ELEMENTAL
Photo by Rachel Aka
Face the Torrent was commissioned by The Music Center, and was created in part during the Vivienne Jones Residency at Jacob's Pillow as well as during a 2017 creative residency provided by DANCECleveland.
Sonya Tayeh discusses her commission for Malpaso Dance Company, Face the Torrent, with Joyce Theater Producer Ross LeClair.
CHOREOGRAPHY Robyn Mineko Williams
MUSIC Tim Rutili, Ernesto Lecuona, Pedro Vargas/Benny More, Arvö Part, Panda Bear, Chris Merrill, Robby Haynes, Robyn Mineko Williams
musical supervisor Robby Haynes
COSTUME DESIGN Branimira Ivanova
LIGHTING DESIGN Burke Brown
10 dancers — 26 minutes
Elemental is made possible through the generosity of Pamela Crutchfield (Lead Comissioner) with additional support from Patti Eylar & Charlie Gardner and Amalia & William Mahoney.
FIELDING SIXES
Photo by Nir Arieli
CHOREOGRAPHY Merce Cunningham
MUSIC John Cage
COSTUME DESIGN David Quinn
LIGHTING DESIGN Manuel Da Silva
STAGING Jamie Scott
8 dancers — 12 minutes
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Fielding Sixes was first performed by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on June 30, 1980 at Sadler’s Wells Theater in London, England. The original work was for thirteen dancers, with a duration of 28 minutes. The music was by John Cage and the design was by Monika Fullemann. The complete dance or sections of the dance were also frequently performed in MCDC Events. For these Event performances, the music and design varied from performance to performance. In the late 1990s, a new arrangement was made, specifically for MCDC Events, of the first eleven minutes of the dance. Malpaso Dance Company performs this arrangement, staged by Jamie Scott, with Cage’s original music and a new costume design by David Quinn, plus a new lighting design by Manuel Da Silva.
Fielding Sixes (1980) by Merce Cunningham © Merce Cunningham Trust. All rights reserved.
TABULA RASA
Photo by Raúl Reinoso
CHOREOGRAPHY Ohad Naharin
MUSIC Arvo Pärt
COSTUME DESIGN Eri Nakamura
LIGHTING DESIGN Ohad Naharin
10 dancers — 30 minutes
"[Tabula Rasa] seems tailor-made for the men and women of Malpaso."
— Robert Greskovic, The nEW YORK TIMES
"This multipart and extended piece lays abstract dance immediately atop
clear, intentional storytelling to form an engrossing and accessible
work – this program's most memorable and worthwhile."
— Dustin K. Britt, CHATHAM LIFE & STYLE
Tabula Rasa made its world premiere on the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre on February 6, 1986. It premiered on Malpaso Dance Company on May 4, 2018 in Havana-Cuba.
LIQUIDOTOPIE
Photo by Anja Beutler
CHOREOGRAPHY Cecilia Bengolea (in collaboration with the dancers)
MUSIC DJ Joyvan & Cecilia Bengolea
COSTUME DESIGN
LIGHTING DESIGN Manuel Da Silva
6 dancers — 20 minutes
"The movements I’m drawn to are those in which the body is driven by
a physical intelligence of its own. Through ritual and repetition, arms, legs
and torso seem to develop an independent memory. Relieved of the
cumbersome call and response mechanism that separates action from
thought, the body begins to describe a life of its own – perhaps something like the kinetic sentience, which us vertebrates were separated from so many million years ago. And so the dance form that fascinates me the most, may also carry within it the message that just because evolution built minds twice, that doesn’t mean that we should give up on trying to close the gap.”
– Cecilia Bengolea
LIQUIDOTOPIE was commissioned by the International Summer Festival Kampnagel in co-production with Malpaso Dance Company.
CARRYING FLOOR
Photo by Nir Arieli
CHOREOGRAPHY Abel Rojo
MUSIC Erik Satie
COSTUME DESIGN Guido Gali and Abel Rojo
LIGHTING DESIGN Gido Gali
1 dancer — 10 minutes
Carrying Floor is a metaphor about the human condition, exploring the relation of a dancer to an element consubstantial to his profession and craft, the stage itself.
BEING (SER)
Photo by Nir Arieli
CHOREOGRAPHY Beatriz García
MUSIC Ezio Bosso
COSTUME DESIGN Beatriz García
LIGHTING DESIGN Manuel Da Silva
3 dancers — 12 minutes
Malpaso Company member Beatriz Garcia embarks on her first choreographic project with Being (Ser). The North American premiere of the work will take place at The Joyce Theater on Jan. 9, 2019.
