I am excited to announce that I am involved in a project that has been awarded a 2019-2020 NextLOOK residency at Joe’s Movement Emporium in partnership with The Clarice. With Brazilian musician Pablo Regis and dance artist Sinclair Ogaga Emoghene, we will be creating a new work exploring performances of “Otherness” through the music and […]
I’m excited to announce that I am co-founding a small business called Samba Jig Productions with partner Pablo de Oliveira! The company will offer music/dance related mobile apps and will do event bookings and promotion in the Washington, DC metro area. Our first app, called SambApp, is currently in development and will be available soon. […]
Brades, Montserrat. December 2013.
Check out my Montserrat travel blog for updates on my fieldwork trip to research the music, dance, and performance culture on the island! I am posting photos and videos of the things I see and hear, and I am also writing about the workshops in Irish dance and West African drumming that I have been […]
Aoibhell performed by Kate Spanos at the Local Old Style Concert at the Institute of Musical Traditions in Takoma Park, MD, April 14, 2013.
Local Old Style is an intensive to jump-start a study of Irish sean nós (old style) dance and related forms including classes in Irish set dance and battering, old style solo set dances, Northern Ireland Festival Style, and sean nós for improvisation and musicality, featuring local Irish dance teachers Shannon Dunne, Megan Downes, Kate Spanos, […]
Choreography by Kate Spanos. Performed at Keeping Dance Alive! 2010 in Chico, CA. Photo credit: Derek Ralston.
“Waiting for Conrad” video is finally here! Performed at Keeping Dance Alive! 2010 in Chico, CA. Choreography by Kate Spanos Music: “Waiting for Conrad” by Shooglenifty (Venus in Tweeds, 1995) Performers: Maria Oliver, Kate Spanos, Shannon Sullivan, Rose Trulin, Kelsey Wilson, Abby Zuppan View all of my videos on YouTube
I have been blown away by the reactions to our Irish dance piece “Waiting for Conrad” at this year’s Keeping Dance Alive. People really seemed to enjoy it! But this just about takes the cake: anonymous from “Tell It to the E-R” in the Chico Enterprise Record, 2 April 2010: Irish dancers stole the show […]
Choreography by Kate Spanos. Performed at Keeping Dance Alive! 2010 in Chico, CA.
Photo by Derek Ralston.
The Chico Enterprise Record published a review of this year’s Keeping Dance Alive today, with the following snippet about my piece: “Waiting for Conrad,” choreographed by Kate Spanos, was a delightful Irish step performance featuring six talented dancers, including Chico Community Ballet alumna Kelsey Wilson. The performers’ talent was so big that, despite their small […]
Choreography by Kate Spanos. Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick, Ireland. May 2008.
Photo by Maurice Gunning.
I have said that I experience rhythm-induced synesthesia, but I’ve never been able to elaborate on this experience. In Irish dance, for me hornpipes are dark brown earthy colors, light jigs are bright green and yellow, slip jigs are purple and pink pastels, reels are bright primary colors (treble reels are the same, but with […]
Last month I performed with Maria Oliver and Oliver Wong at the Blue Room Theatre’s second annual Samhain celebration. I performed a solo Aoibhell the Fairy Queen, and Maria and Oliver and I danced a treble reel together, with live music provided by the brilliant Ha’Penny Bridge. It was reviewed by The Orion!