Fate and Fantasy (2022)

Choreography by Ching Ching Wong

Premiere: Old Town Temecula Community Theater

Music: Tomaso Albinoni, soundscape samples from Wheel of Fortune, advertisements, and Santee Alley Market

Sound Design: Noelle Kayser

Lighting Design: Stacy Fireheart

Costume Design: Jennifer Deck

Video Editing: Kira Bartoli

Running Time: 16 mins

everywhere, but here (2022)

Choreography by Tommie-Waheed Evans

Premiere: Old Town Temecula Community Theater

Music: I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos; Under the Bridge (Less Beat, More Breathing); Departure - Emptyset; Robotron - Signal; Being Anne - Anne Müller; Immolare (First) - Sandwell District; Malimo - Signal

Music Editing: Connor Lemon

Lighting Design: Stacy Fireheart

Costume Design: Elizabeth Cox

Assistant to the Choreographer: Antonio Wright

Running Time: 19 mins

Sponsored in part by Valerie Van de Zilver

The Emergent Self (2022)

Choreography by Amanda Kay White

Premiere: Old Town Temecula Community Theater

Music: Rival Consoles

Lighting Design: Stacy Fireheart

Costume Design: Elizabeth Cox

Running Time: 15 mins

One Continuous Line (2019/2022)

Remounted in 2022, Lovingly Dedicated to the memory of Nancy Dickson-Lewis

Choreography by Jennifer Backhaus

Premiere: Irvine Barclay Theatre, Irvine, CA
Music: Conduit I, II, III by Robert Honstein; South Catalina by Christopher Cerrone, Performed by Eighth Blackbird
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch (2019), Stacy Fireheart (2022)
Costume Design: Rachael Lorenzetti (2019), Jennifer Deck (2022)
Running Time: 20 minutes

Jennifer Backhaus’ recent work for the company features an all-female cast of 8-10 dancers. Expressing a strong sense of unity and celebration of women, it lyrically reveals their strength, determination and ability to move forward.

Known for her quick and clever choreography, Backhausdance’s founder and artistic director explores themes of continuity, flow and perpetual motion. Taking its cue from life, the work follows a non-linear line of momentum where one movement leads to another and ricochets, bouncing back and forth and creating radiant vivacity.

Spring Forward (2021)

Choreography by Jennifer Backhaus and Amanda Kay White

Premiere: Muckenthaler Cultural Center; Fullerton, CA
Music: 
Shine You No More by Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen - arr. Benjamin Smolen; Stämlåten by Väsen- arr. Benjamin Smolen; Trøstesang by Gjermund Larsen - arr. Benjamin Smolen; To My Friend Michale by Giora Feidman - arr. Joshua Ranz; Vedrò con mio Diletto by Antonio Vivaldi - arr. Benjamin Smolen; Cello Suite No. 2: II. Allemande by J.S. Bach - arr. Joshua Ranz; Nina Nanna by Pink Martini - arr. Joshua Ranz; Finale of Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland - arr. Joshua Ranz; Three Pieces for Flute: II. Jade by Pierre-Octave Ferroud; Ashokan Farewell by Jay Ungar - arr. Meredith Crawford; El Amor Brujo by Manuel de Falla: I. Canción del Amor dolido (arr. Benjamin Smolen), II. Canción del fuego fatuo (arr. Benjamin Smolen), III. Ritual Fire Dance (arr. Michael Franz); Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla - arr. Benjamin Smolen; Libertango by Astor Piazzolla - arr. Christine Frank
Musical Direction: Benjamin Smolen
Block x Block Musicians: Meredith Crawford, Viola; Christine Frank, Violin; Michael Franz, Bass; Joshua Ranz, Clarinet; Leslie Resnick; Benjamin Smolen, Flute

An evening of live music + dance
featuring Backhausdance + Block x Block

Let’s go outside and celebrate the season of spring! Join us at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center with a live performance held in the open, charming amphitheatre. Our special evening features new choreography by Backhausdance artistic director and founder, Jennifer Backhaus, and founding member, Amanda Kay White, in concert with Block x Block, a collective of six musicians, all members of the Pacific Symphony.

Block x Block is a chamber music ensemble that expands the definition of what classical music can do. Founded in May 2020 in the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic as a way to present safe and engaging concerts, their mission is to bring music out of the concert hall and present it in creative ways throughout the community.

We can’t wait to share this artful experience with you in a safe, comfortable and open-air setting!

