“Dialogues with a plant” (2016)
-a one women’s show-
written & performed by Dagmar Spain
directed by Iorgo Papoutsas
on piano: Dave Broome
video: Wayne Wong
costume: Dagmar Spain
http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com/downstairs/Performances.asp?sdate=8%2F14%2F2016&from_cal=0
SWAN Prague
-women’s festival- (2016)
solo “that which moves forward”
choreographed by Dagmar Spain
with Tomáš Mach on violin
video: Enzo Andres Jerez Araya & Paul Schärf
costume by Adela Škopková
https://swanprague.wordpress.com
Blind Spot
A compilation of dance and video works from 2013 – 2016
created by Dagmar Spain with Jay DeYonker & Alessandro La Rocca
with dancers Jay De Yonker, Alessandro La Rocca & Dagmar Spain
music by Jan Fisher, Tomáš Mach & Alessandro La Rocca
video: Enzo Andres Jerez Araya, Paul Schärf & Wayne Wong
costumes by Adela Škopková
Music and Dance Tour October 2015
with Fernando Otero in the Czech Republic & Bulgaria
Plsen & Prague, Czech Republic and Sofia & Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Dancing in 4 of Fernando’s composition as well as 2 new improvised compositions
at Divadlo Ponec, Prague
composer & pianist: Fernando Otero
dancer: Dagmar Spain with Sara Simeoni
video: Wayne Wong
http://www.tanecniaktuality.cz/that-which-moves-forward-gradujici-emoce-v-tanci-i-hudbe/
http://operaplus.cz/soucasny-tanec-s-nadechem-melancholie/
that which moves forward…(2015)
New dance work by choreographer Dagmar Spain in collaborations with 3 dancers facing the issue of attachment as well as detachment from others, from the group, the liberation from old structures, and also the importance of support from others to strive forward. What do we need to go on a new, potentially very different path. Can we prepare for it or does the path reveal itself while we are on it?
Divadlo Ponec, Prague
with dancers Tamara Schindler, Sara Simeoni, Marta Sobotkova, Dagmar Spain & Mona Isabell Suck
music: Jose Ramon Gonzalez & Fernando Otero
with string chamber orchestra of Instituto Cervantes Prague
costumes by Adela Škopková
lighting design by Lucie Piecková
video by Wayne Wong
photography: Kaja Curtis
http://www.tanecniaktuality.cz/that-which-moves-forward-gradujici-emoce-v-tanci-i-hudbe/
Summer Solstice (2015)
When the sun sets, the music continues… A collaborative project with song, music and dance.
Atrium, Prague
singer: Edel Sanders
music: Tomáš Mach (violin) & Alessandro La Rocca (piano)
choreography: Dagmar Spain
dancers: Antonio Aldea, Lida Janska, Jakub Sedlá?ek, Alessandro La Rocca & Dagmar Spain
Me, a stranger at home… (2015)
This theatre work has a personal monologue at its center and is recurrent question what home is, or is not. Through improvisation and revising, the material is build with live music (violin), spoken words and movements. Each player of this work is creating the environment for the others while also enacting their own sense of belonging or not belonging to a certain place, within and without. What is home is a universal question and a very current one, because of our seemingly never-ending stream of refugees all over the world, displaced mostly for the reason of war and conflicts.
My own family history is just one of these many stories, however i believe that anyone whose “story” is not in coherence with his/her surrounding and the expectations of particular groups of this environment will relate to this theme and find possibly a refreshing and also provocative engagement with this particular subject.
Cornelia Street Cafe, New York
actors: Jimmy Cintron, Jorge Montenegro, Iorgo Papoutsas & Dagmar Spain
original music on piano: Dave Broome
lighting: Artem Kulakov
photography: Andrea Vasakova
2 Women, 1000 stories (2015)
This is a unique evening filled with acting, dance & music with original writing by Dagmar Spain & Liliana Velasquez
through a touch of feminine mystery. These 2 very diverse women enact their own personal stories with much laughter and seriousness.
Divadlo Potrva, Prague
performers: Dagmar Spain & Liliana Velasquez
on violin: Tomaš Mach
lighting design: Lucie Pieckova
photography: Marie Getta
And if not, what if…? (2014)
This work is based on an atmosphere, a thought, a roam in which some directions we take or moods we experience are suddenly altered or redirected. In that moment our thoughts and actions might contradict themselves. To capture and sense these occasions which can be fleeting or extend is my main undertaking in this choreography. Conceived and directed by Dagmar Spain, choreography together with the performers.
