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Company Mission
Hyphen is a project-based, contemporary dance company. Anchored in the choreographic work of Catherine Cabeen, Hyphen is a forum for investigating how interdisciplinary research and collaboration can be used to build new movement vocabularies. Since 2009 Cabeen has created 24 new works in collaboration with 30 interdisciplinary artists. Hyphen performances dynamically engage the body as the intersection for ideas.
Company History
Catherine Cabeen is currently working on a trilogy of evening-length works inspired by New Realist Artists. Simultaneously, Cabeen continues to develop and tour Hyphen, an evolving repertory program of interdisciplinary collaborations.
The first work in the New Realist Trilogy, Cabeen’s 2011 Into the Void, was commissioned by On the Boards in Seattle, and inspired by the life and work of Yves Klien. Into the Void was selected to be broadcast live around the world on its opening night, via Lowlives.net. Into the Void was also documented for On the Boards’ on-line performing arts library. The full work can be seen at ontheboards.tv.
Cabeen’s second evening-length commission from On the Boards, Fire! uses the work of Niki de Saint Phalle as a jumping off point to explore issues of femininity, competition and community in art making. Fire! premiered Jan 17-20, 2013 at On the Boards. Cabeen is now touring Hair Trigger a solo-remix-reduction of the research that went into Fire!, focusing on femininity, objectivity and violence.
The third work in the trilogy is set to premiere in 2015. MetaKinetic considers the creativity inherent in destruction, anchored in the self-destructive kinetic sculptures of Jean Tinguely.
Cabeen has received support from 4Culture, SOACA, Joyce Theater, Boeing Foundation, the National Performing Network, Washington State Council for the Arts, and numerous individual donors.
Cabeen founded Hyphen (formerly Catherine Cabeen and Company) in 2009, to explore how interdisciplinary research and collaboration can be used to build new movement vocabularies. Through Hyphen, Cabeen has engaged musicians, dancers, writers, fashion designers, sculptors, digital media artists, fiber artists, and scholars in collaborative creative processes, resulting in innovative new works.
Cabeen has shown work in New York, Dar es Salaam, Byblos, Belfast, Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Baltimore, Lewiston, Bellingham, Ann Arbor, Middlebury, Montery, and Seattle. Cabeen currently tours nationally and internationally both with Hyphen and as a solo artist.
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List of Collaborators
Below, artists who have worked with Cabeen, including: composers, dancers, fashion designers, lighting designers, visual artists, and writers.
Composers
Brian Chin
- Gravitas — 2012
Trumpeter Brian Chin is quickly becoming recognized as one of the exciting players in America today. An international soloist and advocate for new music, Brian has commissioned and premiered many new works and is the creator of the Universal Language Project. Co-founder of the early music ensemble, the Seattle Trumpet Consort, Brian also performs frequently on baroque trumpet, serves as Principal Trumpet for the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, performs for the Seattle Symphony and Opera Orchestra and teaches full-time at Seattle Pacific University.
His website is chinmusik.com
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Nat Evans
- All of the Above — 2012
Seattle Composer Nat Evans writes concert music for various mixed chamber ensembles, distinctive electro-acoustic music, and site-specific music events that fuse nature, community and subjectivity of experience.
His website is natevansmusic.com
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Julian Martlew
- Fire! — 2013
- Distances — 2010
- Composites — 2010
Julian Martlew is a composer, musician, and audio engineer, living in Seattle. He plays guitar, dobro, and lap steel. In addition to performing and composing for the Catherine Cabeen Company, he creates music under the pseudonym "Farfetcher", and mixes records regularly for Gravelvoice Studios.
