Laura Schandelmeier & Stephen Clapp

Dance Box Theater, Inc.
a non-profit 501(c)3 tax exempt organization

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Press Quotes and Media

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"The dancing is precise and inventive, the dancers remarkably in tune with each other. Some of their contortions and leaps have an unnerving, inhuman grace... the finely honed performances are a testament to an experienced and cohesive cast... With Haunted, Dance Box Theater proved to a European audience they are a solid and professional dance ensemble. Anyone looking for some ghostly move-busting should give them a call." - fest THEATER REVIEW



Here's what the critics say...

"In Windswept, Clapp composes, writes, self-narrates and dances a theater piece on "climate change, capitalism and the human experience." A personal tour de force whose intent is to give multiple perspectives rather than persuade or polemicize, Clapp amalgamates resource material from statistics to public policy pronouncements. Fingers splayed, using expressive arms and hands, Clapp walks and pivots on a diagonal ("we might even sleepwalk across that cliff"). He extends arms, curling them toward his chest and his wrists around themselves. Gestures thus come from the core, transiting to soft lunges and outstretched hands as he digs at corporations ("their goal is simply to make more money"). Clapp's pacing throughout the stage - mostly lyrically and measuredly - promotes audience reflection. Windswept was subsequently performed at Dance Place on Oct. 14th."
Luella Christopher, Dancing in the District

"Choreographer Laura Schandelmeier has given heady and muscular movement to the 14-member cast, overturning the idea that yeshiva study is solely a pursuit of the mind. "
Lisa Traiger, Washington Jewish Week

"...Choreographer Laura Schandelmeier gives welcome life to Sobule's music, matching Singer's sense of humor with moves that can leave you aching with laughter (yeshiva boy pole dancing? Who knew?)"
Andrew White, MD Theatre Guide

"...Climate change skeptics may not be persuaded by the rhetoric, but his way of thinking through the body about the issues involved is fascinating to watch. Clapp reminds us that reason can only take us so far and that with dance it is more important to think with the body."
Andrew White, Broadway World DC

"...the dancing of Schandelmeier and Clapp fit together so tightly that the seams of the performance were not only invisible, they were unimaginable. The two were like one rolling, lifting, mesmerizing organism, one half with long swishy blond hair and the other with long swishy black hair. It is a rare and phenomenal treat to see two dancers who are so beautifully in tune with each other, with their partnering carefully honed and developed through years of kinesthetic communication."
Ellen Chenoweth, Widening the I

"...demonstrated in performance what ensemble theater can deliver that traditional theater rarely does... intricate, precise work where individuals are so attuned to one another that a performance flows as naturally as water... breathtaking dance... Eloquent movement, exotic music and iridescent, transparent costuming combined to make [Haunted] strangely transporting."
David Cuthbert, The Times Picayune

"Laura Schandelmeier's themes range from the fantastically bizarre to the overtly political. Feminist manifestos and memory plays, ruminations cheerful and violent, elegant and odd... teamed with Stephen Clapp, a Washington-based dancer of preternatural grace and a strong sense of social responsibility... their work will blossom as "Rappaccini's Daughter," based on a Nathaniel Hawthorne short story, makes its debut..."
Lisa Traiger, The Washington Post

"Portals just may be the performance to gain you entry into appreciating modern dance. Laura Schandelmeier's and Stephen Clapp's dance is basically an ode to life...There's something in there that everyone can relate to, whether it's a first interaction - as when the life partners coyly communicate through whistles - or merely enjoying human grace, as the couple use each other's bodies to somersault and glide across the floor."
Kim Gooden, Washington City Paper

"Body action, reaction, urges, conflicting drives, facial expression and even choreography for the characters' tongues conveyed the story. This movement was highly functional as a vehicle for broad narrative and, atop this efficiency, it had sensual luster, dynamic variety and at times a dancey lilt... Achieving the perfect balance between depiction and suggestion in motion narrative is difficult but not impossible…Laura Schandelmeier and Stephen Clapp have made a start..."
George Jackson, Dance View Times

