Seattle Dance Project Fundraiser This Sunday

Alexandra Dickson in Olivier Wevers "Still One", part of Seattle Dance Project's "P2: Project 2". Photo by ZebraVisual.

The Seattle Dance Project is a little bit like New Century Theatre Company: in both cases, a group of extremely talented local artists banded together to form a company to create more opportunities to bring work to the stage. As founding co-artistic director (along with Timothy Lynch) Julie Tobiason told Ballet Dance magazine in a 2008 interview, "Tim and I were part of a group at Pacific Northwest Ballet who talked about performing on our own, deciding who we wanted to work with and making it happen. I had done some work in modern dance with Maureen Whiting and some working with Spectrum Dance Theatre and wanted to continue performing."

And like NCTC, since its founding in 2007, SDP has racked up some impressive notices for works like Project Orpheus and last January's P2: Project 2 at ACT Theatre (who deserves notice in their own right for supporting new groups and giving them a home, including both SDP and NCTC). Most of the dancers who work with SDP have impressive resumes in contemporary dance and ballet, having worked with everyone from Maureen Whiting to Mark Morris. SDP exists to give them the chance to continue pushing their boundaries and developing their art.

This Sunday, Sept. 27, SDP is hosting a fundraiser to support their efforts down at The Ruins (570 Roy St.), a swank private dining club, from 1 to 4 p.m. And yes, the ticket price is high at $100 (available through the SDP website here--just click the "donate" link at the top of the page), but not only does that go towards supporting a worthy local arts organization, but in exchange you get music from celebrated local pianist Victor Janusz, innovative local chamber music outfit Simple Measures, and a talk by keynote speaker Tim Girvin. Girvin, who runs one of the most respected design and branding shops on the West Coast, has, amongst other achievements, produced titles for over 350 films, most recently Star Trek, and is taking the opportunity to deliver a lecture called "Exploring the Human Brand: Creativity, Dance, Business & You."