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MATCH 2022
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Photo by Ashley Kahn

2022-2023 Season of Performances

Ivesian Arts presents

MICHELE BRANGWEN DANCE ENSEMBLE
Rooftop Concert

Saturday September 17, 2022 at 6 p.m.
Sunday September 18, 2022 at 6 p.m.
Advance Purchase Of Tickets Is Required

TICKETS:
https://michele-brangwen-dance-ensemble.square.site/

Diego Salazar Artist Studios
21-25 44th Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101

Please join us for these special performances where the live dance and music will surround you in this beautiful open air venue, with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop. Stay after with a complimentary beverage and watch the sunset.

We will be performing a special version of "Asa Nisi Masa" configured for live performance. The idea behind this work, with its secular riff on the Tibetan prayer flag, is to send good  and comforting thoughts out to all spaces. Come and be a part of this special work that features choreography by Michele Brangwem; music by Danielle Reich, Thomas Helton & Tim Hagans, with movement and music created in the moment by all performers.

The program will also include our ecstatic "Unending," the wildest work in our repertoire, with choreography by Michele Brangwem, music by Tim Hagans, and  movement and music created in the moment by all performers.

There has been so much sadness and loss, we wanted to present a joyous and healing program. Performers are Meredith Fages, Cristian Laverde König, Michele Brangwen, dancers; Tim Hagans, trumpet; Michael Eaton, saxophones;  Kyle Motl, bass; Daniel Prim, drums. 

PLEASE NOTE OUR COVID 19 POLICY:
For the safety of our artists, staff and audience members, all attendees must show proof of vaccination to enter that matches your ID.
This is an open air venue, but masks must be worn in the lobby and elevator to the venue. There is an elevator to the 4th floor and then one flight of stairs to the roof. We apologize that the roof is not wheelchair accessible.

















Photo by Ashley Kahan

MICHELE BRANGWEN DANCE & MUSIC ENSEMBLE
IN CONCERT

Sunday November 20, 2022 at 7 p.m.
Midtown Arts & Theatre Center Houston
MATCH Matchbox 2
3400 Main Street
Houston, TX 77002

Click Here For Tickets
Please note our COVID-19 policies for this performance. Masks are required for all audience members. 

The Michele Brangwen Dance & Music Ensemble will perform "Asa Nisi Masa" a new work that takes its title from the childhood incantation spoken in Federico Fellini's film "8 1/2." The phrase Asa Nisi Masa conjures a beautiful memory for the main character in the film of a time filled with compassion and love. "Asa Nisi Masa," with choreography and costumes by Michele Brangwen and music composed by Danielle Reich, Thomas Helton and Tim Hagans, also features movement and music created spontaneously in the moment by all performers.

The program will also include our ecstatic "Unending," the wildest work in our repertoire, with choreography by Michele Brangwem, music by Tim Hagans, and  movement and music created in the moment by all performers.

There has been so much sadness and loss, we wanted to present a joyous and healing program. Performers are Lindsey McGill, Cristian Laverde König, Michele Brangwen, dancers; Tim Hagans, trumpet; Michael Eaton, saxophones;  Thomas Helton, bass; Sam Knight, drums.
Click Here To Buy Tickets















LIVESTREAM FOR THE WINTER SOLSTICE

Facebook.com/brangwendance 6 p.m. EST (5 p.m. CST)
YouTube.com/brangwendance 8 p.m. EST (7 p.m. CST)

 

We will begin with the premiere of Verakan Dance, a new short dance & music film that features music from the Secret Saknussemm Orchestra of Denmark: Martin Cholewa, french horn; Martin Christoffersen, electric bass-guitar; Peter Knudsen, electric guitar; Søren Laursen, prepared guitar; Mads Ljungdahl, drums.

 

The title Verakan Dance is an almost anagram for the word caravan, and is both a nod to the famous tune Caravan by Juan Tizol & Duke Ellington, and also the meaning of the word, which is to journey together.

