Unbound

The Post and Courier 6-3-2010

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:56:21 +0000

Dance company graceful, athletic
By Eliza Ingle, Post and Courier Reviewer
Sunday, June 6, 2010

Piccolo’s Dance at Noon series presented Unbound Dance Company for a powerful and beautifully danced performance whose difficult theme was survival of life’s challenges — specifically cancer and the lives it touches.

Hope is the thread throughout the choreography, which takes a group of 13 talented dancers from ensemble dancing to smaller groups and solos.

Artistic directors Caroline Lewis-Jones and Susan Marie Dadney are dedicated to their subject matter, and the dancing by them, as well as the rest of the company, is full of expression and graceful athleticism.

However, the text between dancing and the literal staging of a bedside moment when a loved one passes away can at times be too literal and predictable. The extraordinary physicality of the dancers is enough to impart the feelings and expressions of grief without giving too much information.

One of the most successful sections was “The Journey,” in which the entire cast expertly moves through the small stage with a feather, a symbol of hope, being passed around and danced with at times playfully, but always giving strength and support to those who have it.

The movement is energized and full of long-reaching limbs that span a variety of gestures and styles.

Another highlight was “Fix You,” which showed the significance of support by others in difficult times.

Mary Lee Taylor Kinoisan played electric violin, some original works with the depth and skill that wonderfully matched these talented dancers from Columbia.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/jun/06/dance-company-graceful-athletic/

Thank you!

admin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 20:47:32 +0000

…for supporting UNBOUND through the Divine Art of Survival.

Charleston City Paper

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:48:45 +0000

Unbound Dance Company adds spice to Piccolo

No Boundaries

by Cara Kelly

Unbound Dance Company is capturing a new movement in dance. The Columbia-based fledgling troupe, directed by Caroline Lewis-Jones and Susan Dabney, has a style that can best be described as an amalgamation of jazz, ballet, and contemporary. The goal of the company, the directors say, can be summed up in their name.

Without the confines of a sole genre, the dancers have an increased artistic freedom, which allows them an open platform for self-expression. The lack of restraint especially lets the movements demonstrate a deeper sensuality. They also have the opportunity to be more innovative.

“They say their company is very free, very driving, and very inventive,” says Robert Ivey, who invited the company to perform in the Dance at Noon series. The Charleston dance legend saw a unique flair in the young ensemble. “They’re not going to be traditional at all.”

The company has only been working together for a short time. The two South Carolina natives founded Unbound in 2008 after discussing this new vision of a company. They have coordinated a core cast of 10 members, including eight women and two men. The dancers are richly diverse in their backgrounds. The common bond however, is clear. Each member lives and breathes dance.

http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/unbound-dance-company-adds-spice-to-piccolo/Content?oid=2027778

Free Times Issue #23.21

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:45:16 +0000

Issue #23.21 :: 05/26/2010 – 06/01/2010

Unbound Dance Company Explores the Art of Survival

Performs with The Upton Trio Wednesday-Friday

BY CYNTHIA BOITER

Caroline Lewis-Jones, artistic director and choreographer of Unbound Dance Company, calls the pieces her company will perform this week “the hardest things I have ever choreographed.” But it is the choreography she is most proud of, as well.

The Divine Art of Survival, a collection of contemporary dances based on intense personal stories the dance company solicited from local friends and residents, has been as emotionally challenging for the dance company as it will likely be for audience members who attend its premiere tonight (Wednesday, May 26).

“To watch another person dance and cry at the same time is so moving,” Lewis-Jones says. “I know our dancers are embracing everything I have asked them to pull out of their hearts. It has been a therapeutic experience for all of us.”

Company co-director Susan Dabney agrees.

“This show brings to light subjects people don’t want to talk about it,” Dabney says. Things like divorce, disease, the death of a loved one — and in one case, personal and inevitable mortality itself. “We hear stories about people and their triumphs, but we rarely see what happens to their families and loved ones, or what happens to them as their struggles take place.”