"DC dancers Laura Schandelmeier and Stephen Clapp have long been acclaimed for their grace, verve and strong sense of social responsibility. The pair's latest collaboration, "The Dragons Project: Power Play," calls forth the literary and popular associations of the mythical beasts."
The Washington Post Express

"Balancing on one foot, jammed into an outrageous high-heeled platform shoe, [Schandelmeier] seemed physically capable of almost anything."
Paula Durbin, The Washington Post

"Of note was Stephen Clapp's purposeful rumination on what he calls "global unrest" and "the forces that divide us." In his trio, "Endgame," he exhibited his trademark catlike jumps, velvety landings and rubbery rebounds, while Jessica Hirst and Laura Schandelmeier moved with squarely mechanized fervor. The three become collaborators, carrying the weight of war on their guilty outstretched palms."
Lisa Traiger, The Washington Post

"[Schandelmeier] showed herself to be an extraordinary mover: strong, fluent, quick, vehement."
Tobi Tobias, New York Magazine

"Mr. Clapp, a lithe mover with an exotically etched silhouette and long black warrior hair..."
George Jackson, Dance View Times

"Facinatingly bizarre... Her small but emphatically feminine gestures are both edgy and strangely elegant... no mean feat..."
J. Cooper Robb, Philadelphia Weekly

"Laura Schandelmeier's 'In the Place Where We Live' resembled those cards used in personality testing that depict situations but leave the interpretation up to the viewer."
Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times

"Laura Schandelmeier carries in her bones and sinews a dance legacy that stretches back to Mary Wigman."
Elizabeth Zimmer, The Village Voice





Please click the links below to download Reviews and Previews:

February 25, 2015 - Danceing In The District: American Dance Institute 2014
Fall Season Highlights by Luella Christopher [online]

October 22, 2014 - Facing the Change: Personal Encounters with Global Warming:
Windswept: New global-warming dance piece based in part on Tara Masih's story in FTC [online]

September 10, 2014 - Washington Jewish Week:
The new 'Yentl' displays a feminist spirit [online]

September 5, 2014 - MD Theatre Review:
'Yentl' at Theater J [online] or [pdf] (1.3 MB)

June 23, 2014 - BWW Reviews
[online] or [pdf] (200 KB)

April 24, 2011 - Dance is the Answer - Highlight:
Dance Box Theater, Inc. [online] or [pdf] (1 MB)

August 18, 2010 - Hairline Fringe:
"Haunted" (82 KB)


August 12, 2010 - Edinburgh Spotlight:
"Fringe Review - Haunted" (127 KB)


October 27, 2009 - Widening The I:
"Loving Explored" (180 KB)


June 30, 2009 - DC Theater Scene:
"Source Festival - Project 24/7 Review" (120 KB)


October 27, 2008 - Washington Post:
"Dancenow Productions - Haunted Review" (240 KB)


August 14, 2008 - Times Picayune:
"Ensemble Theater" (92 KB)


January 22, 2008 - Washington Times:
"Il Combattimento Review" (116 KB)


June 15, 2007 - Washington Blade:
"Portals Preview" (180 KB)


September 1, 2006 - Creative Communities Initiative Profile:
Laura Schandelmeier (832 KB)


May 4, 2006 - Washington Post Express:
"Dragons Preview" (848 KB)


February 27, 2006 - Ballet Talk:
"Dragons Excerpt Review" (28 KB)


March 28, 2005 - Washington Post:
"Endgame Review" (520 KB)


December 11, 2004 - Dance View Times:
"Rappaccini's Daughter Review" (64 KB)


December 10, 2004 - Washington Post:
"Rappaccini's Daughter Preview" (152 KB)


January 7, 2004 - Philadelphia Weekly:
"A-List" (128 KB)


December 15, 2003 - Dance View Times:
"Strangers On A Train" (76 KB)


November 6, 2001 - Style Weekly:
"What is Dance?" (68 KB)

April 9, 2001 - Washington Post:
"Boxed Set" (56 KB)










































Background Photo by R.C. Schandelmeier

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