Read his blog at farfetcher.blogspot.com
Listen to some tracks at reverbnation.com/farfetcher
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Kane Mathis
- Fire! — 2013
- 5 Windows — 2012
- On the Way Out — 2012
- Into the Void — 2011
- Chromatic Dispersion — 2010
- Distances — 2010
- The End of Dreams — 2010
- Segments — 2009
Kane began his musical career at age 16 playing blues and jazz clubs in Chicago, performing with legends such as Barrelhouse Chuck and Harmonica Todd. For 5 years he performed everywhere from festivals to roadhouses before going to The Lawrence Conservatory to study Jazz and Classical guitar. Simultaneously Kane Began making trips to The Gambia, Africa to live with a family of hereditary musicians which he has done for the past 14 years. Kane holds a diploma from The Tiramang Traditional Music School in The Gambia and has performed for the President of The Gambia, the American Ambassador to The Gambia, and he has appeared on Gambian National Radio and Television. Kane’s first album was on daily rotation on Gambian radio. Kane is also one of the leading interpreters of Ottoman classical music having studied at Istanbul’s I.T.U. conservatory before beginning a 5 year apprenticeship with Oud virtuoso Münir Nurettin Beken. As a composer Kane is regularly commissioned to create original works for dance, theater, and instrumental ensembles. Kane’s new works are created for live performance and fixed media. His new compositions merge his experience with African and Middle Eastern music with new forms and electronic media.
His website is kanemathis.com
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Chad McCullough
- Gravitas — 2012
Chad McCullough owns many trumpets. He also writes a lot of music. He regularly travels to Europe, and Canada to take part in various musical endeavors. He's been lucky enough to write for several great choreographers, scored for film, and has released several jazz albums internationally. His mother will tell you he's one of the best trumpet players that she's ever heard.
His website is chadmccullough.com.
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Paul Matthew Moore
- Ich Bin Gleich Fertig — 2009
Paul Matthew Moore loves making music and loves collaborating with others on art projects of all kinds. Past collaborators include: Catherine Cabeen, Mark Dendy, David Dorfman, Katie Duck, Mark Haim, Dayna Hanson, Rob Kitsos, Peter Kyle, Hengda Li, Tonya Lockyer, Wade Madsen, Christopher Pilafian, Amelia Reeber, Ellie Sandstrom, Maria Simpson, Jesse Smith, Hannah Wiley, Robinson Devor and Ward Serrill.
For more about paul visit paulmatthewmoore.com
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Michael Wall
- Ready, Aim… — 2012
Michael Wall began collaborating with dance and other art forms at an early age and continues to work with artists internationally. He has made work for the Jose Limon Company, Mark Haim, Lisa Race, John Evans, Lucky Kele, David Dorfman, David Grenke, Rudy Perez, Pam Pietro, Pat Mayer, K.J. Holmes, Paulette Sears, Julia Ritter, Randy James, Martha Tornay/East Village Dance Project, Jenn Nugent, Wally Wolfgruber, Heather McArdle, everything smaller, Incidents Physical Theater, Merge Dance and many others. Michael and designer, Jamie Karczewski, have formed the company ASIMPLESOUND, LLC that produces music and resources for dance, film and other media. Michael works full-time in the Department of Dance at Ohio State University and accompanies at the Bates Dance Festival and the American Dance Festival.
Contact: michael@asimplesound.com
His music and new recordings can be found at: asimplesound.com
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Dancers
Germaul Barnes
- Guest Artist — Into The Void — 2011
Barnes is Artistic Director of GERMAUL BARNES/VIEWSIC EXPRESSIONS DANCE, formed in 1993. The company has gained world renowned attention as one of the world’s vibrant emerging dance companies, performing across the U.S. and at major international festivals. Based in Brooklyn, NY, Barnes is a former member of the Bill T Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Company, and the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theater, among others.
His website is viewsicex.org
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Karena Birk
- Company Member — 2010–present
Karena received her MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University with a focus on performance, notation, history, and pedagogy. Her early training was at the Cornish Preparatory Program, Richmond Ballet, and the University of Washington. She has danced professionally with the Colorado Ballet, Lehua Dance Theatre, ARC Dance, Redd Legg, and oaklanDrive Dance Company. She has been privileged to dance works of many choreographers, including Trisha Brown, Anna Sokolow, Antony Tudor, George Balanchine, Fanny Elssler, Wade Madsen, Deborah Wolf, and Hannah Wiley. She currently teaches modern and ballet at Bainbridge Dance Center, and has also taught at Cornish, Dance Fremont, Interlochen Center for the Arts, and The Ohio State University, among others.
