Contact: Lindsay Meeks
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Phone: (850) 645-2894
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 24, 2006
   
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE OF DUTCH CONTEMPORARY DANCE PERFORMANCE STAU AT FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY’S MAGGIE ALLESEE NATIONAL CENTER FOR CHOREOGRAPHY
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TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) at Florida State University will host Dutch choreographer Anouk van Dijk from January 24 through February 5, 2006.  Van Dijk and her company will present two performances of STAU in the Black Box at Montgomery Hall on Friday, February 3, at 7:00 and 9:00 PM. Seating is limited and reservations are required. Reservations can be made online at www.mancc.org or by calling (850) 645-2894.  
 
Florida State University (FSU) will be the company’s second stop on its inaugural U.S. tour to four communities in New York, Massachusetts, Florida and Washington.  The one-hour piece STAU begins with the audience in a tight square facing one another, which gradually opens, until audience and performers intermingle. Audience members are left to freely roam through the performance, as roles and perspectives between audience members and dancers shift and reverse continuously.  The piece contains adult content. STAU, van Dijk’s exploration of intimacy, proximity and performance, utilizes her unique movement system Countertechnique.
 
While in residence at FSU, van Dijk will make a DVD of her Countertechnique movement system, as highlighted in this month’s Dance Magazine.  Dance Magazine lists van Dijk as one of the “Top 25 to Watch in 2006”. Van Dijk’s MANCC residency is geared toward capturing detailed visual documentation of the Countertechnique for further use in training dancers worldwide.  Van Djik is a seasoned choreographer, performer and teacher in the Netherlands and Europe, and made her U.S. debut at the American Dance Festival in 2005.  Following the U.S. tour of STAU the company heads to Australia for their premiere at the Adelaide Festival of Arts.  
 
The performances of STAU are MANCC’s latest in its 2005-06 series of community entrypoints into the choreographic research of MANCC guest artists in residence.  Upcoming MANCC artists include Philadanco (PA), Eiko + Koma (NY), Art Bridgman & Myrna Packer (NY), Adia Whitaker/Ase Dance Collective (NY), KT Neihoff/Lingo dancetheater (WA) and Benjamin Levy/LEVYdance (CA).  
 
The Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography is a program of the Department of Dance at Florida State University’s College of Visual Arts, Theatre and Dance.  Support for the Anouk van Dijk performances and residency have been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Netherlands Culture Fund, the Consulate General of the Netherlands (NY) and Theater Instituut Nederland.
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