Culture Shock Miami, FUNDarte and Miami-Dade County Auditorium Present Companhia Urbana de Dança
Miami, Florida (PRWEB) March 09, 2016 -- In its expanded role of presenter of quality performing arts, Culture Shock Miami joins forces with FUNDarte and Miami-Dade County Auditorium to present the contemporary Brazilian dance company, Companhia Urbana de Dança, on Saturday, March 26, 2016 at 9:00 PM in the Mid-Stage Theatre of Miami-Dade County Auditorium.
Founded in 2005 by Sonia Destri Lie, the Brazilian dancer and choreographer of Italian descent, Companhia Urbana de Dança is a dance troupe in the hip-hop genre, which has achieved increasing international recognition. The company features works that creatively embrace elements of hip-hop, b-boying, contemporary dance, and also Brazilian social dances. Lie has recruited and trained dancers from Rio's favelas, whatever their social or ethnic backgrounds.
Watch a video trailer of Companhia Urbana de Dança: https://youtu.be/AkTPKM4fhLQ
Based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Companhia Urbana de Dança returns to Miami-Dade County performing two works from their diverse repertory, featuring choreography by Artistic Director Sonia Destri Lie: NÊGO (I. You. We. All Black) and Chapa Quente.
The New York Times described Companhia Urbana de Dança, “Classic hip-hop moves are visible — the rippling of arms, the rolling on backs — yet they have been stretched and shaped into something new.”
In addition to its performance, Companhia Urbana de Dança will also include a Professional Workshop for Dancers of all levels on Monday, March 28, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. and a special performance for public schools on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. All additional events will take place at Miami-Dade County Auditorium. For more information about the workshop and registration, please contact Niurca Marquez at niurca(at)fundarte(dot)us or 786.252.1544
Freely mixing urban street styles, social dances, and thought-provoking contemporary vocabulary, the audacious and dynamic Companhia Urbana de Dança unleashes startlingly new forms for a truly moving experience. This poetic and explosive company stuns with stamina-testing solos and jaw-dropping group movement that defies the limits of physicality while retaining choreographic rigor. Chapa Quente has been described as a work that finds sensuality in strength and an exploration of how momentum can extend into many directions at once (NY Times). NÊGO (I. You. We. All Black), whose underpinnings are so controversial the company was asked to change it’s name when it first debuted in the US so that it would not be misunderstood, is a work whose movements originate in corporeal personality of each of the dancers when it is confronted and merged with that of the others. These two works conceived and choreographed by director Sonia Destri Lie, are ripe with bodies that talk about violence, about the fight for freedom, for the right to write a different history, different to the one that the narrow streets of the favelas seem to be leading to.
$5 tickets for ages 13-22 at CultureShockMiami.com
Full price Tickets through Miamidadecountyauditorium.org: $30
$5 tickets for ages 13-22 exclusively at CultureShockMiami.com. Full price Tickets through Miamidadecountyauditorium.org and Ticketmaster.com: $30 and $25 for Seniors 65 years and older or through the Auditorium box office by (305) 547-5414. $5 Culture Shock Miami tickets are not sold through the Miami-Dade County Auditorium Box Office or through Miamidadecountyauditorium.org or Ticketmaster.com. Culture Shock Miami ticket sales for this performance end on Friday, March 25, 2016 at 11:59 PM. No $5 tickets are available through the Auditorium box office on the day of the performance.
About the Artistic Director
Sonia Destri Lie is the artistic director and choreographer of Companhia Urbana de Dança. Receiving her degrees in both psychology and ballet has rendered her a unique perspective on human expression and human form. Destri had travelled throughout Brazil and Europe after completing her studies, working in dance, theatre, film, and musicals. It was then when she discovered hip-hop and b-boying dance. She had defined her unique and refreshing interpretation of these styles by infusing them with the rich cultural influences of Brazil and the favelas from within. Her works creatively embrace elements of of hip-hop, b-boying, contemporary dance, and also Brazilian social dances. Destris choreography has been cited as a significant contribution to the field of dance, She generates an entirely new genre that coincidentally returns a greater appreciation for existing dance styles and the significance of sociocultural influences. Media and contemporaries reviews of her performances are nothing short of spectacular. She received the Best Script Award by the Ford Foundation, the Staging Award 2011 by the State of Rio de Janeiro for the show Eu Danco, the FADA Award by the City Hall of Rio deianeiro (2012, 2013 and 2014), and the Best Choreography Award by Conseil International de la Danse (CID Unesco).
About the Company
When Companhia Urbana de Dança made its US debut at New York City Center in 2010, the eyes of even the most 'been-there-saw-that' critics opened wide with amazement. Destris boldly original mix of contemporary Brazilian dance and hip-hop infused both forms with new rigor, meditative one moment, explosive the next. Locating the true heart of hip-hop, Destri strips it of its easy tricks, bringing it back to its original emotional depth, expressive range, and poetic integrity.
