Body Vox

By Katie Deem
The Distinguished Performance Series presents the modern dance company BodyVox on Friday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. in the College Activities Center.

Artistic directors Jamey Hampton and Ashley Roland founded the critically acclaimed modern dance group in 1997. BodyVox has presented five productions in the U.S. and internationally since that time. These shows include “The Big Room,” “A Thousand Little Cities” with visual artist and playwright Ted Savinar and award-winning filmmaker Mitchell Rose, “Reverie,” “ZAPPED,” and “Water Bodies.”

Their body of work includes choreography for the Academy Awards as well as music videos for Sting, U2, Pat Metheny, John Fogerty and others. David Bowie selected Hampton and Roland to choreograph his arena concert production, "The Glass Spider."

The group collaborates with people across many entertainment genres - film/video, opera and fashion. One of their performances can be seen on video in the company’s short film “Modern Daydreams” which won the American Choreography Award for Outstanding Achievement in Short Film in 2002. The company also collaborated with renowned opera director Chris Mattaliano for the Portland Opera production of “Carmina Burana.” The Los Angeles Times called it “a hymn to impulsive uninhibited creative expression.” Fashion designers will often add BodyVox’s “human movement as a beautiful accessory to their [high fashion].” They also perform as guest entertainers “adding life and levity to festivals, celebrations, sports events, conferences and gala fundraisers of every conceivable kind.”

BodyVox “combines diverse forms of dance, media and stage design to create theater experiences.” The performers achieve “breathtaking physicality, striking imagery and guffaw- inducing wit and whimsy.” For more information on the modern dance group, please visit www.bodyvox.com.

The BodyVox performance is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Commision on the Arts and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, in partnership with the National Foundation for the Arts and West Virginia University at Parkersburg.

Tickets for this show are available in the college business office. WVUP students may purchase advance tickets for themselves and one guest for only $2 each. Tickets at the door are $10 for adults and $5 for students. For tickets by mail, call (304) 424-8223, e-mail tammyharper@mail.wvu.edu or write: Performing Arts Tickets, 300 Campus Drive, Parkersburg, WV, 26104. Persons with disabilities are encouraged to speak with someone at the time of ticket purchase or call 424-8248 or 424-8337 TTD for accommodations.