Reed College Presents Minh Tran & Company
To mark the commencement of Minh Tran's appointment as Assistant Professor in Dance at Reed College, Minh Tran & Company presents a retrospective performance of the company's work that has received critical acclaim over the past decade.


    PORTLAND, OR, September 25, 2008 /Oregon News Articles/ -- To mark the beginning commencement of Minh Tran's appointment as Assistant Professor in Dance at Reed College, Minh Tran & Company presents a retrospective performance of the company's work that has, over the past decade, received critical acclaim.

Who: Minh Tran & Company (www.mtdance.org)
What: Retrospective Performance
When: Friday-Sunday October 24-26, 2008 @ 7:30PM
Where: Reed College, Sport Gym II, Portland, Oregon
Tickets: Tickets: $18 Adults/$15 Senior/$12 Students
Brown Paper Tickets www.brownpapertickets.com or 503.838.3006
Info: www.mtdance.org


To mark the commencement of Minh Tran's appointment as Assistant Professor in Dance at Reed College, Minh Tran & Company will present a retrospective performance of the company's work that has, over the past decade, received critical acclaim.

Tran's work is particularly noted for its fusion of traditional Asian technique and contemporary Western dance, underscored by an unwavering commitment to breaking down cultural and racial barriers. The value of diversity, the main theme of his works, gives meaning to his dance as well as to the content of his choreography. The Oregonian praised Tran for having, "...a style that is an idiosyncratic fusion of traditional Chinese opera movement and Western postmodern dance," and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer raved, "...both precise and fast-flowing, Tran is blessed with confident, complex inner musical rhythms."

The program, will be danced by Tran's 6-member Portland-based company: Angela Caceres, Samuel Hobbs, Riho Katagiri, Carla Mann, Joshua Thrower, Margretta Hansen and Tran. The program features three works that display the breadth and power of Tran's choreography. The first, piece, "Ancestor" (2000) is a tribute to the grandfathers that Tran only had the opportunity to know through family portraits, and features dance vocabulary drawn from martial arts forms. "The War Within" follows and is an excerpt from the critically acclaimed 1996 work, "The Road Home." An autobiographical dance journal, the work depicts Tran's escape from Vietnam after the war.

Drawing from the spiritual world of Southeast Asia, the program concludes with "Nocturnal Path," an ensemble work for the company based on archaeological reliefs and mural paintings from temples throughout the region. Visual design for this work is provided by artist Christine Bourdette and Lam Quang of Hi-iH Gallery. "Nocturnal Path" was originally commissioned by the White Bird/Tiffany & Co. New Works Fund with additional support from the Regional Arts & Culture Council, and the National Dance Project for the 2005-2006 season, a program administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts.

These selections of Tran's work will also be performed as part of the Footlight Series in March 2009 at John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin (www.jmkac.org)


Minh Tran & Company is a nonprofit dance organization. Please visit www.mtdance.org for more information.

Further Related Resources:


Press Release Contact Information:

Minh Tran
Minh Tran & Company
Artistic Director
4110 SE Hawthorne Blvd, PMB 180
Portland, Oregon
USA 97214
Voice: 503.998.0381
Fax: 503:236.9547
Website: Visit Our Website