Talk:Whim W'Him

Speedy deletion

Thank you for the opportunity to respond.

I did read the Wiki criteria, and I noted that other dance companies are listed on Wikipedia, so I figured it would be okay. Whim W'Him may be new, but it is certainly notable. First of all, any new real dance company is a miracle. (By "real" I mean one with a board, with 501c3 status, that pays its dancers, that has a company mission, etc. With more time, I could get you a better definition : ). ) Secondly, the artistic director is a dancer of note and his choreography has been receiving favorable reviews from Seattle publications the past few years. (See a sample of press clips below.) Four of the dancers I know to be amazing; they have received positive reviews internationally. The other five I don't know well, but they dance for Donald Byrd's Spectrum Dance Theater, which is among Seattle's most-respected dance companies.)

I did my best to write a neutral and informative entry; I'd be happy to rewrite if I can make it better.

Thank you.

Sample Press Clips of the artistic director's past work

Best Innovator in Tights - Best of Seattle - Seattle Weekly, August 2008 After a decade with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Olivier Wevers is still looking for new variations on the traditions. "I try to find a twist," he says. "I'm sick of seeing the same basic ballet steps, just in a new sequence." One of the ways he's branched out is with a new hobby: skydiving. The other is by creating new choreography for his PNB colleagues, as well as for modern dance troupes in town. Right now, Wevers' choreographic life is on a roll, fueled by curiosity and enthusiasm. A dancer's education typically involves mentoring by a succession of teachers and coaches (in Olivier's case, in his native Belgium), but choreography is generally self-taught. All your errors are made in public, right in front of the audience. Wevers has made very few of those during a year in which his work has been seen all over the dance community. As a performer, he excels at assignments that combine technical skill with dramatic ability, and it's no surprise his choreography displays that same dual nature. Still One, made for the Seattle Dance Project's inaugural show, was a collection of solos designed around the specific skills of SDP's mature artists, and his Fragments for Spectrum Dance Theater made deft use of familiar arias from Mozart operas, drawing out their expressive potential. "I'm a Mozart freak, I have my Mozart playlist all the time," he says. Of the work this innovator has made recently, some of the best has been set to Mozart. "I think classical music is so beautiful, and you can give it new life. I think people forget about it, you get all this modern, electronic work—I like to use some of that, too, but the classical music is so rich and deep." Sandra Kurtz, Seattle Weekly

Olivier Wevers, one of PNB's most engaging dancers, is in the early stages of a second career as a choreographer. He contributed the world premiere, "Shindig," a potpourri or suite, if you like, set to bits of music from famous composers: Leroy Anderson to Igor Stravinsky, with stops at Rimsky-Korsakov, Schubert and Mozart, along the way. Wevers can be very playful as a dancer, and that attribute carries over in this piece. And as his sense of timing rarely fails him as a dancer, it rarely fails him as a choreographer. "Shindig" is all over the map. It has flair, satire and moments of beauty and is a showcase for PNB dancers. They do not fail him. Chalnessa Eames and Jonathan Porretta open with a dandy little duet, followed by the many splendors of Louise Nadeau. Kaori Nakamura and Lucien Postlewaite get the big duet to which they brought good humor, bold technique and flowing lyricism. Carrie Imler has the final word, which she delivered with bravura feet and a radiant style. R. M. Campbell, Seattle P-I

With Shindig, PNB dancer (and here, choreographer) Olivier Wevers also sends up his own art form, dissecting a single extension into multiple parts and then overlapping the edges. The piece packs three different movements into the space a single one usually takes, literally turning the performers' backs on the audience and allowing us to see exasperation and failure. Wevers' was one of two works created specifically for the festival that tried hardest to actually "make funny dancing." Sandra Kurtz, Seattle Weekly

The always-creative Olivier Wevers (who debuts another piece, “Shindig”, at next week’s Laugh Out Loud festival) possibly had the most ambitious idea of the evening with his solo “Moi Je Dis Que…” Wevers both choreographed and danced the work, which was accompanied onstage by pianist Dianne Chilgren playing variations on Mozart’s “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” tune. There is no doubt that Wevers has a unique style of movement, so it was a treat to see him interpret the music through the twisting of his wrists and undulations of his torso. Though the musical variations stretched on, Wevers kept a playful smile on his face the whole time, as he alternated meditative sections with humorous snippets. The whole thing had a cheerfully anecdotal feel, with each part being linked by the “Twinkle” melody. It’ll certainly be interesting to see, then, what next week’s “Shindig” involves. Arts Watch

