FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2, 2008
Washington, DC—Charging boldly into the 2008-2009 season, CityDance Ensemble takes a look at what’s next in dance with a collection of works by today’s up-and-coming choreographers in its season opening concert Next. Presented Saturday, October 18 at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, the concert features two DC-area premieres by young artists Kate Weare and Austin McCormick, works by emerging choreographers Christopher K. Morgan and Jason Hartley, and more.
The concert takes place Saturday, October 18 at 7:30pm in the Terrace Theater at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street NW, Washington, DC. Tickets are priced at $55, $38, and $20 and are available in person at The Kennedy Center Box Office, by phone at 202.467.4600, or online at www.kennedy-center.org.
“The 2008-2009 season is unique for us. We're dancing at three of the most celebrated venues in the region—Harman Center for the Arts, Music Center at Strathmore, and The Kennedy Center,” notes CityDance Artistic Director Paul Gordon Emerson. “The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater holds great memories for CityDance. We've premiered many of our most popular works there. That's why we decided to bring the inaugural performance of an annual series, Next, to this theater. It's a series that celebrates a new generation of great choreographers.”
By pairing works from four up-and-coming choreographers with Sophie Maslow’s 1942 Folksay, audiences are given the opportunity to view both the past and future of contemporary dance.
“This will be a concert about counterpoint,” comments Mr. Emerson. “In an evening of work by young artists looking at what's next in dance, we're also performing Folksay, an American masterpiece from 1942. There was a time when this piece was what’s "next" in dance. Now it’s a classic. A huge joy in this program is looking at what works might become the next classics.”
Making its Washington, DC premiere, Kate Weare’s Drop Down is a passionate duet that negotiates proximity and erotic power. Adapting movement from the vocabulary of tango, the piece is robust with quickly changing rhythms, knife-like leg actions, and a revolving central axis. Young choreographer Ms. Weare has already captured the attention of many in the dance field, having premiered works in 2008 at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, earned the top prize for Drop Down in New York’s 2007 The A.W.A.R.D. Show, and completed a 2007 residency at Joyce SoHo. Ms. Weare is a 1994 graduate of Cal Arts with a BFA in Dance and runs her own company in New York City.
Also making its DC premiere is Austin McCormick’s War, a quartet for three women and one man that explore themes of betrayal, attraction, manipulation, and loss. War is an excerpt from a larger piece titled The Judgment of Paris, which draws from elements of both Baroque Opera and contemporary dance and is based on the Greek myth by the same name. Mr. McCormick, a 2006 graduate of the Juilliard School, is a celebrated young choreographer who also serves as the artistic director for Company XIV, his Brooklyn-based dance company.
CityDance Rehearsal Director and Choreographer-in-Residence Christopher K. Morgan returns with Ties that Bind, an ensemble work inspired by a series of visual images that explore restriction. Originally commissioned by a Lithuanian dance company, Ties that Bind uses physical, psychological, and emotional metaphors to focus on the constraints put on a person’s individuality, self-expression, or sense of freedom. A skilled choreographer, teacher, and facilitator, Mr. Morgan has had works presented all over the world and also directs the Omi International Dance Collective.
Jason Hartley, a former member of the Washington Ballet and recipient of the Princess Grace Award in 1997, adds to the list of up-and-coming choreographers in this concert with Nocturne Monologue. A mystical male solo exemplifying strength and self-expression, Nocturne Monologue contains a unique blend of technique, acrobatics, and artistry.
Also featured in the concert is Paul Gordon Emerson’s Han, an ensemble work inspired by the company's 2006 tour to Sarajevo. The title is a Korean word that connotes a state of sadness so deep that there are no tears, yet there is still hope.
Completing the program is an encore performance of Sophie Maslow's 1942 work Folksay, which CityDance premiered at its 2007-2008 season finale concert. The recipient of one of only 10 American Masterpieces grants awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts and New England Foundation for the Arts in 2007, Folksay features nine dancers and two guitarists who play traditional folk songs and recite from Carl Sandburg's poem “The People, Yes.”
About CityDance Ensemble, Inc.
CityDance Ensemble, Inc. is the parent organization to CityDance Ensemble, an award-winning contemporary repertory dance company; Early Arts, an arts outreach program for youth reaching more than 15,000 students each year; CityDance Education Centers, facilities committed to excellence in dance training for youth and adults; and FilmWORKS, a creator and presenter of dance-on-camera. The mission of CityDance is to advance the appreciation for and participation in the art of dance through excellence in performance, education, film, and artistic innovation.
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