Scene Unseen (2019)

Choreography by Dwight Rhoden

Premiere: Irvine Barclay Theatre, Irvine, CA
Music: Lux Prima by Karen O & Dancer Mouse; Symphony No. 3 for Strings, IV Movement by Philip Glass; Cohere, Pt 1 by Alex Vargas; Water Dances: 1. Dipping by Michael Nyman; Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: I. Allemande by Johann Sebastian; Queen of the Night by Michael Nyman
Lighting Design: Michael Korsch
Costume Design: Christine Darch
Running Time: 26 minutes

Existing in a dimension between fantasy and reality, internationally celebrated superstar Dwight Rhoden’s first repertory work for Backhausdance articulates every language available to the body and choreographer. Mr. Rhoden’s premiere for a cast of 13 bears his signature, unconstrained, all-out physicality. An abstract symphony of bodies and energy centered around our connectivity in love and relationships, the founding artistic director and resident choreographer of Complexions Contemporary Ballet has crafted a work that is seductively uninhibited and exudes magnetic, layered interconnections.

Beyond the Noise (2018)

Choreography by Walter Matteini with Ina Broeckx

Premiere: Musco Center for the Arts, Orange, CA
Music: Rain in Your Black Eyes by Ezio Bosso; Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, First Movement by Johann Sebastian Bach; Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro by Antonio Vivaldi; Thunders and Lightnings by Ezio Bosso; She Remembers by Max Richter; Lascia ch’io pianga by George Frideric Handel; additional soundscapes by Walter Matteini
Lighting Design: Tiffany Williams
Costume Design: Jojo Siu
Running Time: 27 minutes

Renown Italian choreographer and Artistic Director of ImPerfect Dancers Company, Walter Matteini's creation for Backhausdance is a deeply human and accessible, emotional and athletic creation for the full company. The choreographic language is intensely physical and hinges on the quest to explore the human soul. Rich in emotional depth condensed into movement, Beyond the Noise asks the dancers to shed their armor of technique and show others how they really feel with the hope that they will be accepted for who and how they are.

Black Morning (2017)

Choreography by Ido Tadmor

Premiere: Irvine Barclay Theatre, Irvine, CA
Music: Blue Calx by Aphex Twin, My Beautiful Boy by David Hirschfelder & The Trees by Max Richter; Partial score composed and edited by Juliane Jones
Lighting Design: Ben Tusher
Costume Design: Jojo Siu
Running Time: 27 minutes

A marriage of technical brilliance with fluid, sweeping athleticism, Black Morning echoes the heaviness of mourning and hopefulness of the spirit. Like an assault attacks the center of a community, the sorrow of loss attacks the heart of a person.

Hive (2017)

Choreography by Jennifer Backhaus

Premiere: Irvine Barclay Theatre, Irvine, CA
Music: White Man Sleeps by Kevin Volans performed by Kronos Quartet
Lighting Design: Ben Tusher
Costume Design: Christina Perez
Running Time: 23 minutes

A percussive and intricate repertory piece for the full company, Hive is a complex series of interactions. The unfolding and dissolving relationships are musically driven and create a strong, viscous group dynamic.

The Elasticity of the Almost (2013)

Choreography by Jennifer Backhaus

Premiere: Richard & Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Long Beach, CA
Music: Alghalem, Ryan Dennee, Diplo, Hauschka, Erik Leckrone
Lighting Design: Ben Tusher after Tiffany Williams
Costume Design: Rhonda Earick
Running Time: 42 minutes

Conceptually driven by the juxtaposition of structure and chaos, Backhausdance’s The Elasticity of the Almost explores our ability to negotiate a constantly changing environment. A piece that follows eight dancers ferociously moving among a shifting sea of red balls, it draws the audience into the worlds they create through athletic, fluid, contemporary movement artfully crafted and infused with a sense of humor and theatricality.

Duet(s) (2010)

Choreography by Jennifer Backhaus

Premiere: South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, CA
Music: Van Dyke Parks, Inara George
Costume Design: Rhonda Earick
Running Time: 25 minutes

Duet(s) is a suite for three women and three men who explore and test relationships through quick, quirky gestures and seamless partnering. The work incorporates romantic nostalgia and whittles away at preconceived notions about the perfect partnership.

Incandescent (2010)

Choreography by Jennifer Backhaus

Premiere: Joyce Soho, New York, NY
Music: A Silver Mt. Zion, Devotchka, Andrew Bird, Florence + The Machine
Costume Design: Rhonda Earick
Running Time: 72 minutes

Based on the theme of illumination, Ms. Backhaus explores light in both a physical and spiritual sense. Incandescent evokes a sense of discovery and expression of the human experience by igniting the internal shadow and bringing it to light. The piece has dancers shifting through various configurations of hundreds of light bulbs suspended from above with creative lighting techniques that help express the spectrum of emotions they experience on their journey. The human spirit glows when it is ignited by self awareness, creativity and the connection to others.

Incandescent is designed to actively engage local dancers of all levels as Chorus dancers in Act 2. For more information on the residency component "The Incandescent Experience," visit Residencies.