Professional Showcases:

The festival will present two completely different professional showcases on Saturday, April 6th at AustinVentures Studio Theater. LAJAMARTIN, a physical dance theatre company based in Utah, will perform “Unearthed,” and the California-based Courtney Mazeika and Marlie Couto will perform their duet “eventually,” which was awarded the 2nd place prize at the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition. The curated lineup includes additional dances by artists from across the country as well as works by eight Austin-based companies including Body Shift, an inclusive community initiative that empowers people of all abilities to embrace dancing in their own unique way. Kate Warren will conduct artist interviews following each concert.

Dance on Film:

Dance on Film enters its second year as a major feature of the festival. It will screen dance films from around the globe on Friday, April 5th at AustinVentures Studio Theater. The line-up includes Richard James Allen’s “Digital Afterlives,” which was a Finalist for Best Experimental Film at the SAE Atom Awards in Melbourne, and Max Rothman’s “Dreamland,” which was named Dance Magazine’s Video of the Month for July 2018. Attendees will also have an opportunity to view a Virtual Reality screening of “Invention in Three Parts: Development II” a collaboration between by Dorothy O’Shea Overbey and UT Radio-Television-Film faculty member Deepak Chetty. This year, audience members will select the winners of the Audience Favorite awards.

Master Classes: Two visiting artists will teach Master Classes for the community at Café Dance. Ellen Sickenberger, Artistic Director of Depth Dance, a New York-based contemporary dance company will teach an exploratory and improvisation-based class with a focus on contact partnering and floor work. Laja Field and Martin Durov, Artistic Directors of the Utah-based LAJAMARTIN, will teach a highly physical class grounded in momentum and attack of movement. Both classes will be held Friday, April 5th at Café Dance.

Youth Edition:

Twenty-four youth dance companies will perform in professionally-produced, non-competitive showcases on Sunday, April 7th, at AustinVentures Studio Theater. This is the only event of its kind in Texas. The young dancers will also take a master class from LAJAMARTIN, a physical dance theater company founded by Laja Field and Martin Durov. New to the Youth Edition this year is the College Fair. Dance Department representatives from Texas colleges and universities will be available to introduce their programs and speak with youth edition participants.

NEW! Pop-Up Dances: 

Site-specific dances, community dances, and both improvised and choreographed works will be popping up in outdoor spaces all over Austin during the week leading up to the festival. Watch for impromptu dances starting March 30.

Austin Dance Festival runs April 5-7 at AustinVentures Studio Theatre, Café Dance, and other venues. For the complete lineup, tickets, and more information visit:www.austindancefestival.com.