Founded in Brazil in 2004/2005 by dancer Tiago Sousa and choreographer and artistic director Sonia Destri Lie, Companhia Urbana de Dança is an ensemble of Street performers working to foster the human experience through dance. Destri's experience traveling through Europe for work in theater and film exposed her to hip-hop and b-boy techniques. Highly influenced by Brazilian street forms, she began to integrate these techniques into her already established contemporary movement sensibility. Pulling from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro where many of her company members grew up, Companhia Urbana de Dança aims to transcend cultural boundaries, while showcasing eclectic skill sets. The work of Companhia Urbana de Danca brings its dancers' identities, testimonials, and attitudes to the stage, and it does that with a 11 carioca", Afro-Brazilian accent, which is nevertheless universal. The group is firmly positioned in the most contemporary urban dance scene in Brazil and internationally. It highlights the talents of young black, and poor Brazilians in the modern world, from an affirming and pluralist stance.
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About Culture Shock Miami ( http://www.cultureshockmiami.com )
CultureShockMiami.com, a program of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, provides an affordable and attractive way to encourage high school and college students ages 13-22 to buy tickets to the rich variety of cultural events. The program is designed to introduce this next generation of audience members to live arts and cultural experiences at the age when they are beginning to make their own decisions about entertainment options. Based on research that shows most people begin their appreciation for the arts at a young age, CultureShockMiami.com is founded on the premise that when kids make the arts a regular entertainment choice, they are more likely to become the full-price ticket buyers and subscribers of the future.
CultureShockMiami.com’s Program Partners include African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, Miami-Dade County Auditorium, South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, TicketWeb.com, the Miami-Dade County Public School System, local arts organizations, and area colleges and universities.
Throughout the year, many Miami-Dade museums and cultural sites make two-for-$5 admission passes available to CultureShockMiami.com visitors. They include The Wolfsonian, Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Perez Art Museum Miami, HistoryMiami, ZooMiami, Bass Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, and many more.
Culture Shock Miami was inaugurated in 2005-06 by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, with a generous grant from The John S. & James L. Knight Foundation. Since then, it has sold over 60,000 tickets through its website http://www.CultureShockMiami.com. A core group of arts organizations participate regularly in the program, including Actors' Playhouse, Adrienne Arsht Center, Cleveland Orchestra Miami, Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet, New World Symphony, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, and ZooMiami. The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council develop cultural excellence, diversity and participation throughout Miami-Dade County by strategically creating and promoting opportunities for artists and cultural organizations, and our residents and visitors who are their audiences. The Department directs the Art in Public Places program and serves its board, the Art in Public Places Trust, commissioning, curating, maintaining and promoting the County’s art collection. The Department also manages, programs and operates the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, a campus of state-of-the-art cultural facilities in Cutler Bay, as well as Miami-Dade County Auditorium, Joseph Caleb Auditorium and the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, all dedicated to presenting and supporting excellence in the arts for the entire community. Through staff, board and programmatic resources, the Department, the Council and the Trust promote, coordinate and support Miami-Dade County’s more than 1,000 not-for-profit cultural organizations as well as thousands of resident artists through grants, technical assistance, public information and interactive community planning. The Department receives funding through the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, The Children’s Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, the State of Florida through the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Other support and services are provided by TicketWeb for the Culture Shock Miami program, the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, the South Florida Cultural Consortium and the Tourist Development Council.
About Miami-Dade County Auditorium
Miami-Dade County auditorium, which opened its doors in 1951, has a splendid history as one of South Florida’s premier performing arts centers. This popular multipurpose theatre features Art Deco Revival décor. It offers three dynamic presentation styles: a 2,372-seat theater that can host major dance, theatre and music performances; A “Mid-Stage” theatre which can accommodate up to 450 patrons and is well-suited for small concerts, dance and theatre presentations, giving mid-sized organizations an ideal setting to showcase their work; and a 250-seat black box theatre in which both the audience and performers share the auditorium stage, adapted into an innovative studio theatre for more intimate- and often cutting-edge –shows. The operation of Miami-Dade County Auditorium was transferred to the Department of Cultural Affairs in January 2012; the Department has a track record and reputation for innovation and artistic excellence.
About FUNDarte
FUNDarte is a multidisciplinary non-profit organization dedicated to producing, presenting, and promoting music, theater, dance, film and visual arts that speak to Miami’s diverse cultures, with a special emphasis on artists from Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain.
Stephen Belth, Culture Shock Miami, http://CultureShockMiami.com, +1 (516) 359-2548, [email protected]
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