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Seattle choreographer Amy O’Neal

O’Neal prepares for a series of new solo and duet dances at Velocity Dance Center.

By Seattle Mag September 16, 2011

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This article originally appeared in the October 2011 issue of Seattle magazine.

Amy O’Neal has worked with Pat Graney Company and Scott/Powell Performance, as well as her own companies, Locust and (currently) AmyO/tinyrage. She is artist-in-residence at Velocity Dance Center and will perform new solos and duets with Kathleen Hermesdorf as part of Velocity’s Guest Artist Series. 10/28–10/29. 8 p.m. Prices vary. Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th Ave.; velocitydancecenter.org

Brangien Davis: As part of your residency at Velocity, you proposed a collaborative performance with San Francisco based choreographer Kathleen Hermesdorf. Why?

Amy O’Neal: Kathleen is one of my dance heroes. I first took a class with her at the San Francisco dance festival the summer of my sophomore year at Cornish. We have crossed paths many times since then, but we started talking about doing more together in 2007 when we were both at Bates Dance Festival in Maine. At the time, I was filming duets for my first AmyO/tinyrage project. I set up a camera in the street late one night on the campus of Bates College, and Kathleen and I did this hysterical improvisation with hula hoops.

BD: What are you most looking forward to in the collaboration?

AO: She and I will be working together on a duet, and we will also each perform a new solo. We both love to improvise, and Kathleen is an inspiration to me, so I am excited to play with her and learn. She has been filming duets with people in front of graffiti in different cities, so we may play around with that. We have talked about the different feminine archetypes we are each playing with in our own work and how to bring these together thematically. She is wearing a big tiger head in her solo, and I am playing with an over-the-top diva persona. We are both feeling the lady power right now.

 

 

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