Contact Karena via karenashg@gmail.com
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Echo Gustafson
- Company Member — 2010–2012
Echo Gustafson is a freelance performer, choreographer, and teacher. Gustafson has danced around the world with companies including Catherine Cabeen and Company, Martha Graham Dance Company and Pearl Lang Dance Theatre. She is a GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Master Trainer and has been teaching the Gyrotonic system since 1996. She teaches and practices Wild Goose Qigong as taught be Dr. Bingkun Hu. She is currently in the Professional Training Program for the Feldenkrais Method. As a performer and teacher, Gustafson cultivates balanced and functional technical expression informed by Gyrokinesis, Qigong and Feldenkrais principles. Teachers that have had a strong influence on Gustafson’s work include Jackie Sleight, Ron Brown, Susan Klien, Max Stone, Christine Dakin, Finus Jung, Simon Dow, Robert Moses, Gail Gilbert, Juliu Horvath, Dr. Bingkun Hu, and Dennis Leri. Echo has had the pleasure of knowing and working with Catherine Cabeen since 1995.
Visit her blog at echogustafson.tumblr.com
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Matthew Henley
- Guest Artist — Into The Void — 2011
Matthew Henley holds a 2010 MFA in Dance from the University of Washington, a BFA in dance and a BA in religious studies from the University of Arizona, and is currently working on his PhD in educational philosophy at the UW. He has performed with Orts Theater of Dance, Funhouse Movement Theater, The Beth Braun Dance Partnership, Randy James Dance Works, and the Sean Curran Company.
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Jana Kincl
- Fire! — 2013
- Guest Artist — Where They May — 2012
Hi! I am Jana Kincl. I have danced my whole life and enjoyed every type of dance. Seattle has been my home for the last 10 years, where I hike, travel, sail, snowboard and balance many part time jobs! Oh don’t forget working with a variety of fantastic choreographers and companies: Veronica Mendonca/VAM, Michele Miller, Alana O’Farrell Rogers, Jason Ohlberg, Pablo Cornejo, Danny Herter and the Invasive Species, Zoe Scofield, Lily Verlaine, Jasper McCann and ARC Dance Productions are some of these awesome projects. I am very excited to add Catherine Cabeen and Company!
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Sarah Lustbader
- Company Member — 2009–present
Originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, Sarah Lustbader earned her BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. There, she had the opportunity to dance for renowned artists including Robert Battle, Donald McKayle, Deborah Wolf, Michael Rioux, Timothy Lynch, and KT Niehoff. Sarah has been collaborating with Catherine Cabeen since 2006, and has had the pleasure of performing professionally throughout the U.S. with Catherine Cabeen and Company, as well as with artists such as Moving People Dance Theatre, Corrie Befort, and JD/Dansfolk. Sarah currently resides in Seattle, and is a certified GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® instructor.
Lustbader teaches at the Gyrotonic Movement Center, and at Velocity!.
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Ella Mahler
- Company Member — 2010–present
A Pacific Northwest Native, Ella Mahler is a graduate of Western Washington University, with a BFA in Dance Performance/Choreography. Ella began working with Catherine Cabeen in 2009, and is also a member of Bellingham Repertory Dance and Kuntz and Company. She has had the pleasure of working with choreographers such as Josh Beamish, Monica Bill Barnes, Amelia Reeber, Deborah Wolf, and Andy Noble, among others. As an independent artist, Ella has presented and performed her own work in Bellingham, Seattle, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. Ella currently teaches at Northwest Ballet Academy in Bellingham and serves as the Development Director of Kuntz and Company. Through these experiences, Ella explores the many avenues in which dance can connect with different mediums, environments and communities.
Learn more about the Bellingham Repertory Dance Company at bhamrep.org
Visit the Kuntz and Company site at kuntzandcompany.org
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Paula J. Peters
- Guest Artist — Where They May — 2012
Paula J. Peters received her M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Washington in 2011 with a focus in Jazz Dance History and African American Studies. Prior to completing her B.F.A. in Dance through the Professional Dancers Program at Cornish College of the Arts in 2007, Ms. Peters performed professionally with Spectrum Dance Theater for fourteen years. With Spectrum, she danced and restaged works by choreographers of national prominence such as Ann Reinking, Margo Sappington, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Claire Bataille, Danny Buracezki, Daniel Ezralow, Trey McIntyre, Donald Byrd, Wade Madsen and Dale A. Merrill, touring throughout the US, Europe and Mexico. She also served as SDT’s rehearsal director from 1998 to 2005. She is currently on faculty at Dance Fremont, Cornish College of the Arts, Cornish Preparatory Dance and the University of Washington. Ms. Peters’ scholarly research includes the history, theory and practice of concert, commercial and musical theater traditions of American Jazz Dance.