Wevers' 2006 crowded murmurs...thoughts for Spectrum was a chamber-sized dance that made charming use of its Mozart score. Fragments does the same, playing on our familiarity with some well-known arias from The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. The dancers lip-synch in grand operatic style, scratch their itches like puppies, and adjust their costumes. Here, ballet technique is about freedom, not power, and it seems that Kelly Ann Barton and Hannah Lagerway are set to burble their way around the stage for the duration of the work, until the score shifts to Mozart's Ave Verum. Lagerway strips off her flirty skirt and proceeds to turn herself inside out and upside down in an extended adagio that's all bent joints, like a colt learning to stand. Probably the most effective part of the work has the least amount of movement, as Lagerway pauses for several breaths, upside down and all splayed out. Sandra Kurtz, Seattle Weekly

“You should trek down to Spectrum's cozy performance space at Madrona Dance Center today to see "Crowded Murmurs ... Thoughts" by choreographer Olivier Wevers—an emotionally vibrant work set to a Mozart violin concerto.” Mary Murfin Bayley, Seattle Times

“The lovely ensemble piece crowded murmur...thoughts, by Olivier Wevers, combines the ease and facility of classical dance with a playful twistiness. The three sections are laced together by an ongoing motif—quieting someone with a hand in front of the mouth and whispering in their ear. Wevers' movement invention is charming and his skill at manipulating structure and pattern—the traffic cop aspect of choreography—is very assured. He makes the Spectrum performers look every bit as good as they are, and gives the company a delicious valentine of a dance.” Sandra Kurtz, Seattle Weekly

“It's no wonder that a Wevers work was recently featured at the New York City Ballet's prestigious Choreographic Institute and that Spectrum will present another new Wevers piece during its studio series in December. Friday evening featured a section of Wevers' striking "X Stasis," which was the hit of PNB's 2006 Choreographers' Showcase. The excerpted pas de deux was performed by two of PNB's most charismatic male dancers, Jonathan Porretta and Lucien Postlewaite. They completely embodied the quick-fire yet elongated style of "X Stasis," with its jagged edges and blazing theatricality. Wevers' flair for drama, which infuses his own dancing, carries over to his creations for others, and it is very exciting to see him continue to develop as a maker of dances.” Alice Kaderlan, Seattle P-I

“Olivier Wevers' witty ballet X stasis, set to the music of Thomas Adès, was as original as its title, and had elements of ecstasy and zero stasis. The five duets included Chalnessa Eames' amusing flirtation with a dressmaker's dummy and a riveting tango of power and intimacy between two men, Porretta and Postlewaite. Louise Nadeau and Jordan Pacitti were crisp and demur. Ariana Lallone's cage-like skirt seemed to have a life of its own. Wevers' choreography is full of the unexpected, the theatrical and imaginative. Dancers use their hands in hypnotic ways, turning back at the wrist, plucking or tickling up an arm. Wevers continued playing with his inventive movement vocabulary in the solo Pigment, set to a traditional Japanese folk song. Lallone moved with the sliding short steps of a woman walking in a kimono, sometimes breaking out into the expansive reach of full ballet arabesque turns.” Mary Murfin Bayley, Seattle Times

“Olivier Wevers contributed two works that manifest his mercurial stage presence as well as his ability to dramatically interpret dance in diverse musical styles. X stasis, set to early-music inspired dances by Thomas Adés, demonstrated virtuosity in a wide range of tones and modes. It was the rare successful ballet piece that incorporates humor and the avant-garde. His second work, pigment, was a minimalist solo set to a traditional Japanese folk song and danced by Ariana Lallone. Subtle and expressive, it was further evidence of an impressive choreographic talent.” J. Demetre, Artdish.com

