Sopris Sun Staff Report

Dance Initiative will be welcoming a different kind of dance company for its next Artist In Residence, according to a press release.

The six members of the New York City based company HEWMAN will be in residence from July 11-16 at The Launchpad. HEWMAN is an unconventional collaborative dance project that strives to involve at least one medium other than dance, to collaborate with others to create an open-ended creative process and to present dance in new spaces where dance performance is not usually found.

HEWMAN will be taking advantage of the Carbondale Farmer’s Market from 1-2 p.m. on July 13 for a site-specific pop up performance. The public is welcome to observe and possibly participate in HEWMAN’s creative process during an open rehearsal at the Launchpad from 4 to 6 p.m. on July 14.

The troupe also offers an all-levels workshop titled “Our Bodies As Instruments for Living” at the Launchpad from 10:30 a.m. to noon on July 16. A studio presentation of HEWMAN’s work in progress “THIS IS NOTHING WITHOUT YOU” will be presented at 8:30 p.m. on July 16 with a Q&A session to follow. For performance and workshop information, go to danceinitiative.org. Space is limited.

HEWMAN was founded by Juilliard School Dance graduates Jason Collins, James Lindsay Harwell and Ingrid Kapteyn in 2014. Since then, it has grown into a collective with a long-term vision that absorbs new collaborators for each project.

In addition to founding HEWMAN, Collins, Harwell and Kapteyn choreograph and perform in their own work. Joining them in their residency with Dance Initiative are dancer and costume designer, Victoria Bek, theatre director Jordan Geiger (a Denver native), and dancer Caitlin Taylor.

HEWMAN’s current work in progress, “THIS IS NOTHING WITHOUT YOU”, will be the focus of their residency and is a collaboration between HEWMAN, composer Andrew Funcheon, and Geiger. This new work will premiere in New York City in early August.

Though Collins, Harwell and Kapteyn said they feel most in their element when working together, they each work professionally for other choreographers. Collins, originally from Defreestville, New York, currently performs for and collaborates with performance artist Ryan McNamara and choreographers Christopher Williams, Dylan Crossman and Danielle Russo. He has also worked with Pam Tanowitz, David Parker & The Bang Group, and Wally Cardona, Jennifer Lacey, Mary John Frank and Igal Perry. He was recently featured in Opera Omaha’s production of John Adams’s “A Flowering Tree,” and in Opéra National de Bordeaux’s production of Rameau’s “Dardanus.”

Harwell, originally from Dallas, toured internationally with Gallim Dance in the summer of 2014, and nationally with Brian Brooks Moving Company from September 2014 to March 2015.

Kapteyn, originally from Massachusetts, has been working and touring with Brian Brooks Moving Company since 2014. She performed in Punchdrunk NYC’s “Sleep No More” full-time from February 2013 to May 2014, and continues to make occasional appearances in the show. She was also a dancer in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2013-14 season productions of “Eugene Onegin” and “Prince Igor.” She has taught workshops throughout North America and Iceland (including with FRESH Dance Intensive) and at Princeton and Bucknell Universities. She serves as the New York administrator and assistant to the artistic director of Springboard Danse Montréal. This spring, Kapteyn will be performing the role of Mary Chase in Martha Clarke’s off-Broadway production “Angel Reapers” at The Signature Theater.

“Collins, Harwell and Kapteyn make quite a creative team,” said a Dance Initiative spokeswoman.

More information on HEWMAN, go to hewmancollective.com.

Dance Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Carbondale, dedicated to promoting the art of dance of all different styles and serving the needs of experienced students of dance, choreographers and dance teachers.

Published in The Sopris Sun on June 23, 2016.