: Photo by Courtney Dox

The performance opens with the first of 12 dance pieces, The Journey, during which a white feather emerges and, acting as a leitmotif for hope in the face of despair, reappears in each number. As 20 dancers take the stage in varying assemblages to tackle issues ranging from Alzheimer’s to domestic violence, the Upton Trio — comprised of violinist Mary Lee Taylor-Kinosian, pianist Billy Shepherd and cellist Dusan Vukajlovic — accompany them with original live music, composed by either Taylor-Kinosian or local producer and composer Jack Kelehear.

As personal as the topics are for the Columbia residents who submitted them, Dabney has a special take on at least one number — she has epilepsy and she is taking it and her feelings about it public with a solo in this performance.

“I don’t talk about it very much, and I have never danced a piece about it,” Dabney says. “It’s very freeing; I can actually feel myself letting go of the anger I have had for a long time about my epilepsy. I have always wondered why I got stuck with this diagnosed and unfixable brain disorder, but after dancing it out, I realize that it is a part of me. It has made me who I am.”

Lewis-Jones addresses her own slain dragons in Beautifully Sad, written as a sequel to a piece she previously choreographed and danced dealing with the death of her mother to cancer. In Beautifully Sad, the dance picks up with her mother’s last breath and follows Lewis-Jones’ struggle to cope and survive. In another piece, What About Me?, Lewis-Jones dances a duet with her 10-year-old niece, Eliza Hiller, about the impact of divorce on children.

The final dance, Together Hope Survives, is an uplifting number focusing on the reward of perseverance and the importance of letting others help in the journey toward survival. Both Dabney and Lewis-Jones hope audience members will feel a sense of catharsis after watching the performance and will be able to apply lessons learned to their own trials in life.

“Yes, you will cry when you see the show,” Lewis-Jones says. “But I hope that you will leave wanting to live stronger, love harder and embrace your existence on this earth while you are still here. We hope everyone will find the white feather.”

The Divine Art of Survival will be performed May 26 through May 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Drayon Hall Theatre on the campus of the University of South Carolina. Tickets are $30, which includes the performance, live music and heavy hors d’oeuvres. Cash bar. For ticket information, call 223-4228.

http://www.free-times.com/index.php?cat=11001804073474158&ShowArticle_ID=11012505101643719

The State: 5/23/2010

admin — Sun, 23 May 2010 16:40:13 +0000

UNBOUND dancers tackle human suffering

Dancers take on tales of personal suffering

By OTIS R. TAYLOR JR. – otaylor@thestate.com

“When I was told, I held my composure until I thought about how I truly wanted to stay here on earth, and now it would be something that I would have to fight for.” — Amy Hardy

Amy Hardy bowed her head and finger-plugged her ears as her words were read, her shorn blond hair prickly underneath a trucker hat. Her boyfriend, Carlos Smith,rubbed her right thigh as they sat against a mirrored wall during a recent rehearsal for “The Divine Art of Survival,” a production by UNBOUND Dance Company about perseverance.

This is Hardy’s story. On Jan. 11 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Two days later she had a radical mastectomy, her left breast removed.

Hardy, 29, thumbed tears as Caroline Lewis-Jones,UNBOUND’s artistic director and choreographer, tossed herself on the wooden floor of the Southern Strutt rehearsal space in Irmo as if she were grappling with reality. Lewis-Jones tugged off a sundress, a symbol Hardy’s former life being tossed aside forever.

The contemporary company’s dancers were sniffling. Smith leaned over to kiss Hardy.

“It’s my dress,” Hardy said after the rehearsal. “It’s me realizing I got the crappy end of the deal but being OK.”

The dance, titled “Lost and Found,” is one of 12 pieces that make up “The Divine Art of Survival,” an ambitious production that will include a live orchestra on the Drayton Hall Theatre stage Wednesday through Friday. The company will also perform the work at Piccolo Spoleto, the arts and music festival that accompanies Spoleto’s three-week fest in Charleston. Several of the dances are based on true stories of survival. Pieces like “Lost and Found,” which have the subject’s words read before the dance, have a thick emotional weight that will cause viewers to gulp and wipe their eyes.

After Lewis-Jones, out of breath, finished her routine, she gave Hardy a white feather, the production’s recurring symbol of hope. Her voice cracked as she said, “This is for you.”

