“…jaw-dropping…a cross between Cirque Du Soleil and Survivor…”
“…indelible…the two offered some stunning moves - both on and above ground…the couple, god and goddess-like, soared…”
- Victoria Looseleaf, Dance Magazine
“These daring young people are a metaphor for the cream of the new generation: imaginative, fearless, and ready to adopt the best of older values, but in a totally contemporary and innovative garb. They fly through the air in more ways than one.”
- Rachel Rosenthal, as quoted in The Los Angeles Times
“Higher and higher they rose until all that was left was to kiss and leap onto the foam pillows far below as giant balloons cascaded down and the crowd erupted into a roar.”
- Sara Wolf, LA Weekly
“It’s not Reality TV, it’s Reality Performance.”
- Jacques Heim of Diavolo, as quoted in The Los Angeles Times
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Catch Me Bird invites you to join them onstage at the historic Ford Amphitheater in the Hollywood Hills on September 5, 2008, to be the first couple ever to be wed in a creative commitment ceremony as part of a unique Reality Performance, titled Silk.
Interested couples should apply at www.catchmebird.com by July 1, 2008.
One lucky couple will get the experience of a lifetime – the chance to share their stories and their vows with their families and the Ford audience – in an artistic and exciting new way. The legal union will be immediately followed by a high-flying finale to be performed together with your artist/officiants, C. Derrick Jones and Nehara Kalev, of Catch Me Bird.
Catch Me Bird is an aerial dance theater duo consisting of C. Derrick Jones and collaborator/ partner/wife, Nehara Kalev. The world premiere of Silk is an hour-long chronicle of the evolving real-life marital partnership, and the next installment of Catch Me Bird’s innovative Reality Performance series. Based on the idea of silk as the element of the fourth wedding anniversary gift, audiences are invited into the intimacy of their “creative home”. They offer their special brand of high-powered dance, incisive dialogue, and aerial performance as they launch off the 60 ft high towers at the Ford, highlighting the unique stage architecture in a way that it has never been before. As part of the Reality Performance, an actual wedding ceremony will happen on stage, legally officiated by C. Derrick Jones - another first.
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Catch Me Bird Dance Theater’s Founding Story
On June 19, 2004, Catch Me Bird debuted their first full- length collaboration, The Wedding Journey: Vows In Midair, a combination of their actual wedding and an evening of dance, theater and aerial performance.
They invited friends, family and the general public to the historic Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles to see a glimpse of their real lives, crafted into choreography, dialogue, video and vows. It was designed for an audience of close family members and perfect strangers alike; an evening of high - powered entertainment driven by a story that also happened to be true.
Legendary performance art icon Rachel Rosenthal appeared as emcee, ordained minister and rabble-rousing spiritual guide. Upon her declaration of their union, the couple sealed the deal by jumping hand in hand from their platform raised high above the stage, giving new potency to the age-old “leap of faith”.
Critics praised The Wedding Journey: Vows In Midair for its unique concept and execution in The Los Angeles Times, The LA Weekly, and Dance Magazine.
From this compelling beginning, the couple continued to create work inspired by their evolving real life partnership. On November 4 & 5, 2005, Catch Me Bird premiered The Wedding Journey: Paper at UCLA’s Kaufman Hall. Paper, the traditional first year anniversary gift, took on new meaning as it became a larger than life symbol of the layers of a modern marriage.
In January 2008, Catch Me Bird performed Ordination, in which C. Derrick Jones was ordained as “Minister Of The Soul” (official title chosen by the audience) on stage in real-time as part of their ongoing Reality Performance smash hit series.
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THE WORLD PREMIERE
Silk on Sept 5, 2008, begins with Derrick & Nehara at the apex of the two 60-foot stage towers, unfurling long swaths of silk, and descending with daring aerial choreography. Humor, intimacy, and emotional potency bubble to the surface throughout the high-energy dance scenes. The audience witnesses a true portrait-in-motion.
The art of Catch Me Bird is based on the actual marriage of the two performers, and the shifting dynamics between the public spectacle and the personal reality.
Driven by the desire to reach into the heart of a true love story and share it in an inspiring and transcendent way, Catch Me Bird continues to take a leap of faith by forging a new form of theater that merges the performer with the audience, the reality with the artistry.
Now for the first time ever, Catch Me Bird offers the creative integrity of their spectacular union to another couple at a historic, romantic venue in the Hollywood Hills.
* In addition to the one lucky couple, we invite all inspired couples to be wed in a special one-time group ceremony at the top of the Ford’s terraced plaza grounds. If you have visited the Ford Amphitheater in the last few years you will have noticed the beautiful plaza, and you might have thought, this is a great place to get married. Now, interested couples will have that opportunity to be married by C. Derrick Jones on Friday evening, Sept 5, 2008 at 6:45 PM. The ceremony will be followed by the world premiere of Silk as part of the evening of dance theater, Sans Detour. This non-denominational, creative and legal ceremony is open to all interested couples.
• Contest Entry will consist of one photo and two questions:
1. Tell us, in 150 words or less, the story of how you met and fell in love.
2. Tell us, in 150 words or less, why you are the best couple to be married onstage at the Ford Amphitheater in Catch Me Bird’s Reality Performance.
Send your snapshot photo and contest entry answers to: derrick@catchmebird.com
By July 1, 2008. Good Luck!
• Pre-Show group ceremony participants: send us an email describing your interest, availability, and contact information.
Catch Me Bird’s wedding ceremonies are open to all regardless of gender, nationality, race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation.
