Above: Images from GET OUTSIDE

Below: Images from SANCTUARY MOON

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are pleased to announce the start of our Winter/Spring 2012 Season!

MBDE Performs OUTSIDE MY WINDOW at Stora Salen Theatre in Lulea, Sweden

The Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble will be performing as a guest company on Dance Theater of Harlem's Sunday Matinee Concert Series

Dance Theater of Harlem
Everett Center for the Performing Arts
466 West 152nd Street, New York, NY
Sunday January 8, 2012 at 3 p.m.

We will be presenting Outside My Window, the opening dance from Get Outside, with choreography by Michele Brangwen and music by Tim Hagans.

Beautiful instrumental monologues get a physical interpretation by the dancers and the result is, to say the least, a delight for both eye and ear, a thrilling experience."

-- Anders Sandlund, Piteå-Tidningen

Performers are Robin Gilbert, Mary Beth Hansohn, Cristian Laverde Koenig and Michele Brangwen, dancers. Tim Hagans, trumpet; Seth Paynter, saxophone; Fung Chern Hwei, violin; Scott Lee, bass.

The program will also include performances by celebrated vocalist Carla Harris and students from the Dance Theatre of Harlem Professional Training Program. There will be a reception immediately following the performance.

Tickets and information on the entire program will be available on the Dance Theater of Harlem's website. We hope you will mark your calendars and join us on Sunday January 8 at 3 p.m. We are excited to be a part of this program.

Support for this performance was made possible through NYSCA subsidized rehearsal space at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and the Mark Morris Dance Center

The Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble performs KATSU as part of
FOTOFEST International's 14th Biennial, April 2012

FotoFest, 1113 Vine Street, Houston, TX. April 2012. Dates & Times TBA

The Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble performs KATSU, a new and expanded version of a work designed specifically for FOTOFEST International's historic 1913 Galleries. These performances are presented as part of FOTOFEST International's 14th Biennial: Contemporary Russian Photography.

Photos by Vinod Hopson, FOTOFEST INTERNATIONAL



Please check back for more details on these performances as well as other upcoming concerts by the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble in New York City and Houston.

 

EARLIER THIS SEASON:

TIM HAGANS
THE MOON IS WAITING
2011 Grammy Nominee Tim Hagans CD Release Concert

BIRDLAND, 315 West 44th Street, Thursday October 20, 2011 at 6 p.m.

Tim Hagans Quartet

Tim Hagans: Trumpet
Vic Juris: Guitar
Rufus Reid: Bass
Jukkis Uotila: Drums

All Compositions by Tim Hagans

The first three compositions on THE MOON IS WAITING were commissioned by the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble for a project, Get Outside, involving both film and live performance.

 

CONFUSION OF ANGELS


The SHAPESHIFTER LAB presents 3 Short Films by the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble With Live Jazz By Tim Hagans and Matt Garrison.

SHAPESHIFTER LAB
18 Whitwell Place, Brooklyn, 11215
Sunday July 31, 2011

Admission is Free

The ShapeShifter Lab presents 3 short films by the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble: GET OUTSIDE, SANCTUARY MOON, and CONFUSION OF ANGELS. The screening will be followed by live jazz with trumpeter Tim Hagans and bassist Matt Garrison. Sunday July 31 at 6 p.m. at the ShapeShifter Lab, 18 Whitwell Place, Brooklyn, NY. Click here for directions.

The Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble is a contemporary dance company known for its use of live original music in performance, and the integration of musicians into the visual imagery. The Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble has performed in New York, Chicago, Austin, Houston, and in several cities in Sweden.

GET OUTSIDE (2009, 15 minutes) is a short film created by the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble in collaboration with the Norrbotten Big Band, an innovative jazz ensemble based in Luleå, Sweden. GET OUTSIDE features choreography by Michele Brangwen and a score by 3-times Grammy nominated jazz composer/trumpeter Tim Hagans. It was filmed on location in Luleå and explores the idea that protecting one’s internal and external environment are parts of the same process.