Being (Sur) was co-commissioned by ASU Gammage.
FACE THE TORRENT
Photo by Rose Eichenbaum
CHOREOGRAPHY Sonya Tayeh
MUSIC Colette Alexander and the Bengsons
COSTUME DESIGN Karen Young
LIGHTING DESIGN Nicole Pearce
8 dancers — 20 minutes
"...[Face the Torrent] took Malpaso to a much darker place, an unspecified inky, secret world of tension, whispers, quivering, fear and lineups...[it] had genuine raw emotion."
— Laura Bleiberg, LA TIMES
Face the Torrent was commissioned by The Music Center, and was created in part during the Vivienne Jones Residency at Jacob's Pillow as well as during a 2017 creative residency provided by DANCECleveland.
Sonya Tayeh discusses her commission for Malpaso Dance Company, Face the Torrent, with Joyce Theater Producer Ross LeClair.
DREAMING OF LIONS
Photo by T.M. Rives
CHOREOGRAPHY Osnel Delgado
MUSIC Composed by Arturo O'Farrill, performed by the
Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble
COSTUME DESIGN Reid & Harriet Design
LIGHTING DESIGN Al Crawford
11 dancers — 60 minutes / Live music possible
Dreaming of Lions is a new dance work by Osnel Delgado, the resident choreographer and Artistic Director of one of the newest and most sought-after Cuban contemporary groups, Malpaso Dance Company. Taking inspiration from Ernest Hemingway’s beloved novella The Old Man and the Sea, Delgado offers an abstract rendering of the classic tale of an old man’s quest to catch an elusive fish. Featuring a unique movement vocabulary performed by exceptionally trained dancers versed in both ballet and Cuban techniques, the work wrestles with themes of honor, determination and loss, in one fisherman’s crusade for victory in the unrelenting sea.
An evening-length work for 11 dancers, Dreaming of Lions engages a creative team of frequent collaborators including Grammy award-winner Arturo O’Farrill and his Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, who, when possible, play live; lighting design by the resident lighting designer of Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Al Crawford; and costumes by Reid & Harriet, who have worked with American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet and many more. Fernando Saez, the company’s Executive Director and co-founder, provides dramaturgy.
This project was made possible by Joyce Theater Productions, a producing partnership of The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. (New York) and Sunny Artist Management, Inc. (Toronto). It was formed to create and tour works by some of today’s most exciting dancers and choreographers. The piece made its world premiere in Havana, Cuba in September 2016, and will make its US premiere at Duke Performances in Durham, NC on February 24 and 25 2017, followed by an engagement in NYC at Brooklyn Academy of Music from March 1-5 2017.
Dreaming of Lions was co-commissioned by the Luminato Festival, Joan and Jerry Lozinski from Toronto (Canada), and The Yard.
A technical residency was generously provided by Duke Performances for the US premiere of Dreaming of Lions by Osnel Delgado.
Additional support provided by the following generous funders: Con Edison, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Jerome L. Greene Foundation in honor of Karen Brooks Hopkins, Todd Gordon and Susan Feder, Lisa and Richard Witten, and Diana and Dick Beattie. The work is dedicated to Ronald Feiner.
INDOMITABLE WALTZ
Photo by Judy Ondrey
CHOREOGRAPHY Aszure Barton
MUSIC by Alexandre Balanescu, Michael Nyman and Nils Frahm
COSTUME DESIGN Fritz Masten
LIGHTING DESIGN Nicole Pearce
8 dancers — 26 minutes
"...totally engrossing...an abundance of distinctive
movement that is both simple and stunning at the same time."
— Tara Mitton Catao, palm beach arts paper
—
Indomitable Waltz was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from; the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Executive Director’s Fund at The Joyce Theater Foundation, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
It was co-commissioned by DANCECleveland and the Cleveland Foundation.
A technical residency was generously provided by Duncan Theater at Palm Beach State College for the US premiere of Indomitable Waltz by Aszure Barton.
24 HOURS AND A DOG
Photo by Judy Ondrey
CHOREOGRAPHY Osnel Delgado, in collaboration with the dancers
MUSIC —featuring an original overture— composed by Arturo O'Farrill, recorded by the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble
LIGHTING DESIGN Al Crawford
COSTUME DESIGN Eric Grass
10 dancers — 45 minutes / Live music possible / Shortened "suite"
version of 24 Hours and a dog can also be made available
"Inspired by the daily life of dancers in Havana,
the work is a non-stop barrage of fluid movement,
supported by admirable technique and an easy musicality."
