Dancers stage avant garde festival on beach

by Marimar McNaughton
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Contemporary dance theatre and performance art installation surface on the streets and the sands next
week when the Sarus Dance Festival premieres in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, Aug !"#!$
%ine dance companies, some with &uropean and 'iddle &astern ties, will travel across the state of %orth
Carolina and (eyond to perform )* original works choreographed for site#specific locations in downtown
Wilmington and on the (each at Wrightsville With evocative titles such as +Sarus (ird flies along the
(each,, +the weight of a grain of sand,, +sandans,, and +short cut to the (each,, the experimental,
environmental approach to the festival integrates the dancers into the landscape and lifts the veil (etween
performers and audience, which at times is invited into an interactive role
-arola .uttringhaus, artistic director of the al(an elved dance company, is the festival/s director and a new
resident of Wilmington 0er company, founded in Berlin, 1ermany, is recogni2ed for the visceral physicality
of its interdisciplinary choreography, which (lends music, art, aerial movement and dance
Al(an elved3 -arola .uttringhaus performs at 4ohnnie 'ercer/s 5ier at * pm on Aug !6 in colla(oration
with human kinetics movement arts from %ew 7ork, which com(ines dance with the visual arts to create
site#specific movement installations
8he festival continues on Saturday, Aug !9 with a sunrise watch at *:!; am at Beach Access %o 6 and
performances through <:"; am (y al(an elved= human kinetics movement arts= %aomi 1reen(erg, a
native of >srael and a graduate of the %orth Carolina School of the Arts= and Dawn We(ster3Catie Arnald,
(ased in Winston#Salem, %C
&ncore performances are scheduled for later the same afternoon from 6#*:)9 pm, also at Beach Access
%o 6
8urning the Wheel, a resident Wilmington, intergenerational, dance theatre improvisation
company, will perform at 4ohnnie 'ercer/s 5ier at *:69 pm on Saturday evening, followed with
performances (y %aomi 1reen(erg and Caroline Calouche ? Co, a non#traditional troupe with %orth
Carolina roots
8he festival is supported through generous gifts from the 'ary Duke Biddle Foundation, the @%CW Affice
of Cultural Arts, the Cameron Art 'useum, the Wilmington School of Ballet, the Dance Cooperative and
local (usinesses 8hroughout the weekend, master classes and pu(lic receptions will (e held at various
locations 'ost are free 5rofiles of participating dance companies and a complete schedule of activities
can (e found at wwwsarusfestivalcom