Dancers pay tribute to lust, democracy, and the joys of spring

MILFORD — The New York City-based Hanna Q Dance Company will perform at the Delaware Valley High School Auditorium at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 13.
This modern-contemporary company, known for its bursts of passion and athletic expression, has performed in many well-known city venues, like Jazz at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Dance Festival, and The Dixon Place. The choreographer, Johanna LjungQvist-Brinson, creates an atmosphere with movement, music, lighting, and interactions among dancers that sweeps the audience into a world filled with emotion.
The program at DV includes five pieces, most with multimedia elements:
The newest creation is a 20-minute piece describing the anxiety that surfaces with the threats to our freedom and democracy in the current world. LjungQvist-Brinson collaborated with a Parisian, Stéphane Le Gouvello, to create the music.
The second most recent piece, “Lust and Suffering,” is a mesmerizing expression of the pleasure and pain we experience from our longings.
“Brim,” which is Icelandic for "waves," is a choreography about the patterns of the surf as they greet each other, join, and separate. LjungQvist-Brinson compares the patterns to people, love, and relationships. Additionally, Christian De Luna Zuno’s filming of the ocean will be the backdrop of the piece.
A short romantic pas de duex to Vivaldi’s Spring symbolizes the touching sensitivity and love that the season evokes in all of us.
Hanna Q Dance Company’s first dance/music video, shot on a rooftop in Brooklyn, encapsulates the dramatic side of any passionate relationship.
After the show is a reception and fundraiser at the Patisserie Fauchere, which gives the attendees an opportunity to meet with the artists. Wine and food will be served. Photographer Alan Kaplan will auction off four of his photographs of the company for the fundraiser.
Tickets are on sale at hannaqdancecompany.com and at The Milford Craft Store, 120 East Harford St., Milford. Tickets for the show cost $15, and tickets to the reception cost $35. If both are purchased online the cost is $45. Tickets will also be available at the door.
'Lightness in the air'Reviewing a performance in 2015 at the West End Theatre, Christine Jowers wrote: “Johanna LjungQvist-Brinson’s skillful patterns in (the choreography) bring out the best in her young Hanna Q Dance Company. She challenges her dancers lines to be elegant and their musicality to be sensitive, as they impress us with their enthusiasm and lightness in the air.”
A native of Sweden, SLjungQvist-Brinson has a BFA in Dance Education and Pedagogy from The University of Dance and Circus in Stockholm She has taught, performed, and choreographed in Sweden, Europe, and the USA. In 2013, she founded her dance company in New York City, drawing inspiration from the forces of nature and society to use its elements to create dynamic narratives through movement.
For more information call 570-828-1441.