 

The lone dancer embarks on the sinuous journey of this amazing music from the Secret Saknussemm Orchestra, exploding with them in energy and joy at the end. I choreographed this work during the omicron surge in NY and for me working daily with this celebratory music helped keep me in touch with the beauty and energy of life; it is my hope when you watch it that you will feel the infectious energy and want to dance with it.

 

We will also screen To Your Constant Embrace, The Cloud Stream Sways, a dance and music film that premiered in March of 2021. This short film speaks to the idea of being alone together. It invites the viewer into an overlapping world of interaction across 5 cities in 4 different countries. It features choreography by Michele Brangwen, music by Danielle Reich, with music and movement created in the moment by all eight performers: Robin Gilbert, Yuritzi Govea, Cristian Laverde König, Michele Brangwen, dancers; Danielle Reich, voice; Tim Hagans, trumpet; Thomas Helton, bass; Anders Mogensen, drums.

 

We realize that many people now are able to travel and spend time with loved ones, but not everyone has the resources or the opportunity to be together during this time. Art allows us to mine the layers of our lives, and find anew these moments of closeness that remain with us always wherever we might find ourselves. This work was designed as a bit of comfort and togetherness, a releasing, if you will, of the sadness.

 

I described it in our blog at the time of its premiere as a diaphanous and momentary HEPA filter for the emotional self. You can read the full blog which describes the inspiration and the imagery in the film by visiting our blog, or listen to our podcast version with Tim Hagans commenting on trumpet.

 

Our music director Tim Hagans and myself will introduce the two films and respond to your questions and comments on camera after the screening. Please come on by and share your thoughts with us during this time, or just say hello and where you are watching from. It is always great to connect with you in this way.

MICHELE BRANGWEN DANCE & MUSIC ENSEMBLE  Presents

THE TIM HAGANS QUARTET

TIM HAGANS, trumpet

REZ ABBASI, guitar

THOMAS HELTON, bass

SAM KNIGHT, drums

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday February 17, 2023 at 8 p.m.

Midtown Arts & Theatre Center Houston (MATCH) Matchbox 2
3400 Main StreetHouston, TX 77002

Click here for tickets:

https://matchouston.org/events/2023/tim-hagans-quartet

MORE IN 2023:

We are pleased to announce that we will be premiering a new dance & music work in 2023 in New York City at the wonderful Duffy Theater at the Mark Morris Dance Center, in Houston at the beautiful Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston, and in Stony Brook, NY at the innovative and always exciting Jazz Loft. We will provide more details about these performances soon.

Thanks for staying with us!

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All Digital 2020-2021 Season! 

October 11, 18 & 25, 2020

Online Premiere of 

ORCHID PEOPLE

Livestream introduction and post premiere audience interaction: 
 

Sunday October 11 at 5 p.m. EST
facebook.com/brangwendance

Sunday October 18 at 5 p.m. EST
youtube.com/brangwendance

 

Sunday October 25 at 5 p.m. EST
youtube.com/brangwendance &
Zoom.Us


FREE

 

After the film on October 25, we will take a 5 minute break to launch a Zoom meeting where we invite you to join us for a discussion of the creative process, and solutions for working within the limitations of this time. 

 

Michele Brangwen and Tim Hagans will be joined by dancer Yuritzi Govea and drummer/composer Anders Mogensen, and other guests. The meeting will be streamed to our YouTube channel so you can watch the discussion, or you can participate directly by registering for the meeting in advance. 

 

The idea of the meeting is to talk about creating. You can ask us questions, or tell us what you are working on. 

 

To participate directly in the meeting please email info@brangwendance.org 

with Zoom in the subject line. Please tell us your full name. Feel free to share with us if you are an audience member or an artist yourself. We will send you a link to join after the film screening. Registration needs to be received by 1 p.m. Sunday October 25.
 