SANCTUARY MOON (2008, 10 minutes) is a short film conceived and choreographed by Michele Brangwen, with music by Seth Paynter. The film explores the idea that perhaps our unfinished thoughts and actions—represented here by fragments of movement and sound—have a power, beauty, and significant consequences—personally, politically—that we don’t realize.

CONFUSION OF ANGELS (2006, 12 minutes) is a short film conceived and choreographed by Michele Brangwen, with music by Thomas Helton. It was filmed in the Rothko Chapel at sculptor Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk and Reflecting Pool. Commissioned by Houston’s Dia de los Muertos Festival, the film was a response to the growing number of casualties in the Middle East.

2011 Grammy-nominated composer and trumpeter Tim Hagans is one of the most unique and influential modern voices in jazz. Mr. Hagans performs and records with the Tim Hagans Quartet, and with Bob Belden, Joe Lovano, Blue Note All-Stars, Gary Peacock, Yellowjackets, and Bob Mintzer. He was nominated for Grammy awards for Best Instrumental Composition for “Box of Cannoli” on The Avatar Sessions (2010 Fuzzy Music); Best Contemporary Jazz CD for Re: Animation (2000 Blue Note) and Animation*Imagination (1999 Blue Note).

Electric bassist and composer Matt Garrison was recently described as one of the top 20 most influential bass tones (Bass Player Magazine). He has performed, toured and recorded with Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Chaka Khan, Pino Daniele, Meshell Ndege Ocello, Joni Mitchell, Whitney Houston, Wayne Shorter, Jack Dejohnette, Steve Coleman, Rita Marcotulli, Bill Cosby, Paul Simon, Cassandra Wilson, Wallace Roney, Geri Allen, Gary Thomas, John Mclaughlin, Pat Metheny, The Gil Evans Orchestra, Tito Puente, Mike Gibbs, John Scofield, and the Saturday Night Live Band. He recently completed a tour of Japan, China and Taiwan with his own Matt Garrison Band.

Matt Garrison is the creator of the ShapeShifter Lab, an exciting new venue located in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn. Matt Garrison is the son of Jimmy Garrison, who was the bassist for John Coltrane from the quartet days of A Love Supreme to the final recordings. Continuing in his father’s tradition of innovation, Matt Garrison is exploring new ways of writing and performing music, developing new interactive performance technology, and cultivating an environment for collaboration and experimentation. He and ShapeShifter Lab director Fortuna Sung have created a bold new venue for performance that pushes the boundaries and explores new ideas and new territory.

Sunday July 31
Time: 6 p.m.
Admission is Free

Click Here For Directions!

SHAPESHIFTER LAB
18 Whitwell Place, Brooklyn, NY 11215
ShapShifter Lab telephone: 646.820.9452


www.shapeshifterlab.com



RECENT NEWS:

The Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble Announces Residency at the New ShapeShifter Lab in New York City, July through November 2011

We are pleased to announce that the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble will be Artist in Residence at the ShapeShifter Lab, a new multidisciplinary performance space located in New York City. The ShapeShifter Lab is the unique vision of celebrated bassist and composer Matt Garrison.

Matt Garrison is the son of Jimmy Garrison, who was the bassist for John Coltrane from days of A Love Supreme to Coltrane’s final recordings. Continuing in his father’s tradition of innovation, Matt Garrison is exploring new ways of writing and performing music, developing interactive performance technology, and cultivating an environment for collaboration and experimentation. He and ShapeShifter Lab Director Fortuna Sung have created a bold new venue for performance that pushes boundaries and explores new territory.

We will begin our residency this summer with a special film screening on Sunday, July 31 and the commencement of a new film project that will continue into the fall 2011.

Tim Hagans Nominated For A 2011 Grammy

We wanted to share with you the exciting news that composer and trumpeter Tim Hagans, one of the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble's core collaborators, has been nominated for a 2011 Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition for "Box of Cannoli" from the CD: THE AVATAR SESSIONS (Fuzzy Music 2010). We hope you share in our elation!

Listen to "Box of Cannoli" at www.timhagans.com

Purchase THE AVATAR SESSIONS by going to www.fuzzymusic.com

Or visit our contribute page and get the CD as a donor perk!