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Phylicia Roybal
- Fire! — 2013
- Guest Artist — Where They May — 2012
Phylicia Roybal is a native of Santa Fe, New Mexico. She recently achieved her Bachelor degree in Fine Arts at the University of Arizona. She has had the privilege of touring with Moving People Dance Company for the past seven years. She has had the opportunity to work with artists such as Donald Mckayle, Gail Gilbert, Kevin Iega Jeff, Ronn Stewart, and Bobby Mc Ferrin. She recently studied in Kibbutz Ga’aton with the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company as well as performed works by Rami Be’er. She continues to find inspiration through experimental movement and improvisation.
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Fashion Designers
Michael Cepress
- Into the Void — 2011
- Chromatic Dispersions — 2010
- Eden Betwen the Lines — 2008
Michael Cepress holds a BA in Art from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Fibers from the University of Washington. An intense interest in the male wardrobe and tailoring traditions has led him to focus on the design and production of menswear, and write extensively on fashion’s relationship to gender and popular culture. Cepress lives and works in Seattle, Washington.
His website is michaelcepress.com
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Bo Choi
- Segments — 2009
- Ich Bin Gleich Fertig — 2009
Artist and designer, visit her website: www.boyoungchoi.com.ne.kr/
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Val Mayse
- Fire! — 2013
For the past five years, Mayse has designed for the Chamber Dance Company, including original designs for Wade Madsen’s Embrace and Helen Tamaris’s Negro Spirituals. An expert in flamenco dresses; Val is the costume designer for Sara de Luis and her company, and for Savannah Fuentes. Val has made costumes for most of the major companies in the Seattle area, including Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Intiman, and the Seattle Rep, where she was head dressmaker for eighteen years. She now teaches pattern making and construction at the University of Washington and for IATSI 887, the costumers’ union.
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Lighting Designers
Connie Yun
- Fire! — 2013
- Into the Void — 2011
- Segments — 2009
Connie Yun is a freelance lighting designer for dance, opera and theatre based out of Seattle. Most recently, her designs have been seen at Seattle Opera, Cornish College, Kentucky Opera and On The Boards. Locally, she has also designed for Pacific Musicworks, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Empty Space Theatre, Tacoma Opera, Portland Opera's Studio Artists Program, Bellevue College, and University of Puget Sound. Nationally, her work has also been seen at Arizona Opera, Music Academy of the West, and Alabama Dance Theatre. After receiving her BA in English Literature from University of Virginia, Connie was the Allen Lee Hughes Fellow in Lighting at Arena Stage for their 1996-1997 season. Connie has been collaborating with Catherine Cabeen since the fall of 2009.
For more information, visit her page at seattleopera.org
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Lou Cabeen
- Earth/Pool — 2003
Lou Cabeen lives and works in Seattle where she balances her working life as an artist with her working life as an associate professor of art at the University of Washington. In both arenas she is a passionate advocate of the tactile joys of fiber and textiles, especially stitching. For the past several years she has been combining this passion with an equally avid attention to maps, map-making and the book arts. The sensuous surfaces of textiles are powerful metaphors for the tactility of the terrain we inhabit.
View more work at her website: loucabeen.com
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Susie Lee
- Fire! — 2013
Shortly after completing her Master of Fine Arts, SUSIE LEE was recognized by Seattle Weekly as the “2006 Emerging Artist of the Year” for the “intelligence, emotion and sensuality” of her video art. Following her first solo exhibition at Lawrimore Project in 2007, Lee was named “An Artist to Watch” by the national publication Artnews. Lee's work has been exhibited widely, from Miami to Los Angeles, at the Denver Art Museum, Denver, and Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, and internationally in Italy (Galleria Tiziana Di Caro, Salerno; and Artefiere Bologna, Bologna), and at Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea. She was the winner of the 2010 Stranger Visual Art Genius Award. in 2011, as a recipient of the Northwest Contemporary Art Awards, her work was recently exhibited at the Portland Art Museum. She completed a full performance piece, "Swimming the List," with her ensemble in 2011. Her first museum solo exhibition, "Of Breath and Rain" will be presented at the Frye Art Museum in February, 2012. Lee is represented by Lawrimore Project, Seattle; Myers Contemporary, Baltimore; and Galleria Tiziana Di Caro, Salerno.