Divadlo Ponec, Prague
performers: Jay DeYonker, Jared Doreck, Martha Sobotka and Dagmar Spain
percussion: Elia Moretti
costumes: Adéla Škopková
props and set: Miroslav Zach
video: Wayne Wong
photography: Kaja Curtis
http://operaplus.cz/choreograficky-vecer-dagmar-spain-a-isabel-gotzkowsky-v-divadle-ponec/
What about my face? (2014)
Three actors are defining how their face, their outer identity has been so often confused and misunderstood with their inner state during their childhood. How often do we make a different impression on others than how we truly feel and how often do we adhere to these assumptions so we can have a sense of being understood and accepted? And how do we fill the gap of these two realities?
Grace & St. Paul’s Church & Cornelia Street Cafe, New York
performers: Jorge Montenegro, Iorgo Papoutsas & Dagmar Spain
Talk to Me (2013)
In this accumulation of past and present works Dagmar Spain and Iorgo Papoutsas take us on a theatrical roller coaster embodying each diverse characters, enjoying and celebrating the past six years of their artistic collaboration and creations together with their original, witty and provocative scenes. Enjoy this couple asking those questions we all know, but still have no answers to. The common theme in this performance is our desire to always get just a little bit closer to each other and as so often in life we fail to do so. To keep up the humour, grace and hope might be the reason to see this show.
Cornelia Street Cafe, Prague
performers: Iorgo Papoutsas & Dagmar Spain
on piano: David Friend
lighting design: Artem Kulakov
photography: Viktor Miloslavskiy
Sorry…you’re in my space (2013)
The theme of Dagmar Spain’s work Sorry…you’re in my space is about space and its meaning in our lives: How much space do we need to exist, to breath freely? When do we allow our lives to be overtaken by the space of others, or just noise, chatter, opinions? How does that effect our lives? This new work Sorry…you’re in my space tells individual and universal stories. 18 artists from 10 different countries are involved. The 10 performers who are made out of actors and dancers are constantly asked to overcome barriers of separation within themselves, as well as in the space that they share with one another. Theater, dance, music and spoken words are weaved together into organic whole.
Studio Alta & Divadlo Ponec, Prague
performers: Klara Burgess, Jan Cina, Jay DeYonker, Jared Doreck, Klára Ko?árková, Mirka Prokešová, Jakub Sedlá?ek & Martha Sobotka
composer: Anar Keytarman
costume design: Kate?ina Soukupová & lighting design: Johanna- Mai Vihalem
http://operaplus.cz/choreograficky-vecer-dagmar-spain-a-isabel-gotzkowsky-v-divadle-ponec/
Through the Mirror (2013)
Audience response:
“Through the Mirror offered fascinating glimpses into private musings. With unrelated scenes tied together by reflections on the potency of words, this work certainly inspired musings of my own. What is said versus what is unsaid can determine societies, politics, lives. A chance remark, a thought stated, or unstated- tremendous power, without our conscious awareness.
Ms. Spain is able to allow her musings on philosophical topics to wash over you. One is not quite aware of it’s effect as one is experiencing her entertaining movement theater work, rather her underlying messages are absorbed into consciousness subtly, over time, what can be a better artistic experience than that?”
Cornelia Street Cafe, New York
performers: Silvana Brizuela-Weigel, Iorgo Papoutsas and Dagmar Spain
music: Dave Broome
film: Lewis Smithingham & Dagmar Spain
light and sound design: Artem Kulakov
Dokola (2013)
Dokola is an intimate tale of connection (and disconnection) surrounding the intertwined sexual relationships of ten unique individuals living in modern day Prague. A Broad’s Way Productions’ biggest show to date, Dokola has a unique and updated perspective, which effortlessly marries theatre, film, dance and original music to explore these ten diverse relationships. The adapted play connects the ten characters with a cyclical journey through the gritty, awkward, amusing, and revealing conversations people have with their sexual partners behind closed doors. Director Jay DeYonker, says, “When ‘La Ronde’ was first conceived in 1897 it was banned for its raw content. With our adaptation, we have challenged ourselves to explore similarly controversial, yet highly relevant themes surrounding the sex lives of Prague’s diverse community.” Dokola had an international writing team to update the famous script and features a full cast of Czech & International, non-native English speakers.
