Skip to content

Kate Wallich’s ‘Super Eagle’ Premieres at Velocity Dance Center in February

By Seattle Mag January 21, 2014

0214katewallich

This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.

!–paging_filter–pOne of emSeattle /emmagazine’s 2013 Spotlight Award winners, dancer/choreographer Kate Wallich and her company, The YC, are swiftly rising stars in the contemporary dance scene. Known for creating intense, highly atmospheric works that shift from super slo-mo to fast-paced popping, Wallich builds visual worlds that resemble haute couture fashion spreads come alive. February brings the world premiere of her first evening-length piece, emSuper Eagle/em.brbrstrongBD: /strongWhen we spoke last summer, you said emSuper Eagle/em would be about “tragic love.” Is that still the case?brstrongKW:/strong At its core, Super Eagle is this tragic love opus. You see these relationships revealed and then destroyed, moments of tenderness and moments of deceit. It’s sad and heartbreaking, but put-together and pristine. To me, it’s like the kind of pain that hurts so good. nbsp;brbrstrongBD:/strong This is your first full-length piece. Was it luxurious or daunting to have all that space to fill?brstrongKW:/strong Sustaining people’s attention for an hour is definitely daunting, but the time really allowed us to get to a place we haven’t been before, and the process made us refine and put only what is necessary inside the work. brbrstrongBD:/strong Did you and the other three dancers work collaboratively?brstrongKW:/strong Lavinia Vago, who also dances for Rubberband in Montreal, is the codirector of the work. We developed a lot of the imagery for the piece together a year ago at the Rauschenberg Residency [in Florida]. Andrew Bartee from Pacific Northwest Ballet is co-choreographing with me, and Matt Drews is collaborating as a dance artist. It’s been a very collaborative process with everyone, including our sound designer Lena Simon, fashion designer Pierre Davis and cinematographer Jacob Rosen. brbrstrongBD:/strong What does the title emSuper Eagle/em refer to?brstrongKW:/strong Super Eagle, to me, is like that person in your life who always pulls through. The person who, no matter what happens to them, always finds stability. They are rocks. For me, it’s someone like my mom—she was a huge inspiration for the piece. brbrstrongBD:/strong What is your favorite moment in the piece?brstrongKW: /strongThere is this duet between Matt and Lavinia in the beginning. It slows your heartbeat down… I could watch it forever.brbrstrongSEE SUPER EAGLE/strong 2/13–2/16. $15–$20. Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th Ave.; a href=”http://www.velocitydancecenter.org” target=”_blank”velocitydancecenter.org/a. In addition: On 2/9 at Velocity (7 p.m.; pay what you can), attend a prelude to the world premiere, which includes a screening of Wallich’s short art film, emSuper Eagle: The Overture and a conversation with The YC/em about their collaborative process./p

 

Follow Us

Photo Essay: Ferry Therapy

Photo Essay: Ferry Therapy

Words and photographs by Anna Starr.

Riding the ferry is my favorite Seattle pastime. At any given time on a Washington State Ferry you will find a group of tourists with too  many suitcases, someone in work clothes peacefully napping, a jigsaw puzzle diligently being completed, lovers having a Titanic-esque moment on a balcony (fun fact: those balconies are called pickleforks),…

AANHPI Month: Where to Celebrate, Eat, and Learn Around Seattle

AANHPI Month: Where to Celebrate, Eat, and Learn Around Seattle

From festivals and museum exhibits to food tours and historic neighborhoods, here are a few ways to mark the month across the region.

Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month—known as AANHPI Month—is observed in the U.S. each May. It began as a weeklong observance in 1978 and expanded to the full month in 1992. Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities in the United States extend back much further, including to the late 16th century, when…

Black Panther Park in Skyway Becomes First Black Panther Park in the World

Black Panther Park in Skyway Becomes First Black Panther Park in the World

The new community garden honors the Black Panther Party’s legacy of food justice and the Skyway neighbors who helped bring it to life. 

On a sunny Sunday earlier this month, at the corner of 75th Avenue and Renton Avenue South, the community gathered for the opening of Skyway’s Black Panther Park. Inspired by the Black Panther’s Free Breakfast for School Children program that compelled the federal government to provide breakfast in schools, Black Panther Park is a community…

Rearview Mirror: A Family Coming Apart, SIFF, and My First Fashion Show

Rearview Mirror: A Family Coming Apart, SIFF, and My First Fashion Show

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

The Family House A house can hold a lot, and Seattle Rep’s Appropriate knows that. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Tony-winning play, directed here by Timothy McCuen Piggee, drops the Lafayette siblings into their late father’s hoarded, falling-apart Arkansas plantation home for an estate sale, and lets the whole thing crack open from there. The sibling dynamics are…