CHOP SHOP Contemporary Dance Festival Returns

CHOP SHOP: Bodies of Work, a contemporary dance festival, returns to Meydenbauer Center Theatre in February 2019 with an outstanding line-up of eight dance companies and artists from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Now celebrating its 12th anniversary, the festival serves up a signature mix of performance, education, and dialogue, sharing the best of contemporary dance with audiences both experienced and new to the art form.

"As we prepare for another exciting edition of CHOP SHOP, I am particularly struck by the innovation and creativity of this year's performing artists," says festival founder, producer, and curator Eva Stone. "These artists represent a new and fresh perspective on contemporary dance with a view of the world as they see it. Collectively, they offer a peek into where contemporary dance is going next, which is absolutely thrilling!"

CHOP SHOP presents two festival performances at Meydenbauer Center Theatre, Saturday, February 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, February 17 at 3:00 p.m. Both performances feature the same exciting program and the full artist line-up will be announced in mid-November. Tickets for the festival performances go on sale Friday, November 23 at brownpapertickets.com.

The Experience Dance Program and CHOP SHOP Master Class Series accompany the 2019 festival performances, with opportunities for audiences of all ages, abilities, and experience levels to engage directly with dance. Experience Dance Program classes begin in January 2019, bringing free, open to all, and no experience necessary modern dance classes and interactive lecture/demonstrations to a variety of Eastside venues. Experience Dance Program participants also receive a reduced price five dollar ticket to the CHOP SHOP 2019 performance of their choice. The CHOP SHOP Master Class Series, for intermediate/advanced level dancers, features five festival-artist led classes, all held on stage during daytime festival hours on February 16 and 17. Scholarships providing a festival performance ticket and full tuition for the Master Class Series are available to dancers ages 12 - 25. Class schedules and more information on both the Experience Dance Program and CHOP SHOP Master Class Series will be available in late November 2018.

CHOP SHOP's mission is to offer insight on contemporary dance and its creative process, in order to forge deeper connections between artists and audiences through presentation, education, dialogue, and experience. The festival is committed to promoting work that is accessible to a diverse audience, comprising both new and experienced dance viewers, and providing free, fun, and open to all ages and abilities dance classes through our innovative Experience Dance Program.

Since its founding in 2008, CHOP SHOP has shared and championed the work of more than 350 individual artists from 59 dance companies, welcomed 850+ Experience Dance Program participants to free and open to all ages and abilities dance classes, and invited numerous dance students to engage directly with professional artists in 55+ master classes.

Artists featured in past editions of the festival include Spectrum Dance Theatre (Seattle), Joshua Beamish (Vancouver, B.C.), zoe | juniper (Seattle), Adam Barruch Dance (New York City), Kiyon Gaines (Seattle), Grand Rapids Ballet (Grand Rapids, Michigan), //TECTONIC MARROW SOCIETY (Seattle), Price Suddarth (Seattle), Gabrielle Revlock (Philadelphia/New York City), Whim W'Him (Seattle), Donald Sales (Vancouver, B.C.), Mark Haim (Seattle), and Alex Ketley/The Foundry (San Francisco). For more information visit chopshopdance.org.