PTERO Dance Theatre

was formed in Spring 2004. At the Entrance of An Idea, performed at Highways Performance Space, marked PTERO’s second major production, and was selected as one of Los Angeles Magazine’s “Top Ten” events in October 2005’s Guide section. PTERO was part of the “Four insightful, high-profile female choreographers…” (LA Weekly) sharing an evening, Variegate, at Highways Performance Space in 2006. PTERO (Pronounced terr-o, Greek for "wing") created its inaugural full evening premiere Candle in the Sun at the Ivy Substation through a grant from the City of Culver City in 2004. The company has received grants from The Puffin Foundation LTD in 2004, 2006 and 2008, and The Durfee Foundation's ARC grant in 2007. The company was recently awarded two Lester Horton awards for their work in 2005. In just two years, the company has garnered nine Lester Horton Award nominations, including consecutive nominations for Outstanding Achievement "Performance" and "Choreography." The company has also performed at the Unknown Theater, 2006 Brand Library Series, 7th Annual Los Angeles Dance Invitational, San Diego’s Celebrate Dance Festival, Barnsdall Gallery Theatre and has toured in Mexicali and Tijuana, Mexico.

Our most recent review in the LA Times states, "The choreographer Paula Present has a gift for creating memorable body sculpture (particularly with groups) and for shaping a sophisticated, contemporary movement vocabulary into fine-grained meditations on important current issues...her award-winning, mostly female PTERO Dance Theatre provides a satisfying look at her artistry... Present's "In the Forest" artfully develops a conflict between sensual needs and religious repression...the process of transforming the news of the day into thoughtful, committed dancing represents the kind of positive action that's needed on the widest possible scale right now."

2008 Performances
February 23 at Pasadena Dance Festival, Teaching and performance

Teaching 2008

August 4-16, San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet Summer Intensive

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