Creating "Trade Winds/Aires de Cambio"

HEDWIG DANCES SALON SERIES

THE ART OF MAKING ART

Creating "Trade Winds/Aires de Cambio"

Sunday, January 17 @ 3 PM Central

Trade Winds/Aires de Cambio is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between Hedwig Dances and Havana-based DanzAbierta. The work consists of two interlocking but separately choreographed pieces—Trade Winds by Hedwig Dances' artistic director Bartoszek and Aires de Cambio (Air of Change) by DanzAbierta’s resident choreographer Susana Pous. The dance explores the relationship of cyclical time in two different cultures: north and south, temperate and tropical.

Trade Winds/Aires de Cambio unfolds in a series of intersecting episodes. Following the course of the seasons starting with fall and ending with summer, the episodic structure becomes a call and response between the two companies. The work employs video and music as unifying elements. Eme Alfonso, a Cuban composer and singer currently living in Spain, composed the original score, with a sound design by Erica Ricketts. Chicago and Havana are woven into the fabric of the dance, contextualizing the work with seasonal landscape portraits of the two cities and relating to the dance movement on stage. Daniel Kullman of Bitter Jester Creative and independent videographer Nadia Oussenko created the Chicago projections with Havana videos by Claudio Pairot of Puntilla Films.

The two companies began planning their artistic collaboration in 2012. following Hedwig Dances' annual Touch Tour Cuba, a dance and art tour to Havana with partner organization Art Encounter. This initiative opened the door to the establishment of an international exchange between Hedwig Dances and DanzAbierta (translated as "open dance"). Trade Winds/Aires de Cambio unified both companies in a contemporary dance theater production that explores the senses and features original music and video imagery.

The U.S. premiere was a co-presentation between Links Hall (the lead commissioner for Trade Winds) and the Dance Center of Columbia College. It took place at the Dance Center of Columbia College on October 9-11, 2014, followed by the Havana premiere at the Teatro Nacional de Cuba Sala Avellaneda on January 31, 2015.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

All are invited to register for this week-long event that is composed of two parts:

1. ON DEMAND VIEWING (as your schedule permits) of TradeWinds/Aires de Cambio during the week of January 10 - 17, 2021.

2. SUNDAY SALON on January 17 at 3 PM: Entitled “Creating Trade Winds/Aires de Cambio, this salon event is a lively, informative discussion between choreographer Jan Bartoszek and her collaborators. An interactive, live question and answer with the audience follows the discussion.

TICKETS

Tickets for Trade Winds/Aires de Cambio streaming events (performance + salon) are $0 to $25. While we offer a free option, we encourage everyone to pay as they are able. Hedwig Dances relies on donations to cover the cost of our events and operations.

Links to both aspects of this event, the Trade Winds/Aires de Cambio performance recording and the Creating Trade Winds/Aires de Cambio salon will be sent to registrants beginning seven to 10 days prior.

FUNDING

The multi-year collaboration was made possible by a generous grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation International Connections Fund. Trade Winds is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund Project co-commissioned by Links Hall in partnership with DanzAbierta, COCA (St. Louis, MO), Kate Corby & Dancers (Madison, Wi) and NPN. The Creation Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org.