AXIS Dance Company Celebrates 25 Years of Inspired Dance April 12, 2013

April 12, 8pm, April 13, 8pm, April 14, 2pm

In 1987 when the Bay Area's own AXIS Dance Company first performed, gas was 89 cents per gallon, The Simpsons debuted on FOX, and Prozac had only just become available to a country flocking to see a movie called Dirty Dancing, which spawned the catchphrase, "No one puts baby in a corner." Fast forward twenty-five years later and AXIS Dance Company, now considered to be the country's leading physically integrated dance company, celebrates 25 years of against-the-odds success with a series of performances at the Malonga Casquelourd Center in Oakland.

Over this period of time which they refer to as "25 Years of inspired dance," the company has worked with numerous choreographic luminaries, including Bill T. Jones, who said "There is no more defiant a land that I can think of than AXIS. They showed me what dance could be." In addition they recently performed two electrifying pieces on ABC's So You Think You Can Dance, one by Alex Ketley, the other by company dancer Sebastian Grubb. For its anniversary the company will debut a collaboration between Victoria Marks and composer/musician Beth Custer entitled "what if would you," a piece from Amy Seiwert called "The Reflective Surface," with an original score by Darren Johnston and "Dix minutes plus tard (Ten minutes later)" a brand new duet choreographed by Sonya Delwaide to Andante un poco moto from String Quartet NO 15 in G, D. 887 by Franz Schubert

The first of the three new works to debut comes from a long anticipated collaboration between Victoria Marks and musician composer Beth Custer. And while this is the first time the two have collaborated, it is the second time Marks has been commissioned by AXIS. Her first piece for the company was 2003's "Dust," which was profiled on KQED Public Television's Spark. "I've wanted to work with Beth for a long time," says AXIS founder and Artistic Director Judith Smith. "And I thought she and Victoria would be a potent combination."

Official Website: http://axisdance.org/performance/performance-calendar/