Smith thumbed away tears.

The studio was silent and dark.

And then…Hardy’s cell phone rang, lightening the mood. Life needs that kind of levity, especially if you’re holding on, trying to survive. Different challenge

Most dance companies in town perform to prerecorded music, but UNBOUND will perform with the live accompaniment of The Upton Trio, with cellist Dusan Vukajlovic, violinist Mary Lee Taylor and pianist Billy Shepherd.

Taylor, the South Carolina Philharmonic’s concertmaster, has worked with Lewis-Jones before. But this is a different challenge.

“You just have to really watch carefully,” Taylor said. “You kind of try to make it a matching, living entity. It adds another dimension, definitely.

“I personally have to watch to make sure I don’t get too far into it emotionally.”

At Ambrosia, the new State Street restaurant with a project screen as a window shade, Susan Dabney, the company’s co-director, and Lewis-Jones talked about scale during a recent Sunday brunch that featured make-your-own Bloody Marys. The last two UNBOUND performances, excluding the Halloween party “Carpe Noctem,” have been at CMFA, a performance space inside a former warehouse in the Vista, where the rental fee is donated.

“Our cost is huge,” Dabney said of the move to Drayton Hall. “It’s tripled.”

The stories that will certainly drag heartstrings are huge, too.

There’s a dance about Lewis-Jones’ mother’s last breath before she succumbed to cancer. Dabney performs a solo about her epilepsy. Her thrashing movements, the extension of her spine and the ripple of her exposed rib cage are entrancing.

“I wanted to dance a piece about it because I don’t talk about it much,” she said. “I’ve lived with it for a very long time.”

“A Vicious Cycle,” Dabney’s duet with Christopher Robbins, details the physical abuse a pregnant woman, someone Dabney referred to as a second mother, suffered at the hands of her needy husband.

“Because she had several miscarriages, it was a high-risk pregnancy and she needed to be taken care of and he couldn’t handle that,” Dabney said.

A beating forced the woman into early labor. She had a daughter — who died three days later. Life remembered

Things didn’t seem right to Billy Smith when his wife started forgetting things, but he wouldn’t have guessed it was dementia.

“Sometimes you talk to your wife and you think she’s not listening,” he said. “At first I got a little angry. You know how you get with your wife.

“We would plan to meet someplace and she would say I didn’t tell her.”

Smith’s wife, Jackie, a bank executive, had difficulty balancing the checkbook.

“I was the one who had trouble keeping the checkbook,” Smith, 73, said. “She got to the point where she couldn’t flat do it.”

Jackie was 58 when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Smith had no idea how serious it was, and how swift Jackie’s decline would be.

“I thought it would be cute,” he said. “I thought she would forget where she put her car keys.”

Smith, an engineer, had to retire so he could be Jackie’s caregiver for the last seven years of her life. She died in 2004 at 65. They were married for 47 years.

Smith’s story is about his survival, how he coped. He joined the Alzheimer’s Association.

“I went several years without knowing that there was someone who could help me,” said Smith, who is remarried and now counsels others dealing with the effects of the disease. “I was totally ignorant.”

On stage, Leah Brinkley dances as Jackie, pushing her partners away in the piece titled “Lost Memory.” Her brisk movements, smiles and frowns allude to fleeting moments of recognition.

“Her grandfather passed from Alzheimer’s,” Lewis-Jones said. “She really understands what that entails.”

Smith isn’t sure what to expect when he sees the show.

“The more they tried to explain it to me, the more I don’t understand,” he said. “If they can put my story in an art form, then I’m all for it.

“Anything that can add to the remembrance of Jackie.” Irony of dance

“I have no sensation in many parts of my body. I cannot feel the difference between hot and cold. When I reach for something, my arms shake with the effort of uncoordinated muscles trying to do the job.” — Ginny Padgett

This is Ginny Padgett’s life with Friedreich’s Ataxia, a disease that ravages the nervous system.

“How do you choreograph a dance for a woman who can’t pick up anything?” Lewis-Jones said at brunch. “How do you portray that in dance, when obviously she can’t dance?”

