JANUARY 30, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION,
CONTACT ELIZABETH LENTZ, 773-832-0531

BREAKBONE DANCECO. PREMIERES "ONE" FEBRUARY 20-21, 2003

Breakbone DanceCo. presents its new, full-company performance of "ONE" - a series of dark, romantic, voyeuristic visions, on February 20-21, 2003. Artistic Director Atalee Judy leads the audience through a medieval castle and gives glimpses into the life of each room's inhabitant. Six dancers perform live as well as on video as they explore love, abandonment, violence, and isolation with the "passion, insight, and breathtaking honesty" (Chicago Tribune) for which the company is known. "ONE" features company members Suzanne Dado, Tabitha Faes, Heather Fiene, Atalee Judy, Elizabeth Lentz & Diana Garcia-Snyder; videography by Carl Wiedemann, Sheldon B. Smith & Atalee Judy; and lighting design by Stephen Arnold. Performances are Thursday and Friday, February 20-21, at the Chicago Moving Company's Studio Theater in Hamlin Park, 3035 N. Hoyne- Second Floor. Both shows are at 8 pm. Tickets are $12; for reservations, call 773-588-4582 or reserve tickets online at www.breakbone.com.

"ONE" builds on the success of last year's "Logotype" performance (which played to sold out houses each night), but takes on a different tone. While "Logotype" was meant to assault the audience with repetitive images within the individual pieces and the show as a whole, "ONE" slows down. The series is primarily made of live solos and duets, with video to set the context for each piece and give additional facets to the characters. In "1-1" a woman contemplates suicide in the bathroom. Down the hall, tucked in the corner, a man's obsession with himself ("1x1") consumes him. A woman kept in the dungeon ("1÷1"; "an unabashed exploration of bondage," Chicago Tribune) hears someone above playing the cello ("1/1") and is brought out of her isolation. In the bedroom, "1+1" develops from a verbal fight into an all out brawl ("painfully athletic… a case of unfettered aggression," Chicago Tribune). Some characters are based in cliché which Atalee embraces, giving enough time, imagery, and movement to go beyond a caricature into someone to whom the audience relates. Throughout the evening the question changes from what is the one thing trapping each of us, to what is the one thing holding us together?

The process of creating "ONE" has also differed from Atalee's previous works. Atalee has collaborated on the video shootings with two established Chicago videographers, Carl Wiedemann and Sheldon B. Smith, and has drawn more choreographically from her dancers talents. The movement is still raw and intense but is not focused on housing the body slam technique as "Logotype" was. Also, only two of the sections have been previously performed, "1+1" and "1÷1", in last October's The Other Dance Festival. "ONE" is another step in the company's development - an attempt to excavate the difference between human frailty and human strength.

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