"The Meaning of the Dance" features an exploration of the roots and content of contemporary dance followed by a discussion of Houston’s dance scene. Organized by Christina Giannelli in conjunction with the Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance. Co-hosted by Karen Stokes and Rebecca Valls.

Featuring excerpts from:

Appalachian Spring by Martha Graham, 1944

Life of a Bee by Doris Humphrey, 1928

The Beloved by Lester Horton, 1948

Dido and Aeneas by Mark Morris, 1995

The Moors Pavanne by José Limón, 1949

Bull by David Dorfman with Dan Froot, 1994

Plains Daybreak by Erick Hawkins, 1979

Kohle Korper by Stephan Koplowitz, 1999

Fall After Newton with Steve Paxton and Nancy Stark Smith, 1972-83

Gender Heroes by Joe Goode, 1999

Points in Space by Merce Cunningham, 1986

Set and Reset by Trisha Brown, 1983

In the Upper Room by Twyla Tharp, 1986

Excerpts from Local Artists: 

Deux by Juliet Hicks with Weave Dance Company; El Cerrojo by Sara Draper with Dancepaththeatre; Task by Jennifer Wood with Suchu; Exposure Time by Sophia Torres with Psophonia Dance Company; Daisy and Lily by Rebecca Valls; Untitled Solo by Dorrell Martin with Houston Metropolitan; Seven Story Mountain by Sandra Organ; and Shall We? by Karen Stokes.

Co-Hosts:

Karen Stokes danced in NYC and abroad with David Gordon, Larry Clark, and Stephan Kolplowitz.  Since 1988, Stokes has choreographed numerous works in the contemporary genre, which have been performed in Los Angeles, Cleveland, Seattle, Philadelphia, Houston, Toronto, Connecticut, and New York.  Stokes has also choreographed musicals and plays, including the Alley Theater’s “A Christmas Carol.”  Her company, Travesty Dance Group, co-founded in 1997, premiered the evening length work “Three” at the Cunningham Performance Space in NYC in 2000, and this summer performed at the Toronto Fringe Festival for Independent Dance Artists.  Stokes has been the Assistant Director of site-specific works by Stephan Koplowitz in Houston, Germany, and Maine.  She is a 2002 Cultural Arts Council recipient of the Individual Artist Choreography Fellowship.  She is a graduate of the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, has a BFA in dance from Ohio State University and a MFA in choreography from UCLA.  Stokes is the Director of the Dance Division and the Center for Choreography at the University of Houston.  She is currently working on an evening length dance theatre work inspired by themes of Texas.

Rebecca Valls heads the dance program at Rice University and is director of Rice Dance Theatre.  She performs in the schools with Young Audiences, and is also on the dance faculty in the Dance Division at the University of Houston.  Valls holds a MFA in choreography from Sarah Lawrence College in New York where the American College Dance Festival Association selected her choreography for the national ACDFA performance in Washington D.C. (1981).  In Louisiana, Valls served as Company Director for Moving South Dance Company, a modern dance company (1981-1990).  Her choreography and collaboration with other artists were funded by numerous grants from Louisiana State Arts Council and performed in New Orleans, Houston, Washington D.C. and France.  Since residing in Houston, Valls’ choreography has been presented by Chrysalis Dance Company, Jewish Community Center Dance Month, Diverse Works, Joan Karff’s New Dance Group, Houston Dance Coalition, Miller Outdoor Theater, and Urban Indian Beat.  Summer  st2001, Vallsudied 18th century Baroque Dance at Rutgers University with internationally acclaimed Baroque dancers Paige Whitley-Bauguess and Thomas Baird.