- From audiences:
"Restored my faith in performance art"
"Stimulate Dance is the most brilliant dance I’ve ever seen"
"Hits the mark!"
"This work creates connection."
"My season seats for the Pacific Northwest Ballet are VERY far away. Stimulate was the best theater experience I’ve ever had–I was so close to the performers that I felt like part of the creative process, not distant and excluded from it."
"I laughed, I cried, I want more!"
"Stimulate Dance is bananas amazing!"
"Impressively cohesive ensemble"
"Light, but not fluffy."
- From critics:
"Dance is an intimate experience, but never so immediate as this. This Shunpike Partner Artist troupe successfully creates a space beyond the expectations of traditional theater, both with their intimately expressive tales and by inviting the audience to mingle and converse after the show, further extending the performance from art into real life. Previously performing in private homes before audiences seated on cozy floor cushions, Stimulate comes to CoCA with their series of dance vignettes exploring the borders of human connection and intimacy. Sexy, scary, funny, tender, and haunting by turns, edgy and emotionally charged, each of the seven unique dance tales enchants with evocatively revealed inner lives and illuminates a different facet of human experience. An ethereal sensuality pervades Ghost Marriage, a classic Chinese love tale, while a daring, competitive bond grows between three friends in Male Sexuality. A question posed at the Bus Stop unfolds the private headspaces of two reticent people who must know if the #49 just passed, and What is This? asks just how much biology determines both sex and love."
-The Seattle Weekly, June 18, 2008. Neil Corcoran
"Opening the show in long cream bridal gowns was a trio from Seattle’s Stimulate Dance company. Co-choreographed, “Ghost Marriage” dealt with themes of feminism, innocence, hope and self-discovery to the rhythmic cello layering of Zoe Keating. Over-layered folksongs of the leave-men-forever kind, recorded by the performers, got worked up into a multi-vocal confusion as the three women wove around each other like the Fates. Particularly poignant was the segment featuring Annie Hewlett, with beautifully expressive arms, being towed on the backs of the other two crawling women." Read more of this article: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/06/11/1223482/the-barefoot-collectives-first.html?storylink=mirelated#ixzz0rcs0kX40
-The News Tribune, June 11, 2010. Rosemary Ponnekanti
- From venue hosts:
"Your presence created a playful, fun, delightful environment for our guests that brought our vision to life and that was beyond our expectations!"
"Pinch me! I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be sitting in my own living room watching an amazing dance show. I had no idea what to expect, but it was just right. Smart enough, pretty enough, funny enough, acrobatic enough, crazy enough. And I don't usually like or 'get' dance. Great work!"
"As a rule I don't care for improv, but this performance has shifted that position. I was right there with your interpretations of home, and even found myself crying. You were able to bring me right in and speak to me."
"What a treat."
"We're grateful for all the time and effort that you put into planning and performing, and hope that you enjoyed the event as much as we did...We've had lots of appreciative feedback from audience members; we hope that you will come back and join us again!"
We love reviews and feedback from all directions. After you’ve seen us perform tell us how it made you feel, what tickled you, what you wanted more of, what made you uncomfortable, what confused you, what delighted you… and anything else you’d suggest to make the show more satisfying!
