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thislocation 2 thislocationstate-wide tourdec.4-april 16, 2010-2011"Where our strictly scheduled society tends to view a detour as a mistake, Front Porch Dance and The Strange Pilgrims reframe this dislocation as one’s true destination: “thislocation.” Each piece of art, music, and dance has been inspired by unforeseen moments that trap the essence of a certain space in one’s memory. The audience will find themselves in an unexpected place that magically seems to be right where they were going." --Jamie WeemsSpecial thanks to our wonderful audiences in Jackson, Vicksburg, Yazoo City, Hinds County, Oxford and Meridian!Check out our facebook page for more photos from thislocation!
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photo by melody moody

photo by chandra crane

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photo by meredith norwood

photo by chandra crane

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December 14, 2010: We had the pleasure of performing at the Mississippi Supreme Court's Christmas Party!
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Fall Festivities

October 29 and 30: We were featured as a guest company in the debut performance of Intersect Dance Collective at Jackson Academy. We felt privileged to join Intersect as they celebrated their first concert!October 30: Front Porch Dance's film, "Dealing" was featured in the Mississippi International Film Festival at The Russel C. Davis Planetarium in downtown Jackson. Erin, Sarah, and Krista attended the screening of the film and enjoyed seeing the diverse spectrum of films in the festival.
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photography by aaron phillips

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October 23, 2010

Jackson Arts Collective Fall Showcase at The Commons

"Movement," a painting by showcased artist Anthony DiFatta

It was a pleasure to perform alongside several other Jackson-based dance companies during an evening filled with art, music, and poetry. Over 85 artists from a variety of disciplines participated in this community-centered cultural event.
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October 2, 2010

An Evening on the Porch: A Benefit Gala for Front Porch Dance at The Commons at Eudora Welty's Birthplace

The evening featured live music, screenings of our dance films, sneak previews of new choreography, and a contra dance in which audience members joined the dance floor. Zydeco Machine and Lazy Jane (Laurel Isbister and Wes Hughes) provided wonderful music for the evening. We were honored to have the support of so many community members that evening.
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Front Porch presents its first film, Dealing, at Crossroads Film Festival in Jackson on April 17, 2010~

Emily, Erin and Krista at the festival

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Emily, Krista and Erin with videographer Kevin Partridge

Experimenting with Beautyby Lacey McLaughlinJackson Free Press- April 14, 2010Dealing is a three-minute experimental film produced and directed by Jacksons Front Porch Dance Company. The film begins with an aerial shot of four dancers seated at a card table on the porch of the Commons and Eudora Weltys birthplace. The dancers take turns dealing cards to the rhythm of local musician Jamie Weems mandolin.The cinematography creates an aesthetic transition from the card table to various spots at the commons where the dancers perform modern dance and ballet gracefully while putting on their best poker face. This short film captures the beauty of the Commons and talent of local artists. The screening of Dealing is Saturday, April 17, at 3 p.m.
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We had an absolutely wonderful time performing at Mobiles! Dancing to live music was just amazing, and we want to thank especially Jamie Weems, The Strange Pilgrims, One to One Studios, and the Jackson Arts Collective for making this show a reality! Also, many many thanks to the fabulous audience! Performing for you was a true joy.

Mobiles2 Saturday Evening, September 26, 2009Presented by the Jackson Arts Collective and One to One Studios~ *Mobiles* an evening full of stimuli for the senses5 musicians, 6 dancers, and 8 visual artists partnered together to celebrate Jacksons ever changing and evolving art scene. Front Porch Dance presented new choreography set to live music by musician/composer Jamie Weems. In addition, photographers Roy Adkins, Ron Blaylock, William Patrick Butler, Mary Fitzgerald, Josh Hailey, Kenya Hudson, Aaron Phillips, and Lizzie Wright unveiled new work in the front gallery. The event was inspired by the brilliant mobiles created by celebrated American artist Alexander Calder. Mobiles are kinetic visual medium that exist in space and time. They constantly move and evolve never giving the beholder the same image twice. The music and dance partnership of Jamie Weems and Front Porch Dance is based on composed forms. However, within these forms, there are improvised elements that constantly give new shape to expression. The photography displayed in the front gallery will be centered on the subject of local music and dance performance. Each one of the 8 artists has a gift for capturing the essence of live performance. Their collective body of work will showcase the unique and evolving range of music and dance in Jackson. The chameleon-like qualities of One to One Studios make it a mobile of sorts. This performance promises to turn the venue into a yet to be seen version of itself. A reception in the gallery opened at 7:30 PM with the music and dance performance starting at 9:00 PM. The Jackson Arts Collective is made up of visual artists, musicians, writers, poets, and everyone in between. Their goal is to increase exposure of artists through hosting events highlighting Jacksons artistic diversity. We facilitate events that emerge from our arts community. Our hope is that the community can continue to direct itself in an increasingly more efficient manner with the aid of these resources.
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Mobiles in Yazoo City,MS