Three dancers portray Padgett, the steps of decay danced with at-times violent beauty in “Battle For Life.” Erin Bailey’s open-palm struggle to get into a wheelchair is arresting.

And accurate.

“I took them to see Ginny so they could pick up her mannerisms,” Lewis-Jones said.

Padgett, 57, is a former dancer, and the irony that her life is going to be danced after Friedreich’s Ataxia has taken that ability away isn’t lost on her.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “This is one of the biggest things to happen in my life. It’s so great to have the attention on Friedreich’s Ataxia, because it’s such a rare disease.

Padgett, who offered tips to the dancers, is interested to see how the choreography plays out. She’ll be at each performance — look for the woman on a red scooter — to share her story.

And perform.

“I’m excited to see my struggle transformed into dance,” she said. “I’m going to be dancing in a way again.

“I’m going to be dancing through them.”

Co-artistic director Susan Dabney rehearses with the dance company. The UNBOUND Dance Company prepares for a show at The Southern Strutt in Irmo, S.C., on Sunday, May 16, 2010./Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com

(Sunday — 05/16/2010 — Irmo, S.C. — PHOTOGRAPH BY Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com) – Chalyn Dye (CQ) of Columbia rehearses a performance which she uses a walker, behind her, during the dance. The UNBOUND Dance Company prepares for a show at The Southern Strutt (CQ-sic) in Irmo, S.C., on Sunday, May 16, 2010. Photograph by Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com- Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com /Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com

Chalyn Dye of Columbia rehearses a performance which she uses a walker, behind her, during the dance. The UNBOUND Dance Company prepares for a show at The Southern Strutt in Irmo, S.C., on Sunday, May 16, 2010./Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com

Leah Brinkley of Irmo, center, rehearses with the company. The UNBOUND Dance Company prepares for a show at The Southern Strutt in Irmo, S.C., on Sunday, May 16, 2010./Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com

Leah Brinkley of Irmo, center, rehearses with UNBOUND Dance Company./Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com

Jocelyn Fulmore of Columbia rehearses a dance while fellow dancers watch. The UNBOUND Dance Company prepares for a show at The Southern Strutt in Irmo, S.C., on Sunday, May 16, 2010./Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com

Co-artistic directors Caroline Lewis-Jones, left, and Susan Dabney, right, rehears with other members of the dance company. The UNBOUND Dance Company prepares for a show at The Southern Strutt in Irmo on Sunday./Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com

Co-artistic director Susan Dabney of Columbia rehearses. The UNBOUND Dance Company prepares for a show at The Southern Strutt in Irmo on Sunday./Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com

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Otis Taylor Jr.

On The Scene

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IF YOU GO

“The Divine Art of Survival”

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday

Where: Drayton Hall Theatre, 1214 College St.

Tickets: $30

Information: www.unbounddance.com

Tickets on sale NOW!

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:50:50 +0000

“The Divine Art of Survival” Featuring Mary Lee Taylor Kinosian, Concert Mater – SC Philharmonic and The Upton Trio

May 26^th, 27^th, & 28^th

7:30 p.m. at Drayton Hall – USC Campus

Tickets: $30 (Includes hors d’ouvres and cash bar)

Call 803-223-4228 for tickets! or

A portion of our ticket sales will go to Share Our Suzy, National Ataxia Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association-Midlands Chapter

We are also performing at Piccolo Spoleto 2010 on Saturday June 5th

12pm at Footlight Players Theatre, 20 Queen Street in Downtown Charleston, SC

Tickets: $15/adults and $12 seniors/students

Tickets for PICCOLO call Piccolo Spoleto Hotline at 843-724-7295 or visit www.piccolospoleto.com

The Inspiration of Survival

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:57:41 +0000

“We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.” -Winston Churchill

UNBOUND dance company is celebrating the power of the human spirit with survival stories of men and women in Columbia. Join us at Drayton Hall May 26th, 27th, 28th. The Uptown Trio will be featured as guest musicians.

What’s LOVE Fest 2010

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:09:02 +0000

We’re performing Saturday night! @ 701 Whaley. Opens at 7 and ends at midnight. We perform at 10:00 but have other small performances as well.

