Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble
P.O. Box 8055, Santa Cruz, CA 95061
(831) 335-1861 (Karl), FAX (831) 335-1876, (801)626-6615 (Erik)
schaffer@admin.fhda.edu, estern@weber.edu, www.schafferstern.or

Release: Immediate Aug. 1, 2000
Contact: Ana Marden of Sure Thing Productions, (831) 421-9523 or Karl Schaffer (831) 335-1861

Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern premiere their second two-man show, The Bounds of Discovery, on Saturday, September 9, 2000 at 8 PM and Sunday, September 10, 2000 at 3 PM. This playful and engaging dance performance addresses the wonder that people bring to their discoveries and the messes that sometimes result. The Bounds of Discovery features highly physical choreography which interweaves wordplay, striking imagery, and audience involvement in the most unexpected ways!

Karl Schaffer and Erik Stern burst onto the dance scene in 1987 with 4-Footed Hamlet,, which was featured on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition." Their concert Two Guys dancing About Math has toured nationally since it's debut in 1990, delighting and educating children and adults alike. Two Guys, which the two have performed over 350 times, brings mathematical concepts to life through dances, audience interaction, and the antics of two very opposite characters. In their new show, The Bounds of Discovery, these dancing thinkers look at the nature of imagination in scientific discovery in funny and philosophical ways.

A dance performance that incorporates bungee cords and the cure for malaria, looks at income taxes and the use of codes in our daily life, The Bounds of Discovery is not to be missed.

Dances include Signs, an offbeat take on the use of gesture as language, Many Happy Returns, a spoken-text dance about the history and miseries of the income tax, and Faux Paws, a wonderful, luscious video dance for eight hands. Also on the bill are Lost Soles, in which two tap dancers lament the merging of the arts and sciences, Strings of Discovery, three surprising tales of scientific discoveries tied together by bungee-corded performers. Rick Walker has created musical scores for Signs, Lost Soles,, and Strings of Discovery. Schaffer and Stern will both perform solos with the loops of bungee cord, to music by Bach, and audience interactions will involve playful escapades with codes and cellular phones.

[more] Collaborators include composer Rick Walker, who is also one of the founding architects of the world beat movement, a multi-instrumentalist, and a percussionist. He has been involved in the Santa Cruz music scene for two decades, leading such diverse bands as Tao Chemical and Worlds Collide. He is also a producer, studio musician, and author, and has just released his first solo CD of abstract electronica, entitled Loop Pool. Many of the songs from this album have been remixed for The Bounds of Discovery.. Costumes for the show are by Diane Neri Stern, and lighting design and technical direction by Ronn Reinberg. Photos are by Hazen Imaging, Inc.

Background. Karl Schaffer and Erik Stern have collaborated since 1985, creating eleven separate evening-length concerts. Since 1989 their company, the Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble, has toured throughout the U.S. Their company has been the resident company at the American College Dance Festival Association Southeast in 1992 and ACDFA Northwest in 1993. Schaffer and Stern have been on the Touring and Presenting Roster of the California Arts Council for ten years and also the roster of the Utah Arts Council and Spectra. They are twelve-time recipients of grants from the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County, and three time recipients of commissioning grants from Dance Bay Area. In 1994 they created Dances for the MindÕs Eye with puzzle-master and artist Scott Kim. In 1998 they created The Fantastic Normal Gentlemen with renowned dance artist Gregg Lizenbery. During the past few years they have toured in Wyoming, Alabama, Georgia, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii, and California. They have received one National Endowment for the Arts Choreographic Fellowship, two NEA grants for their arts education work for 1999-2001, and received a Djerassi Resident Arts residency in 1999, where they began work on The Bounds of Discovery.

Tickets for The Bounds of Discovery will be sold at the Cabrillo Theater Box Office, 479-6331, and at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Ticket prices are General Admission: $10 in advance, $12 at the door Students/Seniors: $8.50 in advance, $10 at the door Children 12 and under: $6. Cabrillo students with ID are $5 in advance and $6 at the door.

Funding. The concert is co-sponsored by the Cabrillo College Drama Department, sponsored by KUSP, and funded by the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County, the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, and the Peninsula Community Foundation. Additional support came from the Djerassi Resident Arts Program. The Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble performs under the auspices of MoveSpeakSpin, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization.

Photos are available in printed or digital format.

More information: www.schafferstern.org

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