Travesty Dance Group

MISSION STATEMENT

Travesty Dance Group was conceived to support and produce the creative projects of its founding members, Kimberly Karpanty, Rebecca Malcolm-Naib, Karen Stokes, and invited guests. Enriched by collaborative process, Travesty Dance Group seeks to bring diverse original dance work to a variety of communities on an annual basis. The founders believe in dance as a basic human art, embracing both the complexities of contemporary society and the life affirming essence of movement.

COMPANY HISTORY

Founders Kimberly Karpanty, Rebecca Malcolm-Naib, and Karen Stokes met in 1996 as dance faculty colleagues at Kent State University. Despite differing backgrounds, each shared a long professional performance history, a love of teaching and choreographing, and a desire to stay connected to the professional dance world. Rehearsing Stokes' Along Long Sleep the fall of 1996, the three discovered a kinship that made working together rewarding on several levels. The differing artistic viewpoints stimulated dialogue about the field of dance at large, particularly about the craft of choreography. They found that while artistic differences expanded horizons, they also shared a strong work ethic. Travesty Dance Group was born.

Travesty Dance Group made its debut in gravity floats at Case Western Reserve in the spring of 1997. Since then, the founders have spread far apart, with Karpanty continuing at Kent State University, Malcolm-Naib relocating to Philadelphia, and Stokes returning to her native Houston to direct the Dance Division at the University of Houston. Despite the vast distances, TDG maintains its commitment to produce joint projects and to support individual projects of the its founders. Since 1999, the company has appeared in Seattle, Houston, Toronto, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and in New York (at the Cunningham Studio in their first co-choreographed work, THREE in 2000). Travesty Dance Group received non-profit status in June 2000.

The name, Travesty Dance Group, embodies several concepts. Travesty describes the peripheral status of dance in our society. It also reflects the challenging state of funding for the arts today. On the lighter side, it suggests the necessary humor of three women managing a dance company while living in three different cities (Houston-Stokes, Philadelphia-Naib, Cleveland-Karpanty.) Finally, the fundamental hope of Travesty Dance Group is to rise above travesty to create dance that inspires, enlightens, and entertains.