forward. At the other side of the stage, Becky O'Connell watches ominously as Christopher Knowlton threatens to crash himself into the brick wall. Escape, whether real or suicidal, is only ineffectually restrained. Much later, Germond crafts a nifty sequence in which, one by one, each of the foursome gets isolated, one at a time, so that formations of three vs. one keep forming and changing in make-upÐeach, in his or her turn, is outsider. ThatÕs the type of imagistic drama that inhabits "Patience," which quickly melds from set-up to set-up, from mini-drama to mini-drama, with relentless propulsion. Rarely do these dancers indulge in smooth, sweeping dance, though, when they do, itÕs a relief akin to an oasis in a desert. ItÕs not an overstatement to labe Germond uncompromising. Her quartet in "Patience" is a motley crew, by no means an assortment of gorgeous or dainty creatures. In one of two solos on this same program, "Framed," Germond employs her own solid, earthy looks for a kind of "No Exit"-like tone poem involving a woman both partnering with and maybe trapped by an empty picture frame. Here, Germond never utilizes one of her own most appealing aspects, her vulnerable, inviting mien and facial warmth. Instead, her face remains rigid, even defiant, and "Framed," one component of what's intended to be a full-length piece in the future, is austere, vogue-like in its striking poses. She reclines along a diagonal line with the frame at one point, at another she poses with her hand on one hip, executing a brief series of plies. Modest, like much of her work, evolving quickly, changing every moment, it was rarely less than intriguing. Our arts scene needs more, not less, like Germond. So, we implore her, hurry back. Meanwhile, God speed.
Reviewed by Sid Smith on 05/24/2010 at 10:38 AM


photo by Dan Merlo

Previews:
CriticÕs Choice in the Chicago Reader
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/Event?oid=1836667

ItÕs "the end of an era," says RTG artistic director Rachel Thorne Germond, who's about to leave town for Virginia after nearly a decade here. But itÕs also the start of a new one: Germond has drawn on her experience teaching movement to kindergartners to teach herself that simple moves and a patient approach to choreography could pay off for audiences. Two of the three works in "A Wild Patience Has Taken Me This Far,"inspired by the poetry of Adrienne Rich, are often plain and either still or slow moving. TheyÕre also highly evocative. GermondÕs 40-minute quartet, A Wild Patience, was spun off from Fantastic Folk DanceÐa work-in-progress begun in the fall of 2009Ðand carries over its approach in pared down, almost ritualistic movement. Phrases repeat, gather force, and gain new meaning, partly through GermondÕs eclectic pastiche of recorded sound and music, which veers from birdsong to experimental electronic to mainstream techno. Allyson Esposito dances GermondÕs solo This Is Where I Came From with a perfect balance of reserve and emotion. I didnÕt see GermondÕs solo Framed, which she performs herself, but she describes it as having a "warrior feel." ÐLaura Molzahn


Time Out Chicago CriticÕs Choice and Preview Article by Zachary Whittenberg
http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/dance/85713/wild-patience-rachel-thorne-germond



Lucia Mauro -NPR Ôs 848 on WBEZ radio & spot on Examiner.com
http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=42087

 

Thanks to everyone who made the show possible and who came out to see our final Chicago performances.
Hats off to you Chicago! :)

 

 


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