Festival:21

Hampton Opera Center & Livestream

November 4-7, 2021

push/FOLD presents the Union PDX - Festival:21 at the renowned Hampton Opera Center (Portland Opera) this November 4-7, sponsored by Bill & Wendy Whitsell. Festival:21 features contemporary dance performances and masterclasses in the genres of afro-cuban, break, street, and contemporary dance by national, regional, and local artists:

Festival:21 is the third annual production of push/FOLD’s Union PDX festival program. After a pivot in our 2020 program due to COVID-19, live performances are back! This year, Festival:21 returns with our student performance on November 4, three public performances, five professional-level masterclasses taught by festival artists, and two new professional development workshops to continue to address barriers of access in grant writing and organizational planning and development.

Following each performance (November 5-7), join us as we chat with the artists in a facilitated Q&A. Learn about their process and artistic developments, features of their work, and experiences as professional artists navigating their communities and the world today.

Festival:21 is brought to you by the generous support of our community of artists, festival partners, and donors. This does not happen without you. Truly, thank you.

Social Media Links

Performances & Artist-Talks (In-Person & Livestream)

November 5 & 6 @ 7:30pm

November 7 @ 4:00pm

** Facilitated artist-talks and Q&A follow each performance. **

Livestream Below: Click Here

Student Outreach (In-Person)

November 4 @ 8pm

We invite Portland-Vancouver-Metro area dance students to preview Union PDX - Festival:21 during our invited dress rehearsal November 4 @ 8pm.

Interested schools and program coordinators, please contact us at contact@pushfold.org to learn more and register your students.

Invitations and inquiries are distributed by October 13.

Livestream

November 5 & 6 @ 7:30pm PST

November 7 @ 4:00pm PST

** Prior to each performance, your livestream login instructions and a link will be sent to the email provided with the purchase of your virtual tickets. **

Join us live as each in-person performance at the Hampton Opera Center is streamed to your home with an incredible multi-camera production. Make it an evening the night of the performance, or pause and come back later, virtual ticket holders have access to the livestream through November 14.

Don't forget to engage with the artists during the live artist-talk and Q&A utilizing the live-chat, and keep your eyes peeled during intermission for a special surprise.

View Festival:21 Program: Click Here »

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Click Here, or on the image above to access the livestream login.

Festival:21 Artists

Click on the names of the artists above to learn more and support their work.

Masterclasses

Hampton Opera Center

November 5 & 6

Advanced to Professional Level (Ages 16 to Adult)

** Classes follow all CDC and State guidelines for the safety and well-being of all participants and artists. **

Tom Tsai

Sweep Techniques

Breakdance

November 5 @ 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Tom’s floorwork class elaborates on the “sweep” of Breakin’ technique, and its numerous variations. The class incorporates weight-shift transitions, directional changes, continuous flow, and honors the dynamic leg work that is a cornerstone of Breakin’ footwork foundation.

Knee coverings, knee pads, wrist support, socks, or shoes may be helpful.

Evelyn Tejeda

Urban Contemporary

Urban, Contemporary

November 5 @ 2:00pm - 3:30pm

This is a class where the language and technique of urban dance forms and contemporary dance meet. The focus is to bring your dancing to another level, giving tools to improve each student’s quality of movement, through musicality, improvisation, wave movements, contractions of the muscles, floorwork and isolations, with an energetic across the floor work, phrases, and combinations.

Rebecca Margolick

Kinetic Listening & Movement Generation

Contemporary, Improvisation

November 6 @ 10:00am - 11:30am

Class is geared towards getting in touch with the body while listening and being influenced by the people around us. Influenced from visualization, improvisation and various technical forms, I work on mind-body connection and versatility while aiming to build a community of listening and participation in the room. We will push our physicality through a series of movements meant to work on coordination and finding efficiency and joy in effort. The class then moves towards movement generation, durational practice and finding and getting in touch with the body’s senses, emotions and capacity.

Samuel Hobbs

Visceral Movement Theory™—Flow & Power

Athletic Movement & Partnering

November 6 @ 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Inspired by movements of martial arts, athletics, and dance forms, throughout class participants hone their internal sense of fluid flow within their bodies as a driving force in suspension, dynamic balance, partnering, and maintaining power in movement.

Dancers should expect floor-work, mid to high level movement, and working with partners of varied genders and sizes.

Oluyinka Akinjiola

Entering the Cosmogram

Afro-Contemporary, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian

November 6 @ 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Participants will explore the Bakongo Cosmogram through an Afro-Contemporary lens. Experience with any Afro-Diasporic Dance form is extremely helpful (Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian, West African, Hip Hop, House, Jazz, etc.).

Workshops

Hampton Opera Center

November 7

All workshops are donation-based professional-development classes geared towards artists. A suggested minimum donation is $5 at time of registration. Participants may register in advance online, or at the door if space is available.

** Advanced registration is highly encouraged. **

Deciphering Grant Writing

November 7 @ 10:00am - 12:00pm

Instructors: Ahsante Sankofa Foree & Samuel Hobbs

Through exercises, conversation, and real-world grant examples, this class supplements artists’ experiences in grant writing. Participants build a tacit understanding in how grants serve the trajectory of our professional and artistic careers, and learn to leverage grant application questions to fully inform foundations of our work in the broader context of our community and needs. This class is designed to provide tangible tools and demystify the granting process and budgets to be directly applicable on your next submission.

Cultivating Leadership

An Introduction to Agile and Balanced Team and Project Management

November 7 @ 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Instructors: Hailey Bill & Emily Rizzo, PHR

Through an interactive class format, artists learn methods for building balanced and agile teams to support their needs and goals. Discover effective communication techniques and strategies for project management, company growth, and creating a powerful and supportive team. Develop project management skills and mental agility when acting as a leader to take you to the next level as an artist. This class is geared towards the independent artists and growing performance companies.