Saturday December 5, 2009

the strange pilgrims

Century

CenturyWednesday, April 15, 20097:30pm-9:30pmThe Commons _ Eudora Welty's Birthplace719 N. Congress St.Jackson, MS"The Mississippi Improv Alliance and Front Porch Dance will join creative energy to fuse 100 years of Mississippi music and dance.This April will mark the 100th anniversary of Eudora Weltys birth. The Commons at Weltys birthplace is celebrating this event with a weeklong festival, Spring Fest. At 7:30 PM, Wednesday, April 15, the Commons Gallery stage will host an improvisatory set of music and dance entitled Century. The performance will weave together traditional central Mississippi fiddle melodies through the lens of a group of modern artists.At the time of Weltys birth, fiddle music was an important element of life in many rural areas across the United States. Every region of the country was comprised of a different mix of old world traditions. One by product of this was a wide array of string band styles. Central Mississippi was unique because of the existence and popularity of both white and black string bands. In contrast from the straight, hard driving Appalachian styles, the Mississippi fiddle tunes were equally influenced by the Western European folk music and West African sensibility and syncopation with additional influence from Native American traditions. Century draws on the sounds of black and white string band musicians from four sections of central Mississippi.The modern presentation of these melodies draws its influence from the prolific experimental composer John Zorn. Arguably one of the most important American composers of the later 20th century, Zorn is a pioneer of improvisational composition and performance techniques. Game Pieces is one of his most famous contributions. Each piece in this collection brings together musicians from different disciplines to create dialogue based on a predetermined set of rules. The music is improvisatory in nature, but it is also guided by rules that are only known to the active participants. The M!A and Front Porch Dance have worked together to create a set of rules to guide them through the modern juxtaposition of the traditional fiddle music.The Mississippi Improvisation Alliance is committed to promoting and provoking creative improvisation in all its forms. Through presentations of free and directed improvisation the M!A hopes to strengthen community and inspire innovation in both our artists and our audience. The M!A recently wrapped up our annual Winter Wednesdays in February in which over 35 local musicians, dancers and visual artists joined together to perform in a series of venues throughout Jackson including Belhaven College, One to One Studios and Sneaky Beans in Fondren.Front Porch Dance is a Mississippi-based dance collective comprised of local artists who collaborate to produce innovative choreographic works. Its aim is to foster appreciation of contemporary dance by engaging audiences through approachable dance art."~Jamie WeemsMississippi musician
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Nicole Marquez photo by Josh Hailey

November 25, 2008Nicole Marquez BenefitIf you haven't heard about Nicole Marquez, visit this website: www.youcantstopthisdancer.com. What an amazing girl! After falling 6 floors from her New York apartment, she fought for her life and is recovering with incredible speed and success! We were so honored to be able to participate in the benefit party for Nicole last weekend at Hal & Mal's, and just want to say thanks and "You're awesome!" to Josh Hailey and Nicole Marquez- beautiful people with a beautiful story of hope, healing and love. Best of luck and many prayers to Nicole for continued restoration of body and mind.
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November 2008Mississippi World Trade Center Global Arts GalaWe would like to give a huge thanks to Mrs. Barbara Travis and the Mississippi World Trade Center for inviting us to perform at their annual Global Arts Gala last night! The event was truly fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed dancing for it.In keeping with the international theme of the gala, we put together a piece using music from Argentina, Portugal, France, India, and the U.S. (bluegrass-style). We had a lot of fun producing the choreography together and look forward to exploring more international music and movement as we seek to engage our multi-cultural communities with contemporary dance!
Fall 2007 October 2008Belhaven Community ConcertJust wanted to say THANKS! to everyone who came out to the Belhaven Community Concert last weekend in Jackson! The concert was very diverse and full of fun, talented performers from all over the area. We were so excited to be a part of it and have posted pics here from our piece, "Rob's Porch" (music by Jamie Weems)...

October 2008Voice of the Nations International Student ConferenceAlso, THANKS to the Voice of the Nations International Student Conference for having us perform last night as a part of their "cultural learning!" No pics from this one yet, though a youtube video is in the works, and we'll post it when it's done. Thanks to a fantastic audience. It was so fun to dance for you!!
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