ISHIDA Dance Company performing during "keepsake" at the Rollins Theatre at The Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas on January 15, 2023, with Choreographers: ISHIDA (Brett Ishida), Jérémy Galdéano, and John Wannehag, Dancers: John Wannehag, Lorrin Brubaker, Armando Brydson, Juliet Doherty, Patrick Ellis, Renee Kester, Sayer Mansfield, and Fernando Martín-Gullans (Photo: Ralph Arvesen)
ISHIDA Dance Company, the only Texas company named in Dance Magazine’s “25 to watch” for 2023, performs keepsake featuring works choreographed by ISHIDA, French choreographer Jérémy Galdéano commissioned by Les Grands Ballets and Mannheim National Theater, and Swedish dancer and choreographer formerly with tanzmainz John Wannehag.
The program includes two world premieres of original ISHIDA poetic narratives: an arresting men’s duet referencing the Greek tragedy “Seven against Thebes” called warm my bones; and the feature work keepsake, which explores a dissociative fugue state and what might have provoked it.
The program also has works by two respected but rarely seen in the United States, European choreographers: the critically acclaimed work If the world was ending, would you hold me tight? by Swedish choreographer John Wannehag and the world premiere You look strange — you look happy by French choreographer Jérémy Galdéano whose work has been presented in Canada, Germany, Italy and Mexico.
Brett Ishida
Brett Ishida is a fourth generation Japanese American—Yonsei—raised in a typical valley town of Porterville, California. She grew up working and dancing in between trees on her grandparents’ citrus ranch.
Brett’s love for dance inspired her to move away from home at age fifteen when she received a full scholarship at the Kirov Academy and later at SAB. She danced professionally with several United States ballet companies culminating with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montréal where she toured performing around the world; she collaborated in new creations with choreographers and performed principal and soloist roles in repertoire by Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin and Didy Veldman, among others.
Enchanted by wordplay, Brett received a BA from UCLA in English with emphasis in Creative Writing: Poetry and later a MA in Montessori Education from St. Mary’s College. She was an educator and administrator in Texas, California, and in Greece devoted to promoting and implementing experiential arts in education and advocating for children with special learning needs. Brett felt by combining those two worlds from her past, she could be a new voice in contemporary dance and started ISHIDA in 2019.
Already a sought-out choreographer for her work, Ishida was commissioned by venerated ballerina and Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet and soon to be Co-Artistic Director of Houston Ballet, Julie Kent, to create a ballet for their NEXTsteps program held in June 2022 and was performed again in November 2022 at The Kennedy Center. Pulitzer-prize winning dance critic Sarah L. Kaufman from The Washington Post deemed Ishida’s piece homecoming which “tackled a deeply poignant, poetic theme” to be “remarkable.”
Brett Ishida’s work intertwines reflections of ancient timeless themes of Greek philosophy and poetry with subconscious memories which shape who we are and where we are going. Her company, ISHIDA, creates 'memory houses' for audiences where themes and characters build relationships and familiarity in imitation of life’s enigma.
Jérémy Galdéano
Born in Nimes, France, he graduated from the School of Dance in Marseille, and he danced with the Ballet National de Marseille before joining Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in 2001, where he stayed for 19 years and became First Soloist.
His repertoire includes Mats Ek, Jiri Kylian, Ohad Naharin, Didy Veldman, Christian Spuck, Jean Christophe Maillot, Shen Wei, Stephan Thoss, Nacho Duato, Stijn Celis, Anabelle Lopez Ochoa, Edward Clug, and many others.
His choreography has been performed in Montreal, Germany, Italy and Mexico. Jérémy is also part of a choreographic duo with Vera Kvarkacova which has received critical acclaim in Montreal and Europe, and the only non-German choreographers selected for the prestigious Noverre-Young choreographers evening with Stuttgart Ballet.
In 2021 they were invited to perform Doma at the Joyce Theater in New York as part of The Martha Graham Company season and with ISHIDA in August 2022. Doma, the short film version, has been awarded as Winner Best Dance video at Rio WebFest 2019 and Gold Winner as Best Short dance at Queen Palm International Film Festival 2020. ZABA, the short dance film they created during lockdown in 2020 was in the final selection of Interfaccia Digitale Festival.
Jeremy has created several works for Les Grands Ballets and National Theater Mannheim Germany. In June 2021, FOMO was presented at Festival Quartiers Danses in Montreal and was awarded the best show in the festival. In March 2024, Jeremy returns to Les Grands Ballets Canadiens to create a new work on the company.
John Wannehag
Born on a pig farm in Sweden, John comes from a rigorous sports background in skiing, track & field and mountain biking. It wasn’t until his teenage years John found his passion for dance. After graduating at Lunds School of Performing Arts, John moved to Leeds, England, to further train as a dancer at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance where he graduated with first-class honors. A year later he completed his MA in performance practice where he focused on the relationship between film music and film.
In 2014, John’s film Young Angry Men won the first edition of the student category at Cinedans – dance on screen festival (NL), marking the beginning of his filmmaking. In 2020, John was commissioned by Cathy Levy for National Art Centre Canada to create a film portrait. John’s choreographic achievements include being a finalist in the Rotterdam International Duet Choreographic Competition, Hannover Choreographic competition, and winning the SOLOCOREOGRAFICO 2019 Turin Edition.
John has danced with tanzmainz (Staatstheater Mainz) DE, Skånes Dansteater (SWE), ForWorks, and Van Huynh Dance Company. He has performed in original works by Sharon Eyal (LEV), Koen Augustijnen & Rosalba Torres Guerrero, Guy Weizman & Roni Haver, Roy Assaf, Guy Nader & Maria Campos, Marcos Morrau, Martin Forsberg, Victor Quijada, and Maxine Doyle. In August 2022 and January 2023, he performed in original ISHIDA creations and premiered “If the world was ending would you hold me tight?” which was well received by Houston and Austin audiences and reviewers.
Tonight’s performance was absolutely breathtaking, heart-achingly beautiful, awe inspiring, and soul nourishing. I am beyond grateful that the IDC choreographers and dancers shared their creative energy with us, and I can’t wait to see more performances from them. I recommend that anyone who has a chance goes to see them.ISHIDA Dance Company
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Photos by Ralph Arvesen
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