Emily Johnson/Catalyst: The Thank-you Bar October 7, 2010

The Thank-you Bar, created by Alaska-born, Native American choreographer Emily Johnson and her company Catalyst with composers/musicians James Everest and Joel Pickard (Blackfish), is an evening-length performance/installation of dance, live music, storytelling and visual image connecting ideas of displacement, longing and language to history, preconceived notions, architecture and igloo-myth. Created for an intimate, onstage audience, The Thank-you Bar is intended to engage many levels of perception and expression. Through a sophisticated concept of theatrical space, unique and powerfully minimalist dancing and a multi-layered original sound score, Johnson’s illusory—yet partly true—stories ride the confluences of truth and myth. The residency includes an additional concert performance by experimental music duo Blackfish—James Everest on nylon and steel string guitars and Joel Pickard on pedal steel guitar—performing live improvised duets.

Official Website: http://colum.edu/dancecenter