“The ladies of NWDS own their territory. These women work hard and play hard. Classically trained, they are able to tip the scales of their technical backgrounds as dancers, challenging themselves to find new ways to release through movement.  They create their own explosive and dynamic movement vocabulary. To their audience, they offer everything from the depth of world issues to the humor of reality, allowing their fans options to find their own pathway through the work.  These ladies are fierce, for real and a force to be reckoned with.” -Ellie Sandstrom (Seattle Dancer/Choreographer) 2007

    

NorthWest Dance Syndrome (NWDS) is a non profit (501c3) Seattle based collaborative modern dance company.  With a long personal history deeply rooted in modern dance, contact, and improvisation, Artistic Directors Teresa Cowan-Kuist, Anne Motl and Maya Soto have been creating and presenting their work as a collaborative team since 2003.

NWDS premiered one: an evening of dance exploring solo at Velocity MainSpace Theater in April 2004.  This first performance was followed in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 by new works concerts, two, three, Charging Rhinos, and Junknation.  NWDS has performed in venues such as:  On the Boards, Bagley Wright Theater, Velocity MainSpace Theater, Broadway Performance Hall, Erickson Theater and the Firehouse Performing Arts Center.  NWDS has been featured in festivals including: Northwest New Works Festival, Bumbershoot, The Smoke Farm Festival, SITEWORKS, and The Juan De Fuca Festival of the Arts.

In 2007, NWDS was a recipient of the Walrus Performance Productions Space Grant.  Using the rehearsal space provided through the grant, NWDS created Perch, a dance set to symphonic Radiohead.  Perch was performed at RED Performance Space and at the 2007 Juan De Fuca Festival of the Arts.  In 2009, NWDS was featured in a music video for local hip hop artist, Tulsi. 

As a company, NWDS has created 3 full length collaborative dance works: Americanism, Red Tent, and Junknation, a dance film, Nocturne and numerous shorter dances.  In addition, NWDS commissions dances from local choreographers.  Recent comissions include:  Jill Leversee (re: Collect(ed) 2006), Ellie Sandstrom (move me/you move me 2007), Marlo Martin (i. see. you 2010), and Gabriel Bruya (Bake You A Cake 2010).