You Are Happy: In Only 2 Weeks!

You Are Happy, "a multi-media solo performance rooted in the physical with an imaginative eye towards the mythical", is kicking off Mountain Empire's summer line-up and is only 2 weeks away.  

Get a little snapshot of You Are Happy on the PortFringe blog! 
"the movement in this piece brings in a lot of different inspirations - a little butoh, a lot of gesture work, some post-modern improvisation and some classical contemporary technique."
Read more HERE









Meet Eliza Larson in Portland, Maine on June 26 & 28th for a host of PortFringe shows and beautiful landscapes. Then be sure to talk to Eliza about what Siren inspirations she mined from the world of Homer.  


Mountain Empire Performance Collective presents
You Are Happy
at the PortFringe in Portland, ME
June 26, 10pm
June 28, 4:30pm
SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress St
TICKETS HERE

About the Artists: You Are Happy

You Are Happy (premiering at the PortFringe, 6/26 & 6/28) is not only a "sensorial solo performance", it is a new collaboration between Choreographer Eliza Larson and Composer Benjamin Chakoian. Read all about them here!

 

Benjamin Chakoian Jones is a composer, bassist, and violist currently living in Nashville, TN. Born in Des Moines, IA, Benjamin was raised on American Folk music such as Simon and Garfunkel and Mamas and the Papas, as well as a wide range of Classical music. Following high school in Ohio, Benjamin moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University. There, he continued his education in a variety of styles and began his career as a composer, arranger, and player. Still rooted in Nashville, Benjamin has spent recent years touring with the Americana band, Humming House, of which he is a founding member. When home, he makes a living as a bassist and arranger for recording sessions as well as continuing his work in original composition.

Deriving inspiration from many styles of music, Benjamin writes first from an American Classical perspective. Setting his roots in the music of Aaron Copland, Alan Hovhaness, and Bill Evans, Benjamin enjoys pushing his palette by taking elements of music ranging from Early Modern Russian composers and French Romanticism to indie rock bands, traditional Irish music, and abstract sound. Writing music that is sonically, harmonically, and rhythmically experimental, Jones also writes music that can be enjoyed by a broad general audience.

 

Eliza Larson is an independent artist based in Northampton, MA (USA).  In addition to performing as a soloist, Eliza currently dances with the Mountain Empire Performance Collective.  She holds an MFA in Dance from Smith College where she was a Gretchen Moran Teaching Fellow in the Five College Dance Department.   As a choreographer, Eliza strives to create work that is both entertaining and thought provoking, quirky and beautiful, and accessible to the general public and dance enthusiasts alike.  

 

Her choreography has been presented around the country, including at PortFringe in Portland, Maine, the Capital Fringe Festival and the H Street Theater in Washington, DC, Conduit Dance Center and the Pacific NW College of Art in Portland, OR, and the OK Hotel Gallery and Velocity Dance Center in Seattle, WA.  Earthdance in Plainfield, MA; and the Southern VT Dance Festival in Brattleboro, VT.  Eliza has performed in works by Ohad Naharin, Colleen Thomas, Angie Hauser, Paul Matteson, Chris Aiken, Cathy Nicoli, Ming Yang, Mark Haim, Deb Wolf, KT Niehoff, Jan Erkert, Adele Myers, and Kristin Hapke among others, and was an original member of the Weaving Dance Company from 2006-2008.  

Eliza is also the author and illustrator of Terpsichore’s Deck, a set of choreographic cards to use in dance making and choreography, published in 2013.  Her writing has appeared in Contact Quarterly and Kinebago, and her research on gender in dance was recently presented at the Congress on Research in Dance/Society of Dance History Scholars joint conference in November 2013.

 

 

 

Show Information:

 

Mountain Empire presents

You Are Happy

At the

Port Fringe  

Thursday, June 26, 2014 at 10:00pm

Saturday, June 28, 2014 at 4:30pm

 

SPACE Gallery (map)

538 Congress St

Portland, ME, 04101

United States

Tickets: HERE

 

 

Don't be shy!  Check out all the PortFringe shows RIGHT HERE

You Are Happy At The Port Fringe

You Are Happy is a sensual, surreal, and sensorial solo performance.  Rooted in the physical with an imaginative eye towards the mythical, dancer Eliza Larson draws the world of Homer’s Sirens anew in this interdisciplinary solo.  Imbued with memories, physical residue, and the essence of emotion, the performance moves between dance and performance art, abstract and literal film imagery, and includes movement, image, text, sound, and costume.  Featuring an original sound score by Benjamin Chakoian Jones and Stephen Turney.

