Avi Scher & Dancers Presents Second New York Season

Avi Scher & Dancers presents its second New York Season, including the World Premieres of Mirrors and DreamScapes, from April 23-25, 2011 at The Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 W. 55th Street, NYC (at Ninth Avenue). Performances: Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm, Monday at 8pm. Tickets are $29 ($16 for students) and are available at www.smarttix.com or by phone at 212-868-4444.

Avi Scher & Dancers provides audiences with the opportunity to see new works by choreographer Avichai Scher performed by guest artists from the country's top dance companies in small, intimate venues with affordable ticket prices. The World Premiere of Mirrors features Carla Korbes and Seth Orza of Pacific Northwest Ballet, Nicole Graniero and Craig Salstein of American Ballet Theatre, Laura Feig, Joel Prouty, and Deborah Wingert. Mirrorsis about self-perceptions and what we learn about ourselves from looking in the mirror, sometimes too closely. Costumes by Janie Taylor of New York City Ballet; music by Elena Kats Chernin, performed live by ABT associate conductor David LaMarche on piano accompanied by a cellist. The World Premiere of DreamScapes is about distinguishing dreams from real life and using those dreams to guide reality. Music by Matt McBane and Timothy Andres, featuring San Francisco Ballet Principal Sofiane Sylve, New York City Ballet Principal Tyler Angle, NYCB Soloists Savannah Lowery and Ana Sophia Scheller, as well as Pennsylvania Ballet's Frances Veyette and Lauren Fadeley. Utopia (2010) depicts people dancing at world's end, as realizations slowly creep into their insulated lives, danced by Boston Ballet's Misa Kuranaga and Joseph Gatti, accompanied by pianist Benjamin Bradham. The comic piece Classroom Fantasy (2009) features five students from Manhattan Youth Ballet who portray young dancers visualizing their future careers as ballerinas with Deborah Wingert as the teacher guiding them as they embark on the first steps on their journeys, accompanied by ten professional dancers: Alexandra Blacker, Kelsey Coventry, Madeline Davenport, Chaz Meszaros, Victoria North, Joel Prouty, Nancy Richer, Monica Stephenson, Lauren Stewart, and Elizabeth Claire Walker, with music by John Field played live by pianist David LaMarche.

Avi Scher & Dancers was formed in August of 2008 by emerging choreographer Avichai Scher. The company's mission is to build new audiences for neoclassical and contemporary ballet by presenting top quality dancers and new works in small, affordable venues. The company has danced an NYC season at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out and several festivals in NYC.

Avichai Scher, 26, was born in NYC and raised in Israel. He returned to New York to study on scholarship at the School of American Ballet for eight years. There he had the opportunity to perform Fritz and the Nutcracker Prince with New York City Ballet in The Nutcracker for four seasons. A desire to work with many different companies and choreographers took him on a journey, dancing with eleven different companies in six years: Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Washington Ballet, Ballet San Jose, Joffrey Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, European Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Carolina Ballet and Ballet X. Some standout roles have included: Puck in Ashton's The Dream, working with Sir Anthony Dowell, "Red-Man" in Elemental Brubeck, choreographed and staged by Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris's A Garden, Michael Smuin's Shinju, Matthew Neenan's Steelworks, and Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs. Scher always had the desire to be a choreographer and his first professional commissions came at age 18, creating Jouons for American Ballet Theater Studio Company and The Perilous Night for Miami City Ballet. Since then he has had works at: Ballet West II, Miami City Ballet School and San Francisco Ballet School's annual showcases, Usdan Center for the Arts, Washington Ballet Studio Company, Harvard University, Festival Ballet Providence, Manhattan Youth Ballet, West Wave Dance Festival, Ballet Builders, Sacramento Ballet, and Shut Up & Dance: Dancers of Pennsylvania Ballet. Dance Magazine recognized his choreography by naming him one of the "Top 25 To Watch," and he is the recipient of the Strassler excellence Award from Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Upcoming works in 2011 include, Ballet West, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and the Guggenheim Works & Process series.

This project is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Avi Scher & Dancers has received a matching grant this year from Michael M. Kaiser, President of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. All donations from first time donors will be matched up to $10,000.

For more information, visit www.avischer.com.