Marissa Rae Niederhauser (Portland) and Ashley A. Friend (Port Townsend, WA) share a program of dances at Performance Works NorthWest!
Marissa Rae Niederhauser
Untitled Solo Dance 2023-2024
“There are times when we step back and survey where we are in our path. As I look at my creative life I realize in recent years I’ve traveled from the source and neglected a vital aspect of my relationship with my craft. I’ve saturated my work with concept, character, theatrical devices and interdisciplinary experiments- in doing so I have de-centered dance, my original love. In this long form solo I am paring away non-dance elements and letting movement intuition guide the work.”
Ashley A. Friend
Ashley presents two group dance works, Verses and TRANSMISSIONS (premiere).
“The choreography is inspired by the visual complexity that bodies bring to a space. A driving force being an attention to detail, timing, and nuance of the inventive movement vocabulary.”
April 26-27, Fri-Sat at 8pm
April 28 Sunday at 3pm
Artist talk with Marissa and Ashley after Friday’s performance
Performance Works NorthWest
4625 SE 67th Ave.
Portland, OR 97206
Tickets: $5-$25
Please support Ashley and Marissa’s self-produced show by paying what you can!
No one turned away from lack of funds
Contact PWNW here, if needed.
About the artists
Marissa Rae Niederhauser has been studying dance for 41 years and has been making dances and body based work in film, performance art, photo and installation for 20 years. Dance has taken her to many different places in the world and her dance films have gone to even more. Dance is her spiritual practice and through it she has learned the same life truths that religions and spiritual philosophies intend to impart to their devotees. Dance is a reflection of all aspects of life. While not always overtly political her work, like her life, is created through a lens of intersectional feminism. One of the most common things she hears from audience members is that her work made them cry.
Ashley A. Friend’s choreography has been performed throughout the USA and abroad. She received her BFA from Cornish College (after studying at both Reed and Evergreen!) and her MFA in Dance and Technology from OSU. Friend lived in NYC for 15 years and currently resides in Port Townsend, WA. Her work has been presented by the Joyce SoHo, 92nd St Y, Judson Church, Ailey Citigroup Theater, New Dance Alliance, Jazz at Lincoln Center and many more. Friend works for acclaimed choreographer and educator Bill Evans as an archivist, assistant, and dancer. She teaches Contemporary Dance, Improvisation, Choreography, Ballet, and Pilates at Madrona MindBody and Port Townsend Ballet, plus master classes in dance/choreography at various higher education institutions.
Website for more information: www.ashleyafriend.com
Performance Works NW ||Linda Austin Dance 
One response to “April 26-28 | Sharing Dances: Works by Marissa Rae Niederhauser and Ashley A. Friend”
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