“Karen Stokes is down with a video camera, is a wiz at Home Economics (check out those cool, grunge Renaissance Faire gowns and corsets in Distreston), loves to sing in a Laurie Anderson kind of way, and has more quirky moves thana guilty student caught by the principal . . . she is ripe with fun . . . the evening passed by in a blink, which says something lovely about the pleasantness of the enterprise.”  David Groover on "Portables."

"The smart interplay between foreground and background created the impression of a grand-scale canvass on which Stokes was able to work her choreography. And what choreography it is. Like Sayles’ music and Stokes’ choice of costumes, her choreography is completely utilitarian. There are no ornamental flourishes, and no excess maneuvers to fill in the quiet of the music and the site itself. Every step in this dance seemed to be essential, deliberate, and completely necessary. The movement is strong and weighted, but tempered with bits of humanity. Though the dancers embody the industrial spirit of Houston’s founders, like the Allen brothers, they are not cogs in a machine, but bodies with human character. In Stokes’ weight shifts, gestures, and partnering, I found there to be an undercurrent of innate comedy. This would be appropriate, as the founding of Houston is rife with humor. Settlers came to the city in droves on the false claims that Houston was an undiscovered paradise filled with entrepreneurial possibilities. What most found was swampland and mosquitoes."  Adam Castaneda on "Sunset at Allen's Landing."

KSD is a 501c3 non-profit company, and all donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

Karen Stokes Dance has been presenting original dance theater & educational programming in Houston Texas for over 20 years. 

 

Karen Stokes has been twice recognized as the "best choreographer in Houston" and received a Masterminds award from Houston Press. 

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© Karen Stokes Dance 2016