THE SELDOMS: DANCING ON THIN ICE

Co-presented by DiverseWorks and the Rothko Chapel, Chicago-based company, The Seldoms, will share Dancing on Thin Ice, an excerpt of Floe — a new dance theater work-in-progress that explores madness, delusion, oil extraction, the vanishing of Arctic ice, and rising sea levels. Floe embodies the fragmentation of our global conversation on climate change as it veers from anti-science conspiracy theories to the very real impacts of global warming on communities from the Gulf Coast to the Arctic Circle. 

The performance is part of a week-long research residency sponsored by DiverseWorks during which The Seldoms will investigate climate change in Houston, including the impact of Hurricane Harvey. Their findings will inform the future development of Floe. In addition, The Seldoms will teach a Master Class for Houston’s contemporary dance community at METdance.

ABOUT THE SELDOMS

The Seldoms is a Chicago-based dance company that values making intelligent, visually rich dance theater driven by inquiry. They ground their inquiry in contemporary issues and the history of art and ideas, toward the pursuit of bold, exacting and potent physicality.

The Seldoms is in its sixteenth year. Under Carrie Hanson’s direction, the company is committed to bringing audiences an expanded experience of dance that ignites thought around real-world issues. With dance at the center, the company’s vision extends to a total action and environment and includes collaboration with practitioners in fields including theater, architecture, installation, video, sound, and fashion. With full-length works on pressing issues such as the 2008 recession, climate change, and most recently a trilogy about power in America, The Seldoms has built a reputation for “well-crafted and researched works that don’t hold forth a political agenda, but look instead at how these towering issues reflect back on our own humanity” (New City, which named The Seldoms Best Local Dance Company in 2012).

ABOUT THE ROTHKO CHAPEL

The Rothko Chapel is open to the public every day of the year at no charge. It is a contemplative space that interconnects art, spirituality, and compassionate action through a broad array of free public programs. Founded by Houston philanthropists Dominique and John de Menil, the Chapel was dedicated in 1971 as an intimate sanctuary. Today it stands as a monument to art, spirituality, and human rights.