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ELEMENTAL

Photo by Rachel Aka

Elemental

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

Fielding Sixes

CHOREOGRAPHY Merce Cunningham

MUSIC John Cage

COSTUME DESIGN David Quinn

LIGHTING DESIGN Manuel Da Silva

STAGING Jamie Scott

 

8 dancers — 12 minutes

MerceCunninghamTrust_CentennialLogo (1).

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

Tabula Rasa

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

Liquidotopie

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

Carrying Floor

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

Being (Ser)

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

FTT

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

DOL

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

Waltz

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

24 H

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

why

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

UF

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

BW

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.

OCASO

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.

DESPEDIDA

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

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