 photo by Maranda Blumenthal |
reviews click to see what people are saying about Bell House |
| CURRENT SEASON (2008-2009) |
| Out of the Loop Festival in Dallas, TX (2009) |
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Out On a Limb Dance Company presents a collection of works at the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival in Dallas, TX, that provoke the viewer with humor, reflection, physicality, and human relationships. The first act will premiere a quirky trio, as well as, guest choreographer and OoLD dancer, Rachel Bruce Johnson’s (artistic director, The Bell House) Standing at the Edge. The second act features a full-length work that offers a personal perspective of a story through a relationship, a space, and a time, entitled A Long Journey Home. |
| New Genre Dance Oklahoma (Feb. 2009) |
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Photos by Maranda Blumenthal This dance concert featuring Perpetual Motion Modern Dance Oklahoma, Hartel Dance Group, and Living Water Dance Company through The Bell House was performed at the Wiliams Theatre at the Performing Arts Center in Tulsa as part of the New Genre Festival this year. Bell House repertoire included: Frailty White After Labor Day She Drew a Picture of a Whale [solo/media] Last Thread |
| In Production |
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Deeper [dancefilm] |
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Paper Cuts [dancefilm] |
| HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2007-2008 SEASON |
| Out On a Limb Dance Company in Waco, TX |
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we all fall down [dancefilm] |
| Out of the Loop Festival in Dallas, TX (2008) |
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She Drew a Picture of a Whale [solo/media] |
| Ad Deum Summer Dance Intensive, Houston, TX |
 photo by Jeanne S. Mam-Luft |
| Shifting Parables Choreography: L. Brooke Schlecte Performance: Rachel Bruce Johnson Solo performed at the Ad Deum Summer Dance Intensive, Houston, TX. |
| Brazos County Dance Festival, Bryan/College Station, TX |
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Last Thread [stagedance] |
| iVisit Dance Exchange |
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Virtual Bodies [online dance] |
| REPERTOIRE |
| Standing At The Edge |
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Photo by Maranda Blumenthal Choreography and Performance by Rachel Bruce Johnson From inside a hollow body, the dancer finds herself searching for a more meaningful reason to breathe in and out every day. Following interrupted pathways and calculated movements, everything changes upon one crucial decision to accept a new rhythm of breathing. |
| Do Not Wake Love Before Its Time |
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Choreography: Rachel Bruce Johnson in collaboration with dancers Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken love until the time is right. |
| Beat of a Different Heart |
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Choreography: Rachel Bruce Johnson “Beat of a Different Heart” began with a simple concept of change. The concept then developed into two major movement phrases of opposing feel, mood, and intention and further arranged to develop into one another. I considered each dancers’ individual and unique way of moving as an active part of the choreographic process, which can be a very different way of working from traditional dance-making practices. Parallel to God’s commission to uphold and foster relationships with others through His love, the foundation of “Beat of a Different Heart” is based on the relationships between the dancers as a metaphor for the importance of our abilities and even obligation to influence others through love rather than indifference. |
| Shifting Parables |
 photo by Jeanne S. Mam-Luft |
Choreographer: L. Brooke Schlecte Self, other, reality, spirtituality,
problem maker, problem solver, |
| She Drew a Picture of a Whale [stagedance] |
 photo by Jeanne S. Mam-Luft |
Choreographers: L. Brooke Schlecte and Rachel Bruce Johnson This acclaimed duet met to rave reviews at the American College Dance Festival in the spring of 2007 whose performance garnished such comments as "excellence in kinetic artistry". Since it's premiere in 2006, critics have commented on the duet's ability to remain open while guiding the audience with a provocing hand. In a split-screen layout, two soloists confront their struggles as one performer suppresses and the other unleashes the monster of distorted body image. The piece continues to re-invent itself as the choreographers re-conceive it's structure when the venue allows. From multi-media solos to dance for camera, this piece has been Bell House's most versatile work. |
| Last Thread [stagedance] |
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Choreography: Rachel Bruce Johnson |
| DON'T...AWAY [art/dance collaboration] |
 photo by Mokie Lee Davidson |
Choreography: Rachel Bruce Johnson This work features an art/dance collaboration between visual artist, Allison Gillies, and choreographer, Rachel Bruce Johnson. In an exhibit of large-scale paintings on sailboat sails, Ms. Gillies’ art will serve as the environment and inspiration for an 8-minute dance work by Rachel Bruce Johnson (Tulsa resident). The exhibit can be scaled to several different spaces, indoor and outdoor and can be on display for an extended period of time according to festival and venue needs/requirements. The dance work is directly crafted in connection to the exhibit of sails and is repeatable; therefore, performance times can be scheduled with the choreographer on multiple dates as well as multiple performances in succession in one evening. This is not to say that the artwork cannot be on display without a dance performance scheduled. |
| Prepare the Veil [stagedance] |
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Choreographer: Rachel Bruce Johnson An 8-minute solo about the preparation for spiritual battle, Prepare the Veil was born from the theology surrounding the idea of a warrior bride. The dance deals with the seemingly conflicting ideas of war and marriage in an effort to explore the placement of this dichotomy in the spiritual realm rather than the natural. |
| White After Labor Day [stagedance] |
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Choreography: Rachel Bruce Johnson White After Labor Day, a dance for 5 women, juxtaposes the perfectly coiffed with the mission impossible, this piece cultivates humorous movement from the messages about women found in idealistic advertisements, photographs of 1940s & 50s movie starlets, and female-lead action movies of today. From housewives to secret agents, White After Labor Day explores movement that celebrates the multiple facets of femininity and ultimately asks to not judge the book by its cover because we are not what we wear. |
| ARCHIVED WORK |