“Two of the pieces in Olivier Wevers X Stasis were clearly based in early classical music, but there is nothing easy about his music, which I thought was fantastic. The ballet consists of five short pas de deux, each visually arresting, running the gamut of imagination, including one for Chalnessa Eames and a suitmaker's mannequin. The closest I can come to describing this ballet is that it contained the quirky sensibility and depth of "Five Pieces" from Episodes. Oliviers Wevers has more than talent: he has an original voice. He showed it again in the solo called Pigment he created for Ariana Lallone, set to a tape of a traditional Japanese folk song. In it, Lallone transformed from a stylized, tiny Japanese woman to her full height as a contemporary ballerina and back again throughout the piece. Completely unexpected, and totally different from X Stasis.” BalletAlert.com

“Topping one’s own work – building on past successes, can be daunting. Olivier Wevers manages to climb this Matterhorn with his X stasis, to music by Adès. Wevers made a work that impressed me as being pays-bas: low countries, northern European, which was a good thing. It didn’t look like anything that a North American choreographer might make and I liked it. Particularly striking was the male duet for Jonathan Porretta and Lucien Postlewaite – a kind of yin and yang approach. Also very much in the intriguing European mode was the solo (duet?) created for elusive Chalnessa Eames whose partner was a tailor’s dummy, who ended up on the floor with Eames at the end, tangled in her long hair. Casey Herd and Ariana Lallone caught the perfumed intent and humor of “Les Barricades mystèrieuses” with Lallone in a skirt with a wide woven net pattern that, as it moved, threatened to have a life of its own. Ariana Lallone has lots of that marvelous, mystic artistic quality we call, “je ne sais quoi.” I really liked how Wevers has her begin in his work for solo dancer, Pigment. Lallone is centerstage in a pose like Venus, with arms drawn across her chest in an “X.” As she begins, her elbows pull out sharply three times. At times like Noh and others like Kabuki, Wevers melded a combination of gestures and steps that were evocative of the “color” of Japan. I enjoyed how Wevers was clearly pushing himself with Pigment and it was a thorough pleasure seeing Lallone interpret a small nugget of Nippon. CriticalDance.com

PinkCiao (talk) 19:23, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

Whether or not other dance companies are on Wikipedia is irrelevant, to have an article on Wikipedia the subject must be notable. Wikipedia means by notability that the subject has been covered in multiple reliable sources that are independant of the subject in a non-trivial way (not just passing mentions). It is still possible that this article could be nominated for deletion, when I declined the speedy delete I did not appreciate that the company had yet to deliver a performance. A deletion debate would likely raise the WP:CRYSTAL argument. Most of the quotes above (I have not read it all thoroughly) seems to be about Oliver Wever rather than his new dance company and notability is not inherited as they say here. To ensure that this article does not go to a deletion debate what needs to happen is that references are inserted in the article to reliable sources for verifiability. SpinningSpark 07:09, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

This is a significant (albeit new) dance company; the founding members include Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers and soloists, and the PNB is itself one of the top ballet companies in the US, arguably one of the top five. Nor would WP:CRYSTAL seem to apply in this case:

1. Individual scheduled or expected future events should only be included if the event is notable and almost certain to take place … The world premiere of a company of notable performers (or athletes) would be notable, and this event is firmly scheduled, January 15–17, at On the Boards in Seattle.
2. Similarly, articles about words formed on a predictable numeric system (such as "septenquinquagintillion") are not encyclopedic unless they are defined on good authority, or genuinely in use … Not applicable.
3. Articles that present extrapolation, speculation, and "future history" are original research and therefore inappropriate … Not applicable.
4. While currently accepted scientific paradigms may later be rejected, and hypotheses previously held to be controversial or incorrect sometimes become accepted by the scientific community, it is not the place of Wikipedia to venture such projections … Not applicable.

This a more than adequately notable article and will only become moreso with time.—Robert Greer (talk) 20:37, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

You are talking to the admin who declined to speedy delete this article. You do not need to convince me, or anyone else, on this talk page. There is not currently a nomination for deletion, and if there is one in the future all your arguments on this page will be wasted as you will then have to do it again in the deletion debate. My point to you was that the article is lamentably short of references, and still is. Wikipedia judges notability by how much it is covered in independant sources, not as you seem to think, by the notability of the participants. An article with extensive references to such sources is highly unlikely to be nominated for deletion and justifications for keeping it will become superfluous. SpinningSpark 22:20, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for having spared Whim W'Him's life (I have it on my watchlist but can do little more for it as I live on the East Coast.)—Robert Greer (talk) 20:55, 9 October 2009 (UTC)