Heather Raikes
- Immanent Interaction — 2003
Heather Raikes is a physical/media artist and researcher.
Her site is heatherraikes.com
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Tivon Rice
- Into the Void — 2011
Tivon Rice's work critically explores representation and communication in the context of digital technologies. Both fascinated with and wary of the speed of televisual media, Rice creates systems that pair immediate materials such as light, space, and tangible forms with live and recorded sound and video. With these installations, he engages spectators and participants with direct physical situations, as well as processes that unfold over longer durations. By activating one’s awareness of color, time and space Rice creates opportunities for dynamic, active viewing.
While his practice is primarily concerned with emerging social relationships to digital technology, Rice draws heavily from art historical themes. In doing so, he examines the conditions of surrealist and minimalist attitudes in contemporary new-media arts. This practice informs recent large-scale installations, as well as images and sculptures which incorporate the particular patterns, textures, and processes inherent in digital media.
Rice (b. 1978) is a PhD candidate at the University of Washington's Center for Digital Art and Experimental Media, and a 2011-12 Fulbright Scholar.
Susan Robb
- Into the Void — 2011
Susan Robb creates medium-spanning art that is an exploration of the inter-relatedness of people and place.
Paulo Tavares
- studio collaborations — 2007–present
Paulo T. is a professional, internationally published photographer. A self-taught, highly motivated individual, he has collaborated with renowned and award winning artists and also participates in youth performance arts education. Paulo T. captivates and stimulates the mind; his intuitive ability allows him to capture ‘the moment’; exhibiting energy and emotion at the height of release and expression. Paulo T. excels at dance, portrait, fashion, commercial, headshots, candid and performance photography.
Paulo T. Photography
Paulo Tavares
pauloTphoto@gmail.com
www.pauloTphotography.com
Facebook
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Soyoung Shin
- Fire! — 2013
Soyoung Shin is a Seattle born, Los Angeles based interdisciplinary artist. She holds a BS in Computer Science with a focus in art and new media from the University of Washington. She has exhibited collaborative works in Bolivia. She is a key contributor to Sanctum, an upcoming new media installation at the Henry Art Gallery. Soyoung performed in Strictly Seattle in 2012 and was a mentor at Reel Grrls.
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Rodrigo Valenzuela
- Fire! — 2013
Rodrigo Valenzuela is a Chilean-born, Seattle-base artist. He holds a BFA in Photography from University of Chile, a BA in Aesthetics from the Evergreen State College and a MFA from the University of Washington. Rodrigo is a freelance filmmaker and a teacher in the photography department and at the Comparative History of Ideas Department (CHID) at UW.
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Jay McAleer
- Fire! — 2013
- Composites — 2010
Jay McAleer is a writer, designer and theatrical technician based in Seattle Washington. He has worked extensively in theatre, opera and dance and has toured with various performance companies in the Unites States, Europe and Asia. Mr McAleer has received fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center and Centrum Arts foundation.
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Kumani Gantt
- The Gift — 2010
Read Ms. Gantt's bio on the Central District Forum website at cdforum.org
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Nancy Stoaks
- Fire! — 2013
Nancy Stoaks holds a M.A. in Art History from the University of Washington, where she received the Parnassus Graduating with Excellence Award. Interested in twentieth-century European and American art, her research focused on Niki de Saint Phalle’s Shooting Paintings of the early 1960s, and she has lectured on this topic at universities, conferences, and museums, including at the Tate Liverpool during their 2008 Saint Phalle retrospective. She has worked as a curatorial research associate at the Frye Art Museum and as associate director of James Harris Gallery and Howard House Contemporary Art, and currently works as the curator of the Swedish Medical Center art collection.
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