Seattle International Dance Festival Winter Mini-Fest Opening Performance Features Shura Baryshnikov

The 2nd Annual Seattle International Dance Festival (SIDF) Winter Mini-Fest features four celebrated choreographers from around the world: Khambatta Dance Company's (KDC) artistic director Cyrus Khambatta, Shura Baryshnikov (Rhode Island) Gabriel Forestieri (NYC) and Danny Tan (Singapore). Together they will unite elements of their collective dance backgrounds swap dancers and present three emotionally-charged performances over two weekends. The concept of producing new pieces in a short time frame is one of the signature components of SIDF.

The choreographers are available to comment by phone about their commitment to the SIDF Winter Mini-Fest swap and the artistic challenges it poses. Advance tickets are $23. Student and senior tickets are $18. Festival Passes are available for $30. Visit www.seattleIDF.org

SIDF Winter Mini FestJan 18 @ 8pm - Program A: Shura Baryshnikov and Gabriel Forestieri blend backgrounds in Modern, ballet and contact improvisation to create a new work, Band. Cyrus Khambatta presents a new work, Gender Fender with Danny Tan's new piece choreographed in just five days.

Jan 25 & 26 @ 8pm Program B: SIDF Winter Mini-Fest SWAPS!

Titles to new pieces will be given full titles the day prior as choreographers swap companies and create two new works in less than one week. Gabriel Forestieri transforms the nooks and crannies of the Erickson Theater for a site-specific experience with the Khambatta Dance Company. Forestieri performs a multi-media solo piece, Lacuna*. Cyrus Khambatta premieres EarthQuake**, with an ASMR-inspired (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) soundtrack.

*Lacuna has been performed in pools around the world. It requires Forestieri hold his breath underwater for five minutes. Indoor pools will be integrated into set design

**EarthQuake transports the spectator to the front lines of an earthquake. The dancers conjure a world rumbling with environmental overstimulation, dislodged personality remnants and obsessive-compulsive outbursts as the world "falls apart."

Khambatta Dance Company has called Seattle, WA its home since relocating from New York City in 2001. KDC is consistently presented throughout the west coast and abroad and has created over 35 works ranging from site-specific pieces to staged, full-length productions. The Company conducts international residencies and exchanges, sponsors a summer dance program at Wild Meadows Farm in Pennsylvania, and, in 2006, founded the Seattle International Dance Festival -Beyond the Threshold. They are dedicated to producing and presenting emotionally resonant and topically relevant work with a keen eye toward expanding the audience's world view in an inclusive manner. KDC encourages constructive self-reflection through meaningful high quality artistic work that acknowledges the role dance can play in shaping emotionally relevant lives and a strong social fabric.

Danny Tan is a prolific Singaporean dance ambassador. Renown for positioning a unique Singaporean identity on the world dance map, he has forged strong alliances with many international organizations and artistes for two decades. Danny's penchant of Asian Contemporary Dance works and strong acumen in lighting, staging, print & media is highly commended by local and international press and media, government officials and dignitaries. His commissions by embassies, corporates, ministries and institutions have graced theatres and festivals across Asia, Australia, Europe & Americas. Danny is founder and artistic director of Odyssey Dance Theatre Ltd (ODT Ltd). He directs and produces full-length and repertory pieces for audiences in more than 20 countries. Danny is also the Festival Director of Xposition 'O' Contemporary Dance Fiesta and DanzINC -International Dancers and Choreographers' Residency Festival in Singapore.

Shura Baryshnikov is a teaching associate in the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University, working primarily within the Masters of Fine Arts Programs for actors and directors teaching contact improvisation, movement, and dance. She has worked as a choreographer and movement consultant for Trinity Repertory Company, The Wilbury Theatre Group, and Elemental Theatre Collective. As a freelance dancer, she has performed in works by Heidi Henderson, Ali Kenner-Brodsky and Betsy Miller. She has also danced with Aerplaye Dance, American Dance Legacy Initiative, Festival Ballet Providence, Bridge Rep of Boston, Elemental Theatre Collective and Lostwax Multimedia Dance.

She is on the faculty at Festival Ballet Providence School and has taught movement and dance at Earthdance, Salve Regina University, Connecticut College, Dean College, Rhode Island College, MIT and Moses Brown School. She trained in Viewpoints improvisational techniques, is a member of Actors' Equity Association and is the co-founder, along with Danielle Davidson, of the Doppelganger Dance Collective.

Gabriel Forestieri was born in Louisiana raised in Detroit and transplanted from San Francisco to New York City in 2004. As the Choreographer/Director of projectLIMB he is intent on connecting communities with their landscape, resources, and each other. Gabriel has taught dance at Movement Research, Carnegie Mellon University, Hollins University, Joffrey Ballet School, The Movement Invention Project in New Jersey, and New York University. Internationally he has taught at Dance festivals in Brazil, Italy, and Germany. ProjectLIMB has performed in Hawaii, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Washington D.C., Paris, Rome, San Francisco, Thailand, and New York City. ProjectLIMB's work has been presented in NYC at DTW, the Tank, Teaneck Creek Conservancy, Solar One, Central Park. Brooklyn Arts Exchange, White Wave, The Puffin Room, and Symphony Space. ProjectLIMB has been involved with numerous residencies including the AIR at Earthdance, Solar One Dance Res, Art Mill in Jeffersonville NY, SEEDS at Earthdance, DTW's Outer/Space, The Wave Rising Festival, in Hawaii at the Ulua Theatre, and at Art Omi. Gabriel has had the pleasure of working with choreographers: Punchdrunk, Wili Dorner, Foofwa D'immobliite, Risa Jaroslaw Keith Thompson, Bill Young, Tomi Pasoneen, Scott Wells, and Erika Shuch. He was a founding company member of the NYC Off-Broadway mounting of Sleep No More.