Michele Brangwen Dance & Music Ensemble at MATCH - Midtown Arts & Theater Center

FACES OF SUN AND WIND is a new work from the Michele Brangwen Dance & Music Ensemble that explores the power of one person linking their energy to another, as in a microgrid set up to deliver renewable energy to a community that has united to generate it. The mircrogrid is also a perfect metaphor for how activism can start with just one person and grow to the power of the many, working together for meaningful change. FACES OF SUN AND WIND features choreography by Michele Brangwen and music by Jon Irabagon, with sections of movement & music created in the moment by all performers.

Michele Brangwen writes: “When the Amazon labor union leader Chris Smalls was asked “what is the single most important component of activism,” he replied: “to start from a place of love.” When you think about it, that quote is quite powerful. We have a lot of work to do to combat the climate crisis. I don't think we are going to mobilize in the ways in which we need to if we approach it from a place of shame or anger, but instead I think the progress will come from a place of love: love for each other and love for the earth. In creating FACES OF SUN AND WIND I wanted to create a work that would surround the audience with a feeling of welcome.”...

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FACES OF SUN AND WIND is a new work from the Michele Brangwen Dance & Music Ensemble that explores the power of one person linking their energy to another, as in a microgrid set up to deliver renewable energy to a community that has united to generate it. The mircrogrid is also a perfect metaphor for how activism can start with just one person and grow to the power of the many, working together for meaningful change. FACES OF SUN AND WIND features choreography by Michele Brangwen and music by Jon Irabagon, with sections of movement & music created in the moment by all performers.

Michele Brangwen writes: “When the Amazon labor union leader Chris Smalls was asked “what is the single most important component of activism,” he replied: “to start from a place of love.” When you think about it, that quote is quite powerful. We have a lot of work to do to combat the climate crisis. I don't think we are going to mobilize in the ways in which we need to if we approach it from a place of shame or anger, but instead I think the progress will come from a place of love: love for each other and love for the earth. In creating FACES OF SUN AND WIND I wanted to create a work that would surround the audience with a feeling of welcome.”

The program will also include UNENDING, a work inspired by the music of John Coltrane, with choreography and costumes by Michele Brangwen, music by Grammy-nominated composer & trumpeter Tim Hagans, and movement and music created in the moment by all performers. UNENDING folllows the form of a traditional jazz tune, with set choreography and music to the head and bridge, and then improvised duets for dancers and musicians during the choruses.

Performers: MEREDITH FAGES, CRISTIAN LAVERDE KÖNIG, LINDSEY McGILL & MICHELE BRANGWEN, dancers; TIM HAGANS, trumpet; JON IRABAGON, saxophone; THOMAS HELTON, double bass; SAM KNIGHT, drums.

The program will also feature ALLURE, a short film created by composer and vocalist Angela Wang in collaboration with dancer & choreographer Lindsey McGill. Filmed in the Silos at Sawyer Yards, ALLURE features a lone dancer (McGill) enticed by endless yards of billowing mysterious fabric to enter the caverns and explore the nature of longing. The film explores how our obsessions can lead us to places of fulfillment. The 4:38 minute film won best choreography music video at Rome Music Video Awards.

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