PUTNEY — Nimbus returns to The Putney School for the eighth consecutive year from Feb. 24 to March 2, bringing excerpts from new dance pieces, acclaimed repertory, and a multi-day dance residency to the students of Putney and the greater community.
Nimbus will perform in Calder Hall on Friday, March 1, at 7:30 p.m.
According to a news release, Nimbus' company dancers serve as teaching artists in the residency program with Putney School students; students will take part in master classes, engage with the professional dancers, and participate in Nimbus' signature work Memo, choreographed by Artistic Director Samuel Pott.
Premiered in 2006, Memo is an ongoing collaboration with dancers and community members to explore personal memories as movement sources and will be featured at the March 1 performance.
Students will be led in generating movement vocabulary from personal histories, and the choreographic sequences created by the students will be interwoven into the company choreography.
As an oral history features individuals' narratives, Memo similarly explores personal narratives through movement, utilizing dance as documentation. Memo will draw on audience participation in real time as well, with audiences contributing written memories of their own that are integrated into the piece.
This innovative creative process and deep connection with the community is a hallmark of Nimbus' work, using dance to elucidate and express both communal and personal histories.
Jessica Batten, Director of Dance at The Putney School (and former Nimbus company dancer) said she is thrilled to welcome Nimbus back for its annual residency and is excited to continue connecting the professional dance world with Putney students.
“Nimbus' annual performances at the Putney School over the last eight years have been a source of creative inspiration,” Pott said, “as we use the time at Putney to develop new work, explore new ideas, and showcase previews of works-in-development before their premiere in New York City. It has been truly fruitful to spend time in Vermont in a like-minded, creative setting like the Putney School.”
The March 1 performance also includes excerpts from a much-anticipated world premiere collaboration between Pott and Grammy-nominated Timothy Eriksen.
Called “one of the best singers in music” by T-Bone Burnett, Eriksen brings a distinctive sound grounded in the roots tradition of sacred harp singing and early Appalachian folk - earthy, incessant, and guttural. He currently resides in Putney and is also an active “Putney Parent.”
Nimbus will also feature excerpts from The After Party, a new piece by Dawn Marie Bazemore.