Divadlo 21, Prague Divadlo Ponec, Prague (only dance version 2014)
dancers: Jay DeYonker & Dagmar Spain
directed by: Jay DeYonker
choreography: Dagmar Spain
composer: Jan Fisher
film: Linus Ignatius
Marat/Sade (2012)
Peter Weiss’s “The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade” is coming to laundry houses near you! The production itself is a collaboration between Canadian artist Althea Thauberger and the theater group Akanda. You the audience will get the unique opportunity of witnessing this classic story at the de-commissioned laundry building of Bohnice, Prague.
Psychiatric Hospital Bohnice, Prague
producer: Althea Thauberger
director: Melanie Rada
music director: Ian Mikyska
choreographer: Dagmar Spain
lighting designer: Johanna-Mai Vihalem
costume designer: Tamar Ginati
http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/althea-thauberger/
https://canadianart.ca/reviews/althea-thauberger-marat-sade-bohnice/
http://pragueartreview.blogspot.de/2012/04/maratsade-by-peter-weiss-performed-by.html
Yellow is not Gold (2012)
Dagmar Spain is presenting her work Yellow is not Gold, a mythical dance tale of 5 women embarking on a road of discovering treasures. “Can we truly uncover treasures within our lives just by seeking, or is not the road to discover them more obscure the harder we are seeking them?”
St. Mark’s Church, New York & Siraex, Klaste?ec nad Oh?i, Czech Republic
dancers: Klara Burgess, Dagmar Spain, Deidre Towers and Yamila Viana
text: Carolyn Morrow
composer: Jose Ramon Gonzales violinist: Michele Joo
video and photography: Wayne Wong
photography: Michaela Šindelá?ová
http://www.eyeondance.org/arts/archives.cfm?id_journal_item=1AE16C0E-EE2D-C3C4-9401B42E837264A6&category=5FA605C9-5555-46DF-992EB5F4AEACF582
Await…(2011)
AWAIT... is the state where nothing, and everything happens. Waiting to be seen as
a subtle and most significant expression is explored in this new work. AWAIT… is structured in different scenes which correspond to the different days of the week. A man and a woman are seen in different situations reciting monologues, enacting dialogues and movements, expressing their anguish and hopes in these moments where all and nothing might be possible.The characters share moments of trying closeness, but often stay lonely anticipating a different reality that the one that they found themselves in.The outcome still needs to be revealed.
Cornelia Street Cafe, New York
performers: Iorgo Papoutsas & Dagmar Spain
on piano: Adrienne Ramm
photography: Keith Widyolar
Urban Landscapes (2011)
A fresh, originally written & funny show exploring the minds and hearts of city dwellers in New York.
Cornelia Street Cafe & Madam X, New York
actors/dancers: Silvana Brizuela-Weigel, Alec Dana, Mariana Galassi, Iorgo Papoutsas & Dagmar Spain
live-piano: Adrienne Ramm
film: Alex Leu
sound-design: Artem Kulakov
photography: Viktor Miloslavskiy
Cesta (2011)
Cesta (Path) is an evening of many facades and impressions: dance, poetry, video imagery and live music. A performance that reaches right to the heart of the audience and encourages the path lesser walked. Or as Kafka would say: “Paths appear because we walk them.” This performance is a kaleidoscope of many different works of Czech born New York choreographer Dagmar Spain.
Culturni Center Vltavska, Prague
directed and choreographed by Dagmar Spain
dancers: Lida Janska, Lola Karpenka, Dagmar Spain & Martin Waigl
music: Jose Roman Gonzalez (piano) and Maria Victoria Calero (flute)
video works: Alexis Gibson, Joe Goldman, Nydia Marsella and Dagmar Spain
photography: Lucie
Melting…(2010)
Melting… is a trilogy with the subject of winter turning into spring, its state and purpose in the overall frame of human life.
“As my life has unfolded up to this point of my returning to the country of my origin, the Czech Republic, I recognize that every step along this path has guided me to ultimately create closure of my eternal state of being an “exile.” The chosen landscapes in the film section are the manifestation of inner landscapes of oneself. The images are trying to capture the fragility of this moment.” Ms. Spain’s desire in this work is to capture this fleeting state, crystalizing its unique rhythm through the accompanied music, song and dance. The three parts of this film are to be seen as a stream of feelings and thoughts that cannot be put in a specific narrative or chronological pattern.
92nd Street Y, Harkness Dance Centre, New York
dancers: Maxine Steinman & Dagmar Spain
on piano: Adrienne Ramm
composer: Adrienne Ramm & Fernando Otero
aria (“Song to the Moon”) sung by: Leandra Ramm
film: Alexis Gibson & Dagmar Spain
photography: Keith Widyolar