— Kathleen Smith, now toronto
WHY YOU FOLLOW
Photo by Bill Hebert
CHOREOGRAPHY Ron K. Brown
ASSISTANT CHOREOGRAPHER Arcell Cabuag
MUSIC by Zap Mama, Gordheaven & Juliano,
The Allenko Brotherhood, The Heavy Quarterz
LIGHTING DESIGN Clifton Taylor
COSTUME DESIGN Keiko Voltaire
9 dancers — 23 minutes
Yoruba Road
Why You Follow
That path is yours
The reason
For your life
LOVE FREEDOM PEACE
Rolling down Yoruba Road
Like water down a hill
People moving forward
Making a way for
The rest
Why you follow
Because you must…
To be able to lead
Learning on Yoruba Road
En route to the Mother Father
And the child
The children are waiting
On Yoruba Road
© Ronald K Brown
Why You Follow has been commissioned by The Joyce Theater Foundation.
UNDER FIRE
Photo by Robert Torres
CHOREOGRAPHY Trey McIntyre
MUSIC by Grandma Kelsey
LIGHTING DESIGN Al Crawford
COSTUME DESIGN Reid Bartelme
8 dancers — 22 minutes
“Trey McIntyre’s Under Fire, created for the company,
is one of those rare transcendent works in which music,
movement and mood come together with absolute rightness”
— Tresca Weinstein, Times Union
—
"I wanted to burn all of my paper: all of the printed documents that had followed me for my life and had become a weight and a burden. I put them into a bonfire and watched them blacken and spark against the night sky. When the fire went out, I moved some of the charred paper with a stick and found that what was underneath was pristine. In some ways the fire had compacted it, sealed it, made it more of what it is. This struck me as an elegant metaphor for human life. The more we try to burn away and change our exterior, the more our essential born selves become evident and manifest."
— Trey McIntyre
Under Fire was co-commissioned by The Joyce Theater Foundation and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.
BAD WINTER
Photo by Judy Ondrey
CHOREOGRAPHY Trey McIntyre
MUSIC by The Cinematic Orchestra & Arthur Tracy
LIGHTING DESIGN Travis C. Richardson
COSTUME DESIGN Andrea Lauer
3 dancers — 12 minutes
OCASO
Photo by Robert Torres.
CHOREOGRAPHY Osnel Delgado
MUSIC by Autechre, Kronos Quartet and Max Richter
LIGHTING DESIGN Matt Miller
COSTUME DESIGN Osnel Delgado
2 dancers — 13 minutes
“A never-ending cycle of union, separation, union,
separation as the sun sets... flawlessly executed”
— Dustin K. Britt, CHATHAM LIFE & STYLE
DESPEDIDA
Photo by Cherylynn Tsushima.
CHOREOGRAPHY Osnel Delgado, in collaboration with the dancers
MUSIC Composed by Arturo O'Farrill, featuring the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble
LIGHTING DESIGN Al Crawford
COSTUME DESIGN Reid & Harriet Design
10 dancers — 30 minutes / Live music possible
“Despedida is at once elegant and bold, inventive and joyful…"
— Tresca Weinstein, Times Union
—
Despedida draws inspiration from the eponymous poem by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. The piece deals with themes of solitude and leave-taking. A moment of farewell becomes a metaphor for defenselessness as a condition of human nature; the piece develops a poetic approach to a cultural reality in which the sea, featured as a collective character, plays a defining role. The journey of the work travels through five movements:
Mare Nostrum, The Intruder, The Sound of a Memory, Absence, and Farewell to the Broken Gods.
—
Farewell
Between my love and me three hundred nights like three hundred walls will have to be raised and the sea shall be like magic between us. Nothing will remain except memories. O afternoons brought in with suffering, the nights aspiring to see you, the fields on my way, the firmament that I am seeing and losing... Certain as marble your absence shall sadden other.
Despedida
Entre mi amor y yo han de levantarse trescientas noches como trescientas paredes y el mar será una magia entre nosotros. No habrá sino recuerdos. Oh tardes merecidas por la pena, noches esperanzadas de mirarte, campos de mi camino, firmamento que estoy viendo y perdiendo... Definitiva como un mármol entristecerá tu ausencia otras tardes
— Jorge Luis Borges