"Orchid People" is a new dance and music film from the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble that explores the mysterious power and whirlwind energy that can be found in the most delicate and fragile things. 
 

The 13 minute short features choreography, editing and costumes by Michele Brangwen and music composed by Anders Mogensen, Thomas Helton and Tim Hagans in collaboration with each other. 
 

Michele Brangwen writes: "When we began this project, the goal was to keep creating together. I  wanted to try to make as developed an artistic statement as possible while at the same time keeping everyone safe. We began a 17 week rehearsal period via Zoom in late April 2020 and then during August, I filmed the dancers and trumpeter Tim Hagans separately in an outdoor location. Bassist Thomas Helton filmed himself in Houston, TX and Anders Mogensen was filmed in Odense, Denmark. We had all been working with each other for years so I hoped the poetry of our connection to each other could transcend the limitations of the digital format. "Orchid People" explores the idea that power can be found in fragility. I believe there is incredible strength in delicacy and it can give us energy. My premise, in a manner of speaking, was "what if orchids were super heroes? What would that be like?" 

 

 "Orchids take a long time to bloom, so much so that when buds appear it seems that they will surely fall off the stem long before they open. One is convinced no plant could take that long to bloom. And then one day, the buds are suddenly open and stunningly spectacular. The orchid takes its own time, showing us the merit of patience and another concept of time. The second section of the film explores the slowness of orchid buds to open. For this movement, the dancers and trumpeter are filmed in front of these beautiful old water towers in Long Island City. The water tower symbolizes the hope that we may find ways to nourish and sustain ourselves and each other during the time of remaining closed. It is also meant to symbolize that there are currents of energy at work that we can't always see or understand, but we can sense."

Performed by Robin Gilbert, Yuritzi Govea, Cristian Laverde König, Michele Brangwen, dancers; Anders Mogensen, drums; Thomas Helton, bass; Tim Hagans, trumpet.

 

"Orchid People" was made possible in part by a Dance NYC Coronavirus Relief Grant.

#Artists are still here! #StaySafe #StayStrong #OrchidPeople

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 7 & 14, 2021

Online Premiere of

TO YOUR CONSTANT EMBRACE, THE CLOUD STREAM SWAYS
 

Livestream introduction and post-premiere audience interaction: 
 

Sunday March 7 at 5 p.m. EST
facebook.com/brangwendance

Sunday March 14 at 5 p.m. EST
youtube.com/brangwendance

FREE


"To Your Constant Embrace, The Cloud Stream Sways" is a new dance and music film from the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble that speaks to our current condition of being alone together, and invites us into an inspiring and overlapping world of interaction across 5 cities in 4 different countries. The 13 minute short features choreography, editing and costumes by Michele Brangwen and music composed and arranged by Danielle Reich.


We wanted to create a new work that would be an invitation to release some of the sadness, an invitation to experience a kind of universal togetherness that exists from our shared humanity, something comforting and welcoming.

We realized when we began this project that two dancers would be soon out of the country helping family members in need, so we decided to have them film themselves dancing where they would be. It was so exciting to find that these acts of love on their part would result in these beautiful and contrasting locations being a part of the film. Our ensemble has members who reside in New York City, Houston, TX and Odense, Denmark. This new project also included footage from Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Mexico and Cali, Colombia.

"To Your Constant Embrace, The Cloud Stream Sways" is performed by Robin Gilbert, Yuritzi Govea, Cristian Laverde König, Michele Brangwen, dancers; Danielle Reich, voice; Tim Hagans, trumpet; Thomas Helton, bass; Anders Mogensen, drums. 


 


 

SUMMER, 2021

Online Premiere of

ASA NISI MASA
 

Livestream introduction and post-premiere audience interaction: 
 

Sunday September 19 at 6 p.m. EST
facebook.com/brangwendance

Sunday September 26 at 6 p.m. EST
youtube.com/brangwendance

FREE

Asa Nisi Masa is a new dance and music film from the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble that takes its title from the childhood incantation spoken in Federico Fellini's film "8 1/2." The phrase Asa Nisi Masa conjures a beautiful memory for the main character in the film of a time filled with compassion and love.  

