FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 8, 2008
Washington, DC—Unveiling the pulse, rhythm, and patterns that drive our interactions and exchanges, CityDance Ensemble presents Entangled on January 16 & 17 at the Lansburgh Theatre. Featuring the company premiere of Larry Keigwin’s Mattress Suite, the world premieres of Scorched by Kate Weare and Entangled by Paul Gordon Emerson, and other impassioned dances by Ludovic Jolivet and Christopher K. Morgan, this concert will incite and amuse with images of life, relationships, and love.
The concerts take place Friday, January 16 at 8pm and Saturday, January 17 at 8pm at the Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC. Tickets are priced at $20, $38 and $55. Tickets are available in person at the Lansburgh Theatre Ticket Office (450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC), online at www.HarmanCenter.org, or by phone at 202.547.1122.
Using dance to illustrate the pushes and pulls that keep us all connected, Entangled features works both serious and light-hearted in their perspective on relationships.
“Dance has always been a powerful storyteller,” comments CityDance Artistic Director Paul Gordon Emerson. “Love, friendship, and relationships are among the most universal of all stories, and we’re excited to bring them to life through dance. Entangled will be a fun, intimate, and engaging evening for dance regulars and newcomers alike.”
Larry Keigwin, an acclaimed New York City-based choreographer known for mixing physicality with theatricality, brings his witty and amorous Mattress Suite to Washington, DC for this concert. A compilation of small dances, Mattress Suite transforms a simple mattress into a bed, trampoline, platform, and wall, mixing a dose of humor with more than a few surprises. Mr. Keigwin is Artistic Director of New York based Keigwin + Company whose recent choreography commissions include The New York City Ballet's Choreographic Institute and The Martha Graham Dance Company, among many others.
Making its world premiere, Kate Weare’s Scorched is an ardent and unusual dance in three sections about the human instincts—both reckless and wise—that drive us toward love. Questioning our logic about coupling, the dancers accept new partners even while caught in familiar patterns. With a tone both tender and rueful, the dancing touches on the many pleasures and outrages that fuel our attempts to merge with one another. Ms. Weare, a 1994 graduate of Cal Arts with a BFA in Dance and director of her own company in New York City, is the 2008-2009 CityDance Ensemble Artist-In-Residence. Scorched is the second work she has set on the company this season.
Also making its world premiere is Paul Gordon Emerson’s Entangled, a duet in which one dancer is cradled and yet bound by her partner. Illustrating that the state of entanglement can be both magical and suffocating, Mr. Emerson’s choreography depicts a dancer who rises but cannot stand, falls but does not land. Caught by her partner at every moment, it is not clear she is even human, wrapped in white as though in a blizzard. Set to the score for solo piano "From the Year 1981" by Estonian composer Lepo Sumera, the piece will be accompanied live by local pianist Glenn Sales.
Roger & Lucie, choreographed by Ludovic Jolivet, is a farcical solo that quietly morphs into a duet with the most surprising of partners. A long-time CityDance Ensemble choreographer and collaborator who is particularly known for his work for dance-on-camera, Mr. Jolivet provides a humorous look into one simple man’s heart.
Also featured in the concert is CityDance Rehearsal Director and Choreographer-In-Residence Christopher K. Morgan’s Ties that Bind. This ensemble work is inspired by a series of visual images that explore restriction and was originally commissioned by a Lithuanian dance company in 2002 that had lived through Lithuania’s reign of Communism. 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.
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 thousands of 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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