Margaret Jenkins Dance Company Celebrates 40 Years with Times Bones, September 13 and 14

Thursday, August 8, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Sarah Snyder
ssnyder3@umd.edu
301.405.8151

College Park, MD — Dance master Margaret Jenkins celebrates the 40th anniversary of her company at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on September 13 and 14 at 8 pm with the world premiere of Times Bones. A special prelude will begin in the Center’s Grand Pavilion at 7:30 pm and move to the Kay Theatre, drawing the audience along in an actual — as well as a metaphorical — journey. Join the artists for a Talk Back following the Friday, September 13 performance.

During a one-week residency leading up to the performance, members of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company (MJDC) will work with students from the UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and the UMD School of Music.

About Times Bones

Inspired by the myth of the “scattered bones of Osiris,” Jenkins, with her dancers and collaborators, gathers the “bones” of her past repertory to assemble a new dance. This introspective excavation challenges the dancers to examine 40 years of movement and inspiration.

Jenkins notes, “In creating Times Bones, I asked myself what of the 75 dances I have made endure, continue to resonate, and, if called forward, suggest the spine of a new work? Artistically, this project challenges all of my collaborators and myself to examine not just movement, language and music that have either recurred or been left behind throughout these 40 years, but also impetuses, inspirations and structures that have driven past work and now this dance in particular. Times Bones is an introspective excavation of the essential “bones” of past work, as well as a homage to all the dancers and other collaborators who have come together over time and left their enduring mark on the work, the creative process, and on me!”

Times Bones is created in collaboration with the MJDC dancers, composer Paul Dresher, visual designer Alexander V. Nichols and poet Michael Palmer and features live music by the Paul Dresher Ensemble.

About Margaret Jenkins Dance Company

The Margaret Jenkins Dance Company was founded in 1973 and has been a part of the cultural fabric of San Francisco for four decades—dedicated to the making and touring of new work, international exchange and programs that support process, choreographic mentorship and performance opportunities. The company performs regularly in San Francisco and has toured extensively in the United States, Western and Eastern Europe and Asia.

The MJDC is known for programs that serve to expand the health of the dance field like Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange (CHIME), a mentorship program for emerging and established choreographers. CHIME is now in its ninth year and has served over a hundred artists in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California. The MJDC operates a studio devoted to creative research, the Margaret Jenkins Dance Lab, which hosts the MJDC creative activities, CHIME and other long- and short-term artistic residencies. After the world premiere of Times Bones, and in celebration of the Company’s 40th Anniversary Season in 2013-14, the MJDC will present the West Coast Premiere of Times Bones and the world premiere of a new collaboration with the Kolben Dance Company of Jerusalem at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

Tickets

More information can be found on our website. Tickets for this performance are $30/$10 (Regular/Students), and can be purchased online or by calling (301) 405-ARTS (2787).

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Located on the University of Maryland campus and a part of the College of Arts and Humanities, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is a premier presenting arts venue and collaborative laboratory shared by the School of Music (SOM), the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) and the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library. The Center made its debut in 2001 and has grown into a national model for campus performing arts centers, presenting performances and programs by visiting artists as well as by students and faculty of SOM and TDPS in an environment of creative learning, exploration and growth. The Center remains active in the larger university community through its innovative partnerships and extraordinary experiences.

The presentation of Times Bones was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. An agency of the Department of Business & Economic Development, the MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities. Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.