 

Asa Nisi Masa, with choreography, editing and costumes by Michele Brangwen and music composed by Danielle Reich, Thomas Helton and Tim Hagans, also features movement and music created spontaneously in the moment by all performers. Dancers Robin Gilbert, Cristian Laverde König and Michele Brangwen; saxophonists Robin Verheyen and Jon Irabagon; trumpeter Tim Hagans; bassist Thomas Helton and vocalist Danielle Reich, interact with each other live on a rooftop in NYC. 

 

The idea behind the film was to create a kind of dance and music incantation and send it out into the world. Asa Nisi Masa was the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble's first time working together in person as a fully vaccinated ensemble. For previous projects during the pandemic they had rehearsed only via Zoom and filmed each artist separately for safety.  

 

The final section of the film is Brangwen's secular take on the idea of the Tibetan prayer flag. Brangwen writes: "The idea behind the prayer flag is not that the person who hangs it is asking the wind to carry a request for something, but rather seeking to send goodness out into all spaces. I feel we are now in a time where we need to send as much goodness and healing energy out into our fractured world as possible. Part of the costume that each performer wears becomes a flag at the end. I wanted to try and make the flag feel very personal."

 

Brangwen explains: "Nothing in the film's central section of improvisations was preplanned or mapped out, and we only did one take, so gusts of wind sometimes hit the mics, helicopters buzz by, and performers sometimes edge out of the frame, but for me that only added to the immediacy and honesty of the moment. What emerged were these incredible moments like dancer Cristian Laverde König, with trumpeter Tim Hagans and saxophonist Robin Verheyen, seeming to take every note of the musicians' effusive call into his body and in the end, trading riffs with them as if his body were a third horn. Dancer Robin Gilbert and the same two musicians tell a mysterious story that seems full of pathos and longing, culminating in Ms. Gilbert drawing the two musicians into her in an engulfing embrace. To me, this is magic."

 

Some people feel Fellini was sending a hidden message in the phrase Asa Nisi Masa, using an Italian form of pig Latin which adds a "sa" and a "si" to words in order to disguise them. If you take the roots of each word in the phrase Asa Nisi Masa, the letters form the word Anima, which is the Italian word for soul. Brangwen writes: "This act of creating dance and music together is part of our soul, so what better thing could we send out into the world. This is what we have to offer and we send it with love."

2019 Season

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7/19-20/2019

DANCING THE BLUE HOUR
Friday July 19 at 8 p.m.
Saturday July 20 at 8 p.m.
MATCH, Matchbox 2, 3400 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002
Tickets:https://matchouston.org/events/2019/dancing-blue-hour
$20 General Admission   $15 Students & Seniors
$5 Art For All Tickets (25 per performance)
$35 Patron Tickets
Listen to our latest podcast: A Slip's Journey Into "Dancing The Blue Hour"
Dancing the Blue Hour is a new dance and music performance work that explores what happens when people come together to experience the blue hour. Journey with us to a field in the French countryside, where crickets and night birds transport us from our frenetic daytime world to the softness of a summer night and communicate that a special time is approaching when the magic will be ours. 
 
Dancing the Blue Hour features choreography & costumes by Michele Brangwen; music by nationally-known composer & bassist Thomas Helton and by Grammy-nominated composer & trumpeter Tim Hagans; and text by all performers. This is our most unique and experimental work yet, with the audience having the opportunity to engage and connect to the performance in new ways. Dancing the Blue Hour seeks to conjure the magic of a special shared experience with each performance. 
 