“It’s Valentines weekend and whether you are single or have a love to bring you won’t want to miss this night of tantalizing art and entertainment!”

If you are in the ATL…

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:46:45 +0000

… come watch us perform at POL 2010: Evolution Choreographers Showcase on February 11, 2010! See more at http://www.polchoreographershowcase.com/

“Think zombie”

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:54:02 +0000

Monster Bash

Unbound Dance Company Seizes Halloween Night with Carpe Noctem

BY NATASHA DERRICK

The upstairs dance studio at CMFA is dimly lit and eerie noises emanate from a stereo in the corner. In the center of the floor, 18 dancers dressed in tattered ’80s dresses and suits twist and contort their bodies in unison to the familiar sounds of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

“Think zombie,” Unbound Dance Company artistic director Susan Dabney says.

“Think zombie,” Unbound Dance Company artistic director Susan Dabney says. The company’s performance will be the main attraction at Friday’s Halloween gala Carpe Noctem at 701 Whaley. The new company, formed by Dabney and fellow dancer and South Carolina native Caroline Lewis-Jones, is an eclectic mix of dancers, many of whom have day jobs that have nothing to do with devouring human flesh.

“If you have a love and a talent for dance you want to do it,” says company member and attorney Kristian Cross. “You can be a professional and a dancer.”

Cross, whose dance background is rooted in her years on the Clemson University dance team, dances alongside those trained in ballet and jazz. The group also includes business owners and full-time students. Former dancer and teacher Liz Druc was drawn to the melding of styles, the hallmark of Unbound.

“You have two different artistic directors who were trained in different forms of dance,” the restaurant owner says. “In Columbia there’s ballet and modern, but very little overlap.”

Old friends Lewis-Jones and Dabney founds themselves back home in Columbia after successful dancing careers, and the creative seed for Unbound was produced. With the help of friends and family, the two were able to make their idea a reality.

“It was amazing the outpouring of donations,” Dabney said. “We have an amazing circle of support.”

Proceeds from Unbound shows are given to various charities. Carpe Noctem will be the company’s fourth full-length performance and is a fundraiser to bankroll its May show, unofficially titled Human Survival, to be held at Drayton Hall. It will be the first time the company has rented a space, so it will have more overhead. The concept of the show is telling the stories of survival through dance and music.

“We are accepting letters from survivors,” Dabney says. “They can be a survivor of anything from drug abuse, a plane crash [to] cancer. Things like that change your spirit and your life.”

The company plans to give the proceeds from the show to appropriate charities that match the themes of the survivor stories. When Dabney and Lewis-Jones began planning Carpe Noctem a few months ago, they weren’t sure they could actually pull it off. But, again, friends and community members stepped up and offered donations and services. All the beverages were donated, and the food will be provided by Duper Catering. Businesses have offered a variety of items for the silent auction from massages to gym memberships and even a weekend getaway to a mountain house.

In addition to Unbound’s performance of “Thriller,” local cabaret singer Dell Goodrich will also perform a few Halloween-themed numbers such as “I Put a Spell on You,” “Superstition” and “Bad Moon Rising.”

“I performed at their May show, and I was thrilled when they asked me again,” Goodrich says. She plans to transform her usual evening gown into a Medusa-inspired costume to suit the spirit of the party.

Also on the bill are Erin Jaffe from the Vista Ballroom; four drag queens performing Monster Mash; a magician; and a living statue. Art from Travis Teate, Scott Bibly and Mike Krajewski will be on display. Dabney promises the creepy décor, which includes coffins and a hearse, will not disappoint. A dance floor will be provided, with DJ Chris Wenner providing the tunes. She also encourages everyone to join the fun by wearing a costume. Dabney is no exception. She, Lewis-Jones and their significant others plan to arrive as the Addams Family.

One thing will be missing from Unbound’s “Thriller” cast of zombies: Dabney and Lewis-Jones. Lewis-Jones is still recovering from an ACL replacement and cannot perform.
“Caroline and I usually dance,” Dabney says. “But I promised her that since she can’t dance, I won’t dance — because we’re a team.”

http://www.free-times.com/index.php?cat=11012810093973013&ShowArticle_ID=11012710092230880