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Dixon Place
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Janessa Clark/Kilterbox presents World Premiere of (inner)views I-VII (July 20-22 Manhattan, NY)

by Sarah Hart
July 21, 2009
Dixon Place
258 Bowery, 2nd Floor
(btw Houston and Prince)
New York, NY 10012
212.219.0736
Janessa Clark/KILTERBOX presents the world premiere of (inner)views I-VII as part of Dixon Place's 18th Annual HOT! Festival. Launched in 1991 as an initiative of Dixon Place, HOT! is a pioneering festival of queer performance and culture. Having distinguished herself as a lesbian artist committed to bringing social and cultural issues to public visibility, Janessa Clark crafts a provocative atmosphere with (inner)views I-VII.


Shown in progress at last summer's HOT! Festival, the piece will return in its evening-length completion, offering a panorama of New York City's LGBTQ community. Clark probes the lives of queer women, highlighting seven individuals of diverse backgrounds through a self-directed film shot and edited by Jamie Leong Seet and Jared Cardon. The seven on-screen personalities reflect upon personal choices, defining gender in their own words and discussing the fluidity of sexuality. According to Quinn Batson of offoffoff.com, the work "raises issues of what is erotic and to whom but the interviews reach further with topics of coming out, violence and personal satisfaction." (inner)views I-VII is accompanied by the soulful, live music of singer/songwriter Ganessa James. Her rich, aural textures include original music and several covers that express love, life, and pride. The premiere is performed by Alexandra Albrecht, Janessa Clark and Courtney Jo Drasner with lighting design by Amanda K. Ringger.


Performances of (inner)views I-VII are July 20th at 7:30pm, July 21 at 9:00pm, and July 22 at 7:30pm. All performances are at Dixon Place, located at 161A Chrystie Street, between Rivington and Delancey.


(inner)views I-VII is made possible in part by the Harlem Stage/Fund for New Work with support from the Jerome Foundation, and the Woman at Work Award/Gina Gibney Dance, Inc.



Janessa Clark/KILTERBOX was founded in 2001 as a diverse group of performers dedicated to bringing social and cultural issues to public visibility through the platform of modern dance. The projects created embody a unique movement vocabulary infused with theatricality and raw physical exploration as well as hot button topics ranging from American excess, sexual/gender inequality in the U.S., and cultural obsession with body image.


In the past 8 years, Janessa Clark/KILTERBOX has performed numerous new works and repertory to critical acclaim throughout New York City at Danspace Project (BRIC Studio), Dixon Place, Dance New Amsterdam, the 2002 DancenOw Festival at Joyce SoHo, University Settlement, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and City Center Studios among others. The company has also toured successfully to San Francisco for the Translations Festival, to Borlänge, Sweden to perform at the Peace and Love Festival, and was the only U.S. company to be selected for the 2006 MASDANZA Festival in the Canary Islands of Spain.


Janessa Clark/KILTERBOX has received a 2009 Harlem Stage/Fund for New Work Grant, the 2009 Woman at Work Award from Gina Gibney Dance, Inc., a 2007 and 2008 Manhattan Theater Source/Estrogenius Commission, and was the cover story for GO! NYC Magazine's Female Entrepreneur article in September 2008.


Janessa Clark (Choreographer, Performer) Janessa holds a BFA in Choreography from Arizona State University where she Janessa holds a BFA in Choreography from Arizona State University where she received the ASU Undergraduate Choreography Award for her sextet Molt. She is the Artistic Director of Janessa Clark/KILTERBOX, founded in 2001. Her work has been seen in many venues throughout New York including the 2002 DancenOw Festival, Danspace Project at BRIC Studio, University Settlement, WAXWorks, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, City Center Studios, Dixon Place, and Dance New Amsterdam among others. Her choreography also appeared in the film "Squeeze Play" (2004) directed by Chiedu Egbuniwe. Her choreography has been performed throughout Arizona, California, and New England and has successfully toured to Sweden and Spain. She was the September 2008 cover girl for GO! NYC Magazine.


Janessa has designed costumes for Alexandra Beller/Dances, Jana Hicks, Lexington Dance Collective, and the Performing Arts Center of Connecticut. She was the costume manager for johannes wieland from 2004–2006 and the Assistant Director of Erica Essner Performance Co-Op from 2007-08. She is a faculty member of the Performing Arts Center of Connecticut teaching Modern and Dance Composition. Janessa is also a certified Pilates Mat instructor. Outside of KILTERBOX, Janessa had enjoyed working with Sens | Noemie Lafrance, Jana Hicks, M. Lindsay Smith, Maija Garcia, Michael Cole, Jenni Hong, and Kenny Larson Ballet. Currently she performs with Gina Gibney Dance and teaches movement and empowerment workshops to domestic violence survivors throughout NYC and technique/repertory classes at NYU's Tisch Dance Summer Residency Festival with the company. Janessa greatly enjoys her work as the Theater Programming Manager at Dance New Amsterdam in New York City.


Performances of (inner)views I-VII will run Monday – Wednesday, July 20-22:


Mon July 20 7:30pm

Tues July 21 9:00pm

Wed July 22 7:30pm


Dixon Place is located at 161 Chrystie Street, NY NY 10002 between Rivington and Delancey. J, M, Z to Bowery; F, V to 2nd Avenue; B, D to Grand Street

Tickets are $15 general admission and are available at www.dixonplace.org via Ovation Tix or by calling 866-811-4111. For more information, press tickets and inquires please contact Amanda Szeglowski, at 917.886.1976 or email amanda.szeglowski@gmail.com.
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