The blue hour is the time just before sunrise at the end of the night, when the sky is a magnificent blue. Eric Rohmer's short film L'Heure Bleue (from his Quatre Aventures De Reinette Et Mirabelle) focuses on the moment when the birds, crickets and creatures of the night cease to make noise as they sense the morning coming, and at the same time the creatures of the day are quiet as they have not yet sensed the sunrise. The intensity of feeling about this time by the characters in the film suggests that there is something special about experiencing the blue hour together.
 
Dancing The Blue Hour is performed by Robin Gilbert Campos, Yuritzi Govea & Michele Brangwen, dancers; Danielle Reich Seale, voice; Tim Hagans, trumpet; Thomas Helton, bass; Joe Hertenstein, drums. The program will also include new music from the Danielle Reich Quartet. Lighting Design by Kris Phelps. 
 
The premiere of Dancing The Blue Hour is made possible in part by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance. The commission of Dancing the Blue Hour was made possible by Joyce M. Freeman, Kevin Hogg, and Rufus & Doris Reid.
DANCING THE BLUE HOUR
Friday July 19 at 8 p.m.
Saturday July 20 at 8 p.m.
MATCH, Matchbox 2, 3400 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002
Tickets:https://matchouston.org/events/2019/dancing-blue-hour
$20 General Admission   $15 Students & Seniors
$5 Art For All Tickets (25 per performance)
$35 Patron Tickets

 

 

 

 

 

9/26/2019

Ivesian Arts Presents The Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble

in a Pop-Up Performance at Diego Salazar Artist Studios

21-25 44th Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101

Thursday September 26, 2019 at 7 p.m.

 

Please join us for this intimate performance program at the twilight hour in the beautiful windowed Diego Salazar Artist Studios. The program will include excerpts from "Dancing The Blue Hour." Seating is limited. Advance purchase recommended. Click Here To Buy Tickets. 

ROBIN GILBERT CAMPOS, YURITZI GOVEA, MICHELE BRANGWEN dancers

TIM HAGANS tromba

ROBIN VERHEYEN sax

JAY ANDERSON bass

Listen to our latest podcast: A Slip's Journey Into "Dancing The Blue Hour"

Tickets:

$20 General  

$15 Students & Seniors (Steps or Mark Morris Dance Center Card)

$35 Patron Tickets

$100 Fall Season Sponsor

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS

 

11/22-23, 2019

THE JAZZ LOFT, Stony Brook, NY

Tickets: 

www.thejazzloft.org

Dancing the Blue Hour is a new dance and music performance work that explores what happens when people come together to experience the blue hour. Journey with us to a field in the French countryside, where crickets and night birds transport us from our frenetic daytime world to the softness of a summer night and communicate that a special time is approaching when the magic will be ours. 
 
Dancing the Blue Hour features choreography & costumes by Michele Brangwen; music by nationally-known composer & bassist Thomas Helton and by Grammy-nominated composer & trumpeter Tim Hagans; and text by all performers. This is our most unique and experimental work yet, with the audience having the opportunity to engage and connect to the performance in new ways. Dancing the Blue Hour seeks to conjure the magic of a special shared experience with each performance. 
 
The blue hour is the time just before sunrise at the end of the night, when the sky is a magnificent blue. Eric Rohmer's short film L'Heure Bleue (from his Quatre Aventures De Reinette Et Mirabelle) focuses on the moment when the birds, crickets and creatures of the night cease to make noise as they sense the morning coming, and at the same time the creatures of the day are quiet as they have not yet sensed the sunrise. The intensity of feeling about this time by the characters in the film suggests that there is something special about experiencing the blue hour together.
 
Dancing The Blue Hour is performed by Robin Gilbert Campos, Yuritzi Govea & Michele Brangwen, dancers; Danielle Reich, voice; Tim Hagans, trumpet; Thomas Helton, bass; Anders Mogenson, drums. The program will also include new music from the Tim Hagans/Danielle Reich Quartet with special guests.
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