News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Logan McSwain, communications manager
704.372.0101 x107
lmcswain@ncdance.org
Photographs: Available at http://www.ncdance.org/ImageLibrary.asp. Please credit photographer.
Additional photographs available upon request.
There are many interesting interview opportunities available at NC Dance Theatre in association with Innovative Works. If interested, please contact Logan McSwain.
North Carolina Dance Theatre presents
Innovative Works
November 1-3 and 8-10
Charlotte, N.C. (October 17, 2007) – Innovative Works, a familiar staple in North Carolina Dance Theatre’s (ncdance.org) season, features cutting-edge choreography, diverse music and the intimate perspective afforded by the Booth Playhouse at North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. For the past nine years, Innovative Works has excited audiences with contemporary ballet works and provocative modern pieces. During this season’s Innovative Works, November 1-3 and 8-10, the works of five choreographers will be showcased.
“Innovative Works frequently sells out and remains a fan favorite. I think it’s because we showcase so many different styles of dance and music in one night. Also, the choreography gives the audience the chance to see the creativity of young, new talents, along with choreographers whose works we’ve featured many times,” said Dance Theatre Artistic Director Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux.
Company member Sasha Janes, now in his fifth season with Dance Theatre, has taken on additional roles as rehearsal director and choreographer for Innovative Works. He will present Lascia La Spina Cogli La Rose (“leave the spine, pluck the rose” in Italian), his first professional choreographic work, during Innovative Works. Janes describes how the nature of a rose embodies this concept of impermanence. “Its petals that are beautiful today will eventually die and fall away,” said Janes.
Janes’ Lascia La Spina Cogli La Rose is set to the music by George Frideric Handel, with arias performed by Cecilia Bartoli. When asked about presenting his work in the Booth Playhouse Janes said, “I love the Booth venue. It is intimate and atmospheric. In that setting, the audience is part of the ballet—they can even hear the dancers breathing.”
Innovative Works Choreographer Mark Diamond’s world premiere, Endless Now, features one female and two male dancers. When asked what the audience could expect from this world premiere Diamond said, “I am choreographing a ballet about emotion and the fatalistic theme of unending ‘time.’ You will see some relationship themes and a lot of narrative movement. This is about communicating and having something to say.”
Diamond, who leads NC Dance Theatre’s second company, was a principal dancer with the Milwaukee Ballet Company, danced with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and the Tamburitzans, Slavic Folk ensemble. In the summer, he serves as associate artistic director and resident choreographer for Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux at the Chautauqua Institute.
Resident Choreographer Dwight Rhoden presents two Charlotte premieres as part of Innovative Works. Christina Johnson Vojvodich, a founding member of Rhoden’s COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet, is restaging the Ave Maria pas de deux. Rhoden is also presenting the Charlotte premiere of Choke, a duet performed by two male dancers, set to the music of Sergey Gordeev.
Hailed by The New York Times as "One of the most sought out choreographers of the day," Rhoden has performed with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz De Montreal and was a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Rhoden is the co-director and founder of COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet based in New York City and became resident choreographer of NC Dance Theatre in 2006.
Back by popular demand, Nacho Duato’s Na Floresta (“in the forest” in Portuguese) is featured in Innovative Works. Last performed as part of the Natural Beauty series in March 2007, Na Floresta praises the beauty of the Amazonian rain forest. Na Floresta is a plotless work to Villa-Lobos music, and the piece intends to communicate an intimacy and a feeling for nature.
Rounding out the Innovative Works line up is choreographer Uri Sands. Sands last work for Dance Theatre was All in Your Trunk, featured in the May 2007 performance of Rhythm & Moves. Sands will present a world premiere as part of Innovative Works.
A former principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and NC Dance Theatre, Sands has received national recognition for his choreography. He was awarded a 2004 McKnight Artist Fellowship and a 2005 Princess Grace Award in choreography. Sands is artistic director of the new Twin-Cities based dance company, TU Dance, along with Toni Pierce-Sands.
New at Innovative Works: The audience is encouraged to arrive in time to be part of a brief pre-performance curtain talk with a member of Dance Theatre’s artistic staff. The audience can expect a behind-the-scenes view of the choreographic process and a short overview of each piece featured in Innovative Works. The talk will begin about ten minutes before show time.
Innovative Works - Performance Information
Dates:
Thursday, November 1, 2007, at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, November 2, 2007, at 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 3, 2007, at 8 p.m.
Thursday, November 8, 2007, at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, November 9, 2007, at 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 10, 2007, at 8 p.m.
Location: Booth Playhouse, 130 N. Tryon Street, Charlotte, N.C.
Tickets: Students $10; General $30-$69
Ticket Information
Tickets and subscriptions can be purchased in three ways. Dance Theatre also offers a variety of mini-subscription packages, several of which include Innovative Works. The mini-subscription packages allow patrons to buy tickets to several performances and save money on the cost of single tickets.
Online: ncdance.org
By phone: 704.335.1010 (subscriptions)
704.372.1000 (single tickets)
In person: Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
Box Office, Founders Hall
Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
###
Details:
North Carolina Dance Theatre has established itself as one of America’s premier dance companies. Led by internationally acclaimed President and Artistic Director Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, NC Dance Theatre is based on strong dancers, high energy and a versatile repertoire that ranges from classical ballet to bold contemporary works. NC Dance Theatre School of Dance parallels the professional company’s tradition of excellence.
North Carolina Dance Theatre is supported by individuals, the Arts & Science Council-Charlotte/Mecklenburg, Inc., corporations, local and national foundations, the North Carolina Arts Council, ArtsTeach and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Innovative Works is presented by Accenture, with additional support by Microsoft and Carolinas Rehabilitation.
World premiere works by Uri Sands and Mark Diamond commissioned by M. Marie Mitchell. |
