ABOUT WHIM W’HIM’S NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Whim W’Him Board of Directors has named Krina Turner the company’s new Executive Director. Since May 1st of this year, Krina has served as Interim Executive Director, before then she worked at Seattle Opera as Capital Campaign Manager. Krina has a dance and nonprofit background, she holds her MFA in Arts Leadership from Seattle University & her BFA in Dance Performance from the University of Wyoming.

ABOUT CONFIGURATE

For four nights in January 2018, Whim W’Him will present new contemporary dance creations by 3 international, award winning choreographers including Gabrielle Lamb (NYC), Ihsan Rustem (Switzerland) and Olivier Wevers (Seattle). In these troubled times filled with hatred, fear, discord and irreconcilable opinions, we have undertaken to create new contemporary dance works that will inspire love, compassion and empathy. We feel strongly that dance creations can be a conduit to open dialogue, a source of hope and a tool for understanding and acceptance. Art has the power to heal. What the world needs now is more love, compassion and empathy. It is not sentimental romanticism, but a deep truth that love conquers all.

Whim W’Him presents CONFIGURATE

January 19, 20, 26 and 27 at 8PM

Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center

201 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109

$30 Advance | $35 day of |$55 premium | $15 Student Rush | $5 TeenTix

Single tickets are on sale at brownpapertickets.com

ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHERS

Gabrielle Lamb, Choreographer

Gabrielle winner of a 2014 Princess Grace Award for Choreography, is based in New York City, where she recently launched her own company, Pigeonwing Dance. She has been described by DANCE Magazine as “a dancer of stunning clarity who illuminates the smallest details—qualities she brings to the dances she makes. Her dance works for stage and screen have also been presented by Hubbard Street 2, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, BalletX, Sacramento Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet Austin, Ballet Memphis, Jacob’s Pillow, Dance Theatre of Harlem, SALT Contemporary Dance, Dance on Camera at Lincoln Center, the American Dance Festival, and the ARTV and BRAVO networks of Canada. Ms. Lamb has won choreographic competitions at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Milwaukee Ballet, and Western Michigan University, as well as the Banff Centre’s Clifford E. Lee Award and a New York City Center Choreography Fellowship. A native of Savannah, GA, she trained at the Boston Ballet School and was a longtime soloist at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal. In 2009, she was invited by Christopher Wheeldon to join his company Morphoses in New York City. Her repertoire as a performer has also included principal roles in works by George Balanchine, Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Nacho Duato, Shen Wei, and Pontus Lidberg.

Ihsan Rustem, Choreographer
Born in London, Ihsan trained at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. He began his professional career at age 17, joining Matthew Bourne’s Adventures in Motion Pictures, followed by engagements with Ballett Theater Munich, Introdans in The Netherlands, Berne Ballet, and the Tanz Luzerner Theater, during which he originated roles in creations by such choreographers as Wayne McGregor, Hofesh Shechter, Alexander Ekman, Stijn Celis, Matthew Bourne, and Patrik Delcroix and worked with Mats Ek, Jiri Kylián, Paul Lightfoot / Sol Leon, Hans van Manen, and William Forsythe, among others. In 2010 Sarah Slipper of Northwest Dance Project invited Ihsan to Portland, where he created ‘State of Matter,’ which won the 2012 Sadler’s Wells Global Dance Contest and the Audience Choice Award at the 25th International Competition for Choreographers, Hannover, Germany. In 2015, Ihsan became the first Resident Choreographer for NWDP and will continue until 2018. He was the 2014 recipient of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s International Commissioning Project and selected as one of the choreographers for the 2015 season of Russian Culture Channel’s show ‘Bolshoi Ballet.’ To date, Ihsan has created works in the US, Turkey, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, Russia, Italy, and Belgium.

Olivier Wevers, Whim W’Him Artistic Director and Choreographer

Dedicated to creating works of artistic innovation and collaboration, Brussels born Olivier founded Whim W’Him in 2009. Before establishing the company, he was a principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. His awards and recognition include the Princess Grace Foundation Choreography Fellowship, the City of Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award, the grand prize award for an unprecedented two years in a row at the annual Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival in California, and the ArtistTrust/ Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship Award. He participated in the National Choreographers Initiative and the prestigious New York Choreographic Institute. Olivier has created works for companies and festivals around the world, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Northwest Dance Project, BalletX, Spectrum Dance Theater, Prix de Lausanne, White Bird’s 4×4 Ballet Project, and Dance the Dream Seattle

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Whim W’Him is an award-winning Seattle-based contemporary dance company founded in 2009 by Olivier Wevers, former Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer and choreographer. The company presents all new works and has a mission to be a platform centered around choreography and dance for artists to explore their craft through innovation and collaboration. Since its formation in 2009, Whim W’Him has created 50 new contemporary dance works with 31 global artists. mys.iqs.temporary.site ###