Bellingham Repertory Dance, a nonprofit dance collective based in Bellingham, WA, has launched a campaign to underwrite a new work by Seattle choreographer Mary Sheldon Scott, also known as Molly. The work, the first to be commissioned by BRD, would be performed during its spring 2015 season.
BRD has set a $10,000 goal and launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for the project. In addition to covering choreographer and composer fees, travel expenses and accommodations, funds are needed to cover expenses such as renting rehearsal space and the performance venue, creating the costumes and props and providing technical support. Bellingham Repertory Dance is entirely run on a volunteer basis, but the group hopes to begin providing some compensation to the dancers for their work in this project.
Donors are urged to join the campaign, which ends Dec. 31, by visiting the Indiegogo site to learn about “BRD’s Brand New Work.”
Scott has been creating works in visual media and performance works for more than 40 years. Since 1993 she has worked in a dedicated collaboration with composer Jarrad Powell, Scott/Powell Performance, which focuses on the intersection of movement sound and visual arts. In addition to projects done jointly, Scott has received individual grants and awards from Artist Trust, 4Culture/King County, and Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture.
Her own dance company no longer performs, so this creation for BRD will offer her audiences a rare opportunity to see a new dance creation.
Recent choreographic commissions include Cornish Dance Theater and the University of Washington. Scott teaches creative process, choreography, improvisation, and performance practice, and has been a guest faculty at the University of Washington, Cornish College of the Arts, and Velocity Dance Center.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder (1990), and studied additionally at Reed College, University of Oregon, University of Denver, and Cornish College of the Arts.
Bellingham Repertory Dance was established in 2005 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing modern dance to audiences in Bellingham and surrounding communities. The new commission is an exploration apart from its usual practice of restaging already existing works of dance.
The company has worked with Scott previously, as well as with choreographers including Wade Madsen, Josh Beamish, Pablo Cornejo, Deborah Wolf, Daniel Stark, Paige Barnes, Melissa Rolnick, Dionne Noble, Andy Noble, and Lindsey Drury.
