Quis Custodiet dance project to open January 14, 7 pm @ Woolly Mammoth

DMV non-profit Day Eight invites you to the Bettmann Dances 2nd season opening - Quis Custodiet Dance Project. The curtain goes up at 7pm on January 14th at the Woolly Mammoth Theater downtown.

Robert Bettmann, Artistic Director of the dance project, promises to take the viewers on an experimental journey to explore how we define and pursue security. Bettmann notes, “Especially since 9/11, and the financial crisis, I have been grappling with issues of national and personal security, and I know I’m not alone. What can we do to be safe, as individuals and communities, and how does that impact security outside our communities?”
 

The play's title, "Quis Custodiet", is drawn from a phrase by the six-century Greek philosopher Piccarus  - Quis Custodet Ipsus Custodiet, or “who shall watch the watchers themselves?” The piece is an explosive and compelling narrative on security, but also a light-hearted exploration of the dancers relationship to the audience, and curation in the art world.

 

For several months,  Mr. Bettmann and the company held workshops across the DMV to hear community voices discuss these issues. As a result, the professional company of five is joined on stage by over 20 community dancers. The project has been a two year process. Each of the three major sections of the dance debuted over three months, April 2010, Nov 2010, and April 2011.

 

This premiere will be the first time all three pieces are performed on one stage.

 

The Bettmann Dances first full-length performance – All Good Men – premiered in 2009 at the Capital Fringe Festival. A dance theater adaptation of a Dylan Thomas film-script, All Good Men was hailed in The Examiner as “an example of artistic craftsmanship,” and by audience members as “a vibrant multi-media dance exploration” on the theme of social responsibility.

 

For Quis Custodiet, choreographer Bettmann is teaming with an accomplished group of collaborators like renowned glass and video artist Tim Tate (founder of the Washington Glass School) .

Please join Bettmann Dances season opening at 7pm on January 14th at the Woolly Mammoth  641 D St. NW DC. Learn a new art, and perhaps next time you may choose to perform with the dancers yourself!