“Proceed” will feature the Houston Contemporary Dance Company presenting new and signature works from our past three seasons as well as a guest appearance by our second company, Houston Contemporary 2.

This performance will include a new work by Ja’ Malik who is quickly becoming an in-demand choreographer based in Harlem, New York. Malik has created works for North Carolina Dance Theater 2, Oakland Ballet, and CityDance Ensemble of Washington D.C. The New York Times mentioned that “Ja’Malik’s unpredictable physical inventiveness and theatrical sense mark him as a choreographer to watch.”- Roslyn Sulcas.

Malik is the director and founder of Ballet Boy Productions, an organization formed in response to the growing number of deaths in America of young black men. His work on Houston Contemporary Dance Company will be his first presented in the State of Texas.

Proceed also features a new work by HCDC Resident Choreographer Robbie Moore in collaboration with the Texas based female duo recording artist Say Girl Say. Moore is a graduate of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and the Juilliard School, and was recognized as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts in 2010. Moore has performed for acclaimed artists Benjamin Millepied as a member of L.A. Dance Project and Eastman – Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

Say Girl Say is a genre-bending multi-instrumental duo from Houston, Texas composed of members Brigette Yawn and Suad Ihsan, known for their hypnotic vocal harmonies, lyrical finesse, and entrancing melodies backed by eclectic instrumental production.

The Proceed program also includes our newest work by NYC based artist Joe Celej entitled Intersections, a work inspired by Sol LeWitt’s A Square Divided… (1982) consisting of four movement sections that can be arranged in any order and whose order will be determined randomly for each performance. Celej performed with the critically acclaimed Elisa Monte Dance for nearly a decade, touring internationally and creating several works for the company. Celej’s works have been presented throughout the NYC area including his Joyce Theater choreographic debut in 2011.

Amaria Stern is a Dallas native and recent graduate of the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance who has worked on film projects for pop recording artists Solange Knowles and Brandy. Stern has developed and contributed to several platforms that celebrate black dance and is currently the program coordinator for UniverSOUL Hip Hop, an organization that provides transformative Hip Hop education programs to K-12 schools throughout Southern California.

The Houston Contemporary Dance Company’s mission is to ignite passion for contemporary dance by providing world-class professional repertory concert performances and community engagement activities that are accessible to all regardless of race, culture, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, or nationality.

All performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre are FREE!