The Phoenix Experimental Arts Festival is coming up just around the corner. We are proud to be a part of this great event that will be held Feb 8-9, 6:00pm at Paradise Valley Community College (32 Flavors will be performing on Saturday the 9th). This is the third year of the X-fest that is co-sponsored by the Phoenix New Times and each year it just keeps getting better and better. This year featured artists include:

Crossing 32nd Street, Office of Peculier Scenes, Kristen Loree, Via Corpo Dance Research, Armadillo Dance Project, CONDER/dance, Skümbaag, Theatre in my Basement, Duo46, 32 Flavors Dance, Karen Schupp Dance, Mary Fitzgerald Dance

WHERE: Center for the Performing Arts at PVCC, 18401 N. 32nd Street Phoenix, AZ
WHEN: Friday, February 8, 2008 & Saturday, February 9, 2008
Lobby/Gallery opens at 6:00pm
Lobby/Gallery performances begin at 6:30pm
Box Office opens at 6:30pm
Mainstage performances begin at 7:30pm
ADMISSION: $15 general admission for each night. $25 festival pass for both nights.
BOX OFFICE PHONE: 602-787-7738
BOX OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday thru Friday, 12pm to 5pm, and one hour prior to curtain.

On December 1st, we had our first “Black Box” show in one of the studios at Center Pointe Dance. It was a really great experience- especially since we were able to have Dulce Dance Company join us in performance. The studio seats about 60 people and is wonderful for those intimate performances where the audience really gets to feel the dance happen close up. Everyone was amazed at how the space transformed from into a make-shift theatre with lighting and a delightful ambiance. Nothing but wonderful feedback was spoken and the audience really liked how the dance companies worked together to create transitions between their pieces, creating a seamless show. Here are some pictures of Dulce Dance warming up prior to the show:

On December 8th, we were a part of Conder Dance’s choreography showcase, Breaking Ground. Unfortunately we were missing one of our star players, Lauren, for our piece The Rush, so Bingle had to step in. It was a wonderful show, and a great way to see what the valley has to offer in terms of new and innovative choreography. Kerry Lengel of the Arizona Republic wrote an article about the event. Check it out here. A review of the dress rehearsal for the show was also written on Cerrin Lanthrop’s personal dance criticism/ discussion blog, Moving Words. Stating there were some issues with group cohesion and spacing with our group- I would agree, only to point out that is was obviously a dress rehearsal and wish she could have reviewed the actual show where many of those elements fell into place. What do you think?