December 11 , 2007
Washington, DC—Performing its first New York City concert, CityDance
Ensemble—a contemporary repertory dance company
based in Washington, DC—takes the stage at Joyce
SoHo this February as part of the theatre’s
new INBOUND Festival. With this series, Joyce SoHo selects
and presents out-of-town companies to perform in the intimate
74-seat venue in the SoHo district of New York.
The concerts take place Friday, February 1; Saturday, February
2 and Sunday, February 3, 2008 at 8pm at Joyce
SoHo, 155 Mercer Street (between Houston/Prince),
New York City, New York. Tickets are $20 (or $15 for students/seniors)
and are available online at www.joyce.org, by
phone at 212.352.3101, or in person at Joyce
SoHo one half hour before each performance. Seating
is general admission.
CityDance Ensemble’s concert will feature an eclectic
mix of contemporary repertory by some of the leading choreographers
of today’s dance scene, a modern dance pioneer of the
1930s, and a group of up-and-coming choreographers who promise
to lead dance into the future.
“One of the unique things about CityDance Ensemble as
a repertory company is that we’re able to present dances
of multiple styles, genres, and time periods,” notes
CityDance Artistic Director Paul Gordon Emerson. “We
place great importance in reviving historic works, and at the
same time, we’re always looking for the newest and most
innovative next project. We’re honored to have the opportunity
to share this repertory with a New York audience.”
Highlights of the concert include Doug Varone’s Eclipse,
an ideal piece to present in the intimate Joyce SoHo with its
repetition of pushes and pulls set to the recurring sound of
sirens collected into a haunting composition
by Michael Gordon.
Infused with stirring choreography and arresting visual and
auditory effects, Eclipse demands attention as it
debates interdependency, vulnerability, and relationships. Roger
C. Jeffrey’s Be Still…Listen, a
consistent audience favorite, is an unreserved women’s
quartet with stark angles, intriguing reactions, and labored
emotions.
CityDance honors its commitment to reviving great works of
modern dance by presenting Jane Dudley’s Harmonica
Breakdown, created in 1938 as a tribute to the challenges
and accomplishments of the common man during the Depression.
Reconstructed on CityDance by Sheron Wray, Harmonica
Breakdown demonstrates the simple, clean, and exceptionally
clear aesthetic that made modern dance both significant and
sustainable.
The company presents another reconstruction with the late Eric Hampton’s Half a Life, a 1996 trio that portrays an
artist’s reflection of his life, love, and frustration set to the music of Gustav Mahler and poems of Friedrich Ruckert.
Juilliard graduates Kyra Jean Green, Idan Sharabi, and Harumi
Terayama make choreographic appearances on the program
as well. Bubbles, by Green and Sharabi, is a quirky
dissection of music and movement, with two dancers sharply
examining the body in both motion and stillness. Terayama’s Contained
Infinity is an inquisitive ensemble work that positions
subtle gestures against profound intention, quiet stillness
against chaotic activity. This multimedia piece manipulates
shadows on an oversized screen to capture the essence of
one dancer trapped within the illusion of many.
Also on the program is Washington Ballet member Jason Hartley’s Nocturne Monologue, an impassioned and athletic solo
flavored with mystery, intrigue, and intense physicality. Completing the program is CityDance Rehearsal Director
Christopher K. Morgan’s Rice, a humorously poignant piece combining spoken word, choreography, and an evocative
manipulation of rice.
About CityDance Ensemble, Inc.
CityDance Ensemble, Inc. is the Washington, DC-based parent
organization to CityDance Ensemble, an award-winning
contemporary repertory dance company; Early Arts, an
arts outreach program for youth serving more than 25,000
students each year; CityDance Centers, two
facilities committed to excellence in studio dance education
for youth and adults; and FilmWORKS, a creator
and presenter of dance-on-camera. The mission of CityDance
Ensemble, Inc. is to advance the appreciation for and participation
in the art of dance through excellence in performance, education,
film, and artistic innovation.
The creation of Joyce SoHo was made possible by the magnanimous
support of the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust. Altria
Group, Inc. is the 2007-2008 Season Sponsor of The Joyce
Theater. Joyce SoHo is supported by private funds from
Carnegie Corporation of New York, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation,
First Republic Bank, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, JPMorgan
Chase Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Rockefeller
Brothers Fund, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation,
The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and
The Starr Foundation. Additional support has been provided
by the Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Fund established in The
New York Community Trust by the founders of the Reader’s
Digest Association, The Greenwall Foundation, Goldman, Sachs & Co.,
and Foundation for Contemporary Arts; and by public funds
from the New York City Council, the New York City Department
of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts,
a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts,
which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
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