PS21 and Columbia County Arts Council's "Best in Show Dog Festival"
present

Mary Seidman and Dancers
WeDOGS 
Sunday, September 7 at 2 PM
PS21 The Tent

Tickets:  $20 Adults   $18 Members   Students $8   Children under 10 free

The Columbia County Council on the Arts and PS 21 join forces to present New York City based Mary Seidman and Dancers to Columbia County for a special performance of WeDOGS, Sunday, September 7th at 2 PM in the PS 21 Tent. 

Photo by: Andre Costantini

This is all family entertainment

This unique 5 suites of dance celebrate the unrelenting spirit and emotional bonding of “man’s best friend.”  Artistic Director, Mary Seidman, has spent many years observing the exceptional dog behavior of service dogs as well as how dogs interact with their human companions to create an engaging, one of a kind piece.  The performance is one of the featured events being presented in conjunction with the Best of Show public art exhibition in the City of Hudson.

This modern dance work will be performed to a wide range of musical selections, ranging from classical to jazz and is suitable for all age groups.  Jennifer Dunning, New York Times Critic, recently reviewed WeDOGS and states “Mary Seidman has spent a lifetime watching dogs judging by her charming new work, We DOGS.  Ms Seidman has managed to make the  dogs’ antics as much about dance as canine behavior. With wit and insight, she comments on the sometimes blurred boundaries between man and dog, man and woman, and dogs with dogs.”   

Costumes by Karen Young make We DOGS an imaginative, yet sophisticated dance experience.  Tickets are available for purchase at artscolumbia.org, ps21chatham.org or at the PS 21 Tent on Sunday, September 7th.  For more information, please call 518 671 6213 or 518, 392 6121

New York City based modern dance company Mary Seidman and Dancers will perform WeDOGS, nine suites of dance which celebrate the unrelenting spirit and emotional availability of "man's best friend."

Recently premiered in NYC, The New York Times critic, Jennifer Dunning writes:

Andrea Mohin/The New York Times
Published: January 29, 2008

"Mary Seidman has spent a lifetime watching dogs, to judge by her charming new “WeDOGS,” performed on Sunday afternoon at the Ailey Citigroup Theater. Dogs played, fought over chew toys, romanced their owners and taught their progeny good manners in this suite of nine dances, set to singularly well-chosen scores, including works by Edgar Varèse and Murray Weinstock. And Ms. Seidman found the perfect performers in seven company members, two guest artists and seven impressively un-self-conscious children.
Ms. Seidman managed to make the dogs’ antics as much dance as canine behavior.  And in the harrowingly beautiful “Ancestors”... in that duet the guest artists, Raphael Boumaila and Dagmar Spain, were wolves, feral creatures in love, but their howls and the night darkness evoked the terror of abandoned pets.

Karen Young’s savvy dog costumes helped make “WeDOGS” an imaginative, blessedly uncute, dance experience.

For the last few years, Ms. Seidman has researched exceptional dog behavior and the training of service dogs, and has observed the many breeds of dogs and their beloved owners who populate NYC.  With wit and insight, she comments on the sometimes blurred boundaries between man and dog, man and woman, and dogs with dogs, distilling that which makes us human and that which aligns us to our animal instincts.

In the opening piece, Seidman presents a sophisticated young lady walking her four legged companion, only to find that within their walk, they change roles many times, pondering the question "Who's the Alpha?"  Dogs, known for their pack behavior and devotion to an alpha leader, can be compared in many ways to dancers in a dance company: they love to work, are obedient and loyal to the master, bask in the reward of praise from their audience, and enjoy learning more tricks.  Picture the dance company as The Pack, with all the inherent challenges and benefits of moving and surviving as such, reflecting society in all its transgressions and glories. In Ancestors, a man and woman grapple with the spiritual and emotional wilderness found in the howl of a wolf. 

Throughout the piece, the dancers will speak in "doggish" language, using a vocabulary of gestures, sounds, and actions discovered through research and improvisation.

The work will be performed to a wide range of musical selections, ranging from classical to jazz to live improvisational keyboard, assembled by NYC based composer Murray Weinstock.  Costumes by Karen Young.

The Company: Coco Karol, Katie Dorn, Domingo Estrada, Jr., Seth Miner, Alice White. Guest Artists from the Jose Limon Dance Company: Kathryn Alter and Raphael Boumaila.  

Mary Seidman and Dancers has toured the United States and performed at numerous New York venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), and the Guggenheim Museum. Ms. Seidman’s work has been seen at many venues across Manhattan, from Symphony Space on the Upper West Side to the Lower Manhattan area, including the River to River Festival, in conjunction with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Also, performing in several outdoor festivals like Jacob's Pillow Inside Out, the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, in SC, and numerous art and science museums. 

In December 2008, Ms. Seidman will premiere a new work at La MaMa, E.T.C. entitled MAMA, a modern folk tale. For more information, visit our web site: www.maryseidmananddancers.org