Two local choreographers to be showcased in Cincinnati

Area choreographers and performers to present new works at Contemporary Dance Theater’s Choreographers Without Companies at the Jarson-Kaplan Theater June 11 and 12, 2010 include Melissa Heston and Tricia Gelmini of Yellow Springs.

Contemporary Dance Theater presents its annual showcase of local choreographers and performers at this season’s Choreographers Without Companies, which takes place June 11 and 12, 2010 8:30PM at the Aronoff Center for the Arts’ Jarson-Kaplan Theater. Choreographers Without Companies is a pivotal component of Contemporary Dance Theater’s mission and presenting season, as this event centers on supporting and cultivating work made and performed by regional dance artists.

This festival features new and reworked versions of previously created works that together form a delightfully varied festival of diverse voices, styles, and visions, thus offering a window into the world of possibilities for creating dance. A truly unique combination of provocative voices in dance, this programs’ choreographers include Yellow Springs’ Tricia Gelmini and Melissa Heston, Cincinnati’s Diane Germaine, the nationally-acclaimed Demetrius Klein, the award-winning Ka-Ron Brown Lehman, and first-time contributions from Kori Martodam and Dayton’s Ashley Powell.

Tickets at $27 and $22, $17 for students and seniors with identification at the box office. Box office: (513) 621-2787. The Jarson-Kaplan Theater is located in the Aronoff Center for the Arts at 650 Walnut Street in downtown Cincinnati. Tickets may be purchased online at www.cincinnatiarts.org.


Jeux d’Amour by Melissa Heston (Yellow Springs, Ohio) presents a dance-theatre piece with six performers, investigating the well-known proposition that the best lovers are French. While “Jeux d’Amour” occurs in the present-day, it harkens back to 1930s France. With a backdrop of French icons and stereotypes, as well as a black and white film aesthetic, the company pursues affection through touching, looking, and speaking, as well as dancing the French Apache Tango.



Stones in My Backyard is a new work by Tricia Gelmini (Yellow Springs, Ohio) that considers the fragility of our human existence. This work for three dancers explores a fragile place made familiar to the choreographer through her brother. Ms. Gelmini confronts the reality that, for anyone of us, being without love, nourishment, health, sanity, or a home is a possibility.