The Wilma Theater is pleased to announce the programming for the sixth annual DanceBOOM! festival, which runs from May 31 – June 17. Celebrating the best of contemporary Philadelphia dance while extending an invitation to guest artists from New York and California, the three week festival showcases a variety of genres with fresh, bold, and surprising work. The popular dance festival closes out the Wilma’s season and welcomes the spring weather with interactive street events and mainstage performances from ten dance companies, along with the Motion Picture Series dance film screenings.

In its first week from May 31 – June 2, DanceBOOM! will feature a program of “Men Dancing” with performances presented by Chosen Dance Company, danceTactics, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Lionel Popkin, and streetside performances by Kingsessing Morris Men. Bridgman/Packer Dance and Group Motion Dance Company/Akito Kitamura & Silvana Cardell will perform June 6, 8 and 9, along with streetside performances from the Nicetown Stars Dance Team and Northeast/Frankford Drill Team with dancers ranging from ages 8 to 20. BALLETX, who are new artists-in-residence at the Wilma, will present a full evening of dance, both new work and previous pieces from the company’s repertoire, on June 13, 15, 16 and 17, paired with streetside performances by Raices Culturales Latinoamericanas. (Please see following fact sheet and for a full schedule.)

Tickets for performances are $20-$25, or patrons can buy a DancePass for $20 and receive $10 off unlimited tickets. $10 Student Rush tickets are also available (subject to availability day of performance). Tickets are available at the Wilma Theater Box Office (265 South Broad Street), by phone at (215) 546-7824 or online at www.wilmatheater.org.

DanceBOOM! is curated again this year by Terry Fox, Executive Director of The Philadelphia Dance Projects, with input from artistic advisor Lois Welk. Fox has also served as Dance Curator for The Painted Bride Art Center and worked for six years as Managing and Artistic Director for The Danspace Project, an annual performance series in New York. Welk is the new Director of Dance USA/Philadelphia and the former Director of the New York State Dance Force and Artistic Director of The Yard.

In addition to the three programs of performances, DanceBOOM! will present the fifth annual Motion Picture Series in partnership with Philadelphia Dance Projects and Scribe Video. Curated by Gretjen Clausing, Program Director of Scribe Video and Terry Fox, this mini-fest of dance films and videos will screen a selection of innovative “experimental” shorts – many created by local artists – and four documentaries. The documentaries are Mirror Dance, Movement (R)evolution in Africa, Nefes, and Mambo to Hip Hop: A Bronx Tale – a Philadelphia premiere which will be followed by a conversation with director Henry Chalfant and producer Elena Martínez. Film screenings are free with a DancePass or $5.00 for the general public. (Please see following fact sheet for complete list of films.)

About DanceBOOM! The Wilma Theater first presented DanceBOOM! in 2002 and will present the sixth annual festival from May 31 – June 17, 2007. The Wilma provides dance artists with increased artistic exposure and production resources, and in so doing continues to deepen their tradition of supporting innovative artists in the Philadelphia region. The Wilma Theater has a history of presenting dance and had both theater and dance in mind when the theater was built with a sprung floor in 1996.

DanceBOOM! is generously supported by grants from the William Penn Foundation; Altria Group, Inc.; PECO; and The City of Philadelphia and its Office of the City Representative and Director of Commerce.

Coventry First and The Sporting Club at The Bellevue are 2006-2007 Season Sponsors.

DanceBOOM! 2007 Festival FACTS

VIP PRESS NIGHT
Wednesday, May 30
7:00 p.m. streetside outdoor performance by Kingsessing Morris Men
8:00 pm. Chosen Dance Company, DanceTactics, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Lionel Popkin
(Not open to the public. To RSVP for press tickets, please contact Megan Wendell, megan@canarypromo.com, 215-242-6393)

Program 1: May 31, June 1 and 2 – 8:00 p.m.
Chosen Dance Company, danceTactics, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Lionel Popkin
7:00 p.m. streetside performances by Kingsessing Morris Men

Program 2: June 6, 8, and 9 – 8:00 p.m.
Bridgman/Packer Dance, Group Motion Dance Company/Akito Kitamura & Silvana Cardell 7:00 p.m. streetside performances by Nicetown Stars Dance Team and Northeast/Frankford Drill Team

Program 3: June 13, 15, and 16 – 8:00 p.m.: BALLETX
7:00 p.m. streetside performances by Raices Culturales Latinoamericanas
June 17 – 2:00 p.m : BALLETX
1:00 p.m. streetside performances by Raices Culturales Latinoamericanas

Where: The Wilma Theater 265 S. Broad Street (Broad and Spruce), Philadelphia All events will be held at the Wilma

Prices: $20-$25, or $10 off with DancePass. $10 Student Rush tickets (subject to availability day of performance) Film Screenings are free with a DancePass or $5.00 to general public

Tickets: Phone: (215) 546-7824, Fax: (215) 893-0895 Online: www.wilmatheater.org, E-mail: tickets@wilmatheater.org In person: 265 S. Broad Street (Broad and Spruce), Philadelphia. The Box Office is open Monday-Sunday from 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Films: Motion Picture Series
Thu, June 7
7pm: series of shorts by Gabrielle Revlock, Megan Mazarick, Kate Watson-Wallace, Anne Marie Mulgrew, Jaamil Kosoko, and others.
9pm: One Flat Thing, Reproduced (France 2006), directed by Thierry De Mey Break (New Zealand 2005), by Shona McCaullagh

Fri, June 8
10pm: Movement (R)evolution Africa (A Story of an Art Form in Four Acts) (USA), directed by Joan Frosch and Alla Kovgan

Thu, June 14
7pm: From Mambo to Hip Hop:A Bronx Tale (USA 2005) followed by a conversation with director Henry Chalfant and producer Elena Martínez; moderated by choreographer Merian Soto Choreographer
9pm: Mirror Dance (USA), by Frances McElroy & Maria & Teresa Rodriguez

Fri, June 15
10pm: Nefes (Turkey 2006), by Huseyin Karabey Ezeiza (Argentina 2005), by Andrea Servera