Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance presents Because (Premiere)
Saturday, November 2, 2024, 7pm @ The Clifton Forge Armory, 724 Commercial Avenue, Clifton Forge, VA
Tickets: $20 or PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN online at www.coradance.org/because or at the door.
All ages are welcome!
Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance is proud to present the World Premiere of its latest evening-length site-based work, Because, Saturday, November 2, at 7pm in the gymnasium of The Clifton Forge Armory, 724 Commercial Avenue in Clifton Forge, Virginia. Because is the company’s first evening-length work developed since Cora established dual residency in the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia and New York City where the ensemble was solely based for 25 years. Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance is proud to call the Town of Clifton Forge home to Because and is eager to share this event with the local community!
Because is a dance for gymnasiums, plain and simple. Gyms are emotional spaces of triumph and defeat, intensity and tedium. Gyms are recognizably the same, definitively different, and always timeless. An expansive, existential, and athletic exhibition of sweetness and nostalgia, Because unpacks how, like gymnasiums, we are the same and different through time. Because memory is an act of fantasy as much as a recollection of fact and Because all that is certain is the end, we hope this performance is as beautiful as your very first dance and that you are there to share it with all of us.
Because has been developed over the past year in The Clifton Forge Armory, with the generous support of The Town of Clifton Forge, Virginia. Cora Dance thanks Chuck Unroe and the Clifton Forge community for providing a home for this work. As Because tours throughout the United States over the next two seasons, Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance is excited to acknowledge the support of Clifton Forge as the piece’s home and the place of the work’s development.
Because features both local talent and collaborators from far beyond, with choreography by Founding Artistic Director and Choreographer, Shannon Hummel (Clifton Forge, VA), in collaboration with dancers Nikki Assanti (New York City); Ross Honaker (Lewisburg, WV); Ammara Shafqat (Staunton, VA); and Keon Washington (New York City) performing to an original score by company composer Hans Bilger (Berlin, Germany).
A reception and talk-back between artists and the audience follows the performance. There will be grape soda and Twinkies so stick around!
For tickets and information, contact Cora’s office at (540) 862-5655 X306 or email CDA_info@coradance.org. Tickets are $20 or PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN at www.coradance.org/because or at the door on the night of the event. All ages are welcome!
For interviews, photos, videos, industry comps or other press matters, contact Company Management Assistant, Sarah McCullough at sarah@coradance.org.
Because (Premiere)
- Choreography: Shannon Hummel in collaboration with the dancers
- Dancers/Collaborators: Nikki Assanti, Ross Honaker, Ammara Shafqat, Keon Washington with additional contributions by Katie Dean
- Costumes and Poster Design: Shannon Hummel
- Original Score by Hans Bilger with source material from Fiona Apple, The Alan Parsons Project, The 1999 College of Wooster Scot Marching Band, and Pink Floyd
- Production and Creative Consultant: Severn Clay-Youman
- Production Manager: Tyler Renfroe
- Production Assistant: Mykie Laidlow
- Company Management Assistant: Sarah McCullough
ABOUT CORA DANCE:
Website: WWW.CORADANCE.ORG
Mission: Through its professional company performances and expansive education programs, Cora Dance creates transformative dance experiences while addressing inequities that limit people from bonding deeply with the art form.
History: Founded in 1998, the acclaimed professional dance company Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance performs the work of choreographer and arts educator Shannon Hummel. The company is a dynamic cohort of artists, educators, and community advocates who work collaboratively to create and perform Hummel’s detailed, accessible, and emotionally powerful choreography, both on tour across the United States and in Cora’s two dedicated education hubs: Cora Dance Alleghany in the Alleghany Highlands of VA and Cora Dance Brooklyn in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYC. CDA and CDB offer year-round free and pay-what-you-can dance education rooted in SH/CD’s collaborative process of dance-making. At the center of the education methodology, young artists receive a strong technical foundation while using dance as a tool to grow as performers who value the importance of collaboration, inclusion, and community. Hummel’s choreography resonates with a spirit of shared humanity, an essence that is infused in Cora’s education programs. All Cora programs and performances are free and pay-what-you-can, turning no one away based on their ability to pay. The company’s history of presenting dance in non-traditional spaces further maximizes access, reinventing “every-day” locations in surprising ways that cultivate an appreciation for dance as a vital community asset. For more information on Shannon Hummel or any of Cora Dance’s professional company or education programs, visit www.coradance.org.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND SUPPORT:
Special thanks to Chuck Unroe, the Town of Clifton Forge, and the Clifton Forge Armory for their major support of this event. Thank you to Sean and Lisa Dunster and The Ridgely Bed, Breakfast, and Gardens for providing housing to Cora’s visiting artists and collaborators. The work of the professional company, Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance, and the education programs of Cora Dance Alleghany and Cora Dance Brooklyn, are made possible with the support of public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; New York City Council Member Alexa Avilés; New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes; The Alleghany Foundation; Amazon Community Foundation; Copper-Beech Foundation; The Eberhart Kowal Family Fund; Ingevity; The Abner & Mildred Levine Family Foundation; The M&T Bank Charitable Foundation; The Mertz Gilmore Foundation; Michael Tuch Foundation; O’Connell Organization Family Foundation; Sara Coffey/David Snyder Charitable Fund; Tiger Baron Foundation and Cora’s generous individual donors. The Crossroads Project is offered with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and the 2024 CultureWorks Annual Grants Program. The 2024 CultureWorks Annual Grants Program is made possible through the generosity of Altria Group, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Community Foundation for a Greater Richmond together with local supporters of arts and culture.
