Chamber Dance Project (CDP), Washington’s premiere contemporary ballet company, is using technology to engage audiences virtually until it can bring its 7th season, New Works 2020, to the stage. CDP’s well-received Virtual Chat series, which began in March, continues at 5 p.m. each Tuesday throughout May. To receive the link for each Zoom session, email rsvp@chamberdance.org. For further information, contact www.chamberdance.org/virtual-chats or call 202.499.2297.

On May 12, CDP will feature Julia Erickson, their dancer and ballet master and former principal dancer of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre on the subject of transitioning from classical to contemporary ballet roles.  She will discuss some of the rules of classical ballet that contemporary ballet allows her to break. She believes that the stories told in contemporary ballet are less literal than those found in classical ballet.

Erickson is a Seattle native trained at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School and spent two years with Texas Ballet Theater before joining the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) in 2001. She was also the 2014 recipient of the BRAZZY Award for outstanding female dancer, chosen by Pittsburgh's dance writers. The audience and critics' favorite closed out her 17-year career with PBT in 2018 and is currently focusing on contemporary ballet.

The presentation and Q & A by Erickson is the second of four planned for May. Luz San Miguel and Davit Hovhannisyan will discuss and demonstrate classical ballet partnering on May 19 and contemporary ballet partnering on May 26.

About Chamber Dance Project: Award-winning choreographer and Artistic Director Diane Coburn Bruning founded Chamber Dance Project upon her conviction that dance should be a collaboration between dancers and musicians, and that when artists’ share the creative process with audiences, it deepens the audience’s experience. The company commissions and performs new and contemporary works by outstanding choreographers and composers in collaboration with dancers and musicians (who appear together onstage). In past years, CDP performers shared their creative process with open rehearsals; this year’s virtual series aims to provide the same connection between audience and artist.

With its Donated Ticket and Bring a Child for Free programs, CDP provides access to those who otherwise not have the opportunity to see live music and dance.

Chamber Dance Project is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Bloomberg Philanthropies, DC Commission on Arts and Humanities, KPMG, The Share Fund and Macy’s.

Julia Erickson Photo © & courtesy of Mariah Miranda