Make History, support DEEP.

From Karen Stokes, Artistic Director:

I have been dancing for 41 years, and choreographing for 28 years, and teaching dance for 23 years. 

How did I get here?

My dad, Gale Stokes, was a Professor of history at Rice University and my mother, Roberta Stokes, both a choreographer and visual artist, had one of first contemporary dance companies in Houston.  I grew up surrounded by dance, art, history, music, and books. 

After graduating from the High School for Performing & Visual Arts (the OLD campus), I left Houston for almost 20 years. During this time, my dance journey took me to Ohio, New York, California, and Connecticut.  Many individuals influenced my work along the way, including Karen Bell, Lucy Venable, and Vicki Blaine at Ohio State University, Dan Wagoner, Stephan Koplowtiz, Maggie Black, and David Gordon in New York, and Pat Catterson, Angelia Leung, and Peter Sellars at UCLA . . . to name but a few.  In 1997, I co-founded a dance company in Kent, Ohio with Kim Karpanty and Becky Malcolm-Naib.  That company (Travesty Dance Group) became a non-profit in 2002.  In 2011, my Houston-based company transitioned to Karen Stokes Dance, to better represent my growing creative endeavors.  In 1998, I accepted the position of Director of the Dance Program at the University of Houston, following the dedicated work of Professor Joanna Friesen.

In the last three years, my creative work has led me to investigate Houston from the lens of sea and space.  Particular areas of interest included the defeat of General Santa Anna by Sam Houston along the banks of what is now the Houston Ship Channel, the founding of the city at Allen's Landing, the building of the Houston Ship Channel, the deep sea oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, and finally the aspirational and inspirational roles of NASA. “DEEP: Seaspace” has included conversations with Houstonians, ranging from ship captains piloting the complexities of our Ship Channel to an astronaut who connected the hours spent daily in physical preparation for space to training muscle memory – not unlike dancers.  I have read journals, historical accounts and manuscripts.  I have looked at maps and photographs. I have spent hours walking and biking the Bayous, and exploring the nooks and crannies of east Houston, Pasadena, and La Porte.

Through this, I have created/directed several site-performances.  As in every history project, the more I investigate, the more interesting and exciting the project becomes, the more I discover about the human ingenuity and resilience, and the more I realize how much I don’t know! 

Karen Stokes Dance has reached the final stages of "DEEP: Seaspace." The culminating performance will premiere at the Hobby Center for Performing Arts, Zilkha Hall, October 20-22, 2016.  This performance includes a collaboration with composer Bill Ryan who is writing an original score for DEEP. Bill found inspiration from recordings in the archives of NASA for the section “Space.”  Bill has selected an amazing cast of musicians to bring his music to life: Michael Lowenstern, Todd Meehan, Doug Perkins, and Todd Reynolds.

Each one of the dancers and musicians in “DEEP:  Seaspace” are critical to both process and outcome.  Their individuality, their expertise and discipline, their commitment and passion, their years of training (well beyond the 10 year training parameter of Malcolm Gladwell's "Tipping Point"), will bring “DEEP: Seaspace” to life.  As Director of KSD, I am committed paying artists for their expertise and training.  In order to do this, the generosity of individual donors is paramount.  In the words of Professor John Leinhard:  Individual contributions are truly the “engines of our ingenuity.”   Your donation makes art a reality. 

Thank you for your consideration of this request.  And please come to our performance in October!  Karen

"Everything in Houston is bigger.” 

Together, we make art happen in Houston. Please join us.