Port Fringe  

Thursday, June 26, 2014 at 10:00pm

Saturday, June 28, 2014 at 4:30pm

SPACE Gallery (map)

538 Congress St

Portland, ME, 04101

United States

Tickets: HERE

Eliza Larson is an independent artist based in Northampton, MA (USA).  In addition to performing as a soloist, Eliza currently dances with the Mountain Empire Performance Collective.  She holds an MFA in Dance from Smith College where she was a Gretchen Moran Teaching Fellow in the Five College Dance Department.   As a choreographer, Eliza strives to create work that is both entertaining and thought provoking, quirky and beautiful, and accessible to the general public and dance enthusiasts alike.  

2014 Mountain Empire Summer Line-Up

It's Summertime, which means Fringe Festivals! Mountain Empire is doing it's fair share of traveling and soaking up the art, and we're happy to share some our latest shows.  

Without further ado, here is Mountain Empire Performance Collective's 2014 Summer Line-Up.

Port Fringe

Presenting: You Are Happy

Eliza Larson reinterprets the world of Homer’s Sirens in this interdisciplinary solo

When:  
Thursday, June 26, 2014 at 10:00pm

Saturday, June 28, 2014 at 4:30pm

Where:
SPACE Gallery (map)

538 Congress St

Portland, ME, 04101

United States

Tickets: HERE

Capitol Fringe

Presenting: Everybody Knows This Is Now Here

The Great American Road Trip goes virtual through contemporary dance

When:
Thursday, July 10, 2014 at 7:45pm

Saturday, July 12, 2014 at 6:00pm

Sunday, July 13, 2014 at 1:45pm

Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at 9:45pm

Thursday, July 17, 2014 at 6:00pm

Friday, July 18, 2014 at 4:00pm

Where:
Goethe Institut (map)

812 7th St NW

Washington, DC, 20001

United States

Tickets: HERE

Southern Vermont Dance Festival

Presenting: You Are Happy

Eliza Larson reinterprets the world of Homer’s Sirens in this interdisciplinary solo

When:
Sunday, July 20, 2014 at 11:00am

Where:
Southern Vermont Dance Festival (map)

Brattleboro, VT

USA

Tickets: HERE

Philly Recap and What's To Come

Hi Friends,
We had a great time in Philadelphia and are looking forward to this Summer's activities!  We are currently organizing all sorts of Google "Hangout" sessions to plan next season and the next steps for our broader collaboration plan.  We can't wait to see each other again for Fringe season where we will be dividing and conquering to get our butts all over the country to represent Mountain Empire.

As always, please come join the fun on
June 26-28, 2014 PortFringe, Portland, ME
July 10-17, 2014, Capitol Fringe, Washington D.C.
July 18-20, 2014 Southern VT Dance Festival, Brattleboro, VT

While you wait for the fun to begin, here are some pictures from our Philadelphia foray by the always generous Jen Kertis-Veit.

Warm Welcome In Philly

Philly was certainly a warm and welcoming town for Mountain Empire and our Telephone Dance Project was well received for the Salon Show and for the H-O-T Series. We made some new friends and can't wait to go back!

Read about our exploits via the link below courtesy of ThinkingDance.net

http://thinkingdance.net/articles/2014/05/23/3/iMprovisational-Melange-at-Mascher/

What is Coming Up This Summer?

I'm so glad you asked!

After having a fantastic Philly weekend with the girls, we decided we couldn't live without more dance TOGETHER.  So we made more plans. Here are the dates, and the deets will follow, but know that we can't party without you, so come join us!

June 26-28, 2014 PortFringe, Portland, ME

July 10-17, 2014 Capitol Fringe, Washington, DC

July 18-20, 2014 Southern VT Dance Festival, Brattleboro, VT