Western Women finds its historical setting during ODC's month long tour of Nebraska. They dance through living rooms and cornfields to the stage at Leid Center where local Nebraska childre join ODC on stage. Audience interaction becomes a cornerstone of ODC performances.
KT Nelson retires from the stage!
(Photo by RJ Muna)
ODC celebrates its 25th Anniversary and RJ Muna comes on board as the Company Photographer.
The New Performance Gallery becomes ODC Theater.
KT receives an Isadora Duncan for outstanding choreography for Scout.
Brenda Way receives a three year Gerbode Fellowship for outstanding artistic contribution.
Kimi returns to ODC as School Director as the Youth Program is born.
1997
Brenda Way and Kimi Okada choreograph OutaWak, an adaptation of The Phantom Tollbooth, with a score by Paul Dresher. OutaWak is performed in San Francisco an tours the Joyce Theater. The New York Times hails OutaWak as "a spectacular, multimedia computer fable."
The Velveteen Rabbit three-week season sells out.
1998
ODC tours nine cities in Switzerland, performs in venues from Grand Opera Halls to factory loading docks with huge palettes of cookies as makeshift stage wings.
The ODC School Audition Series is launched, giving dancers and choreographers an opportunity to find each other on a regular basis.
Brenda Way choreographs Garden Tour: a history of the world in draft with a commissioned score by Jay Cloidt and visuals by Alex Nichols.
1999
ODC premieres Brenda's Investigating Grace in Leverkusen, Germany to over 1,500 cheering audience members. Back home, Investigating Grace, wins an Isadora Duncan Award for outstanding choreography, set to Bach's Goldberg Variations with lighting by Alex Nichols and costumes by Sandra Woodall.
Walk Before Talk by KT Nelson