Elisa Monte Dance Announces Season Lineup

Elisa Monte Dance returns to The Ailey Citigroup Theatre this April for the company's 32nd season. The season features three premieres: Artistic director Elisa Monte's world premiere of Terra Firma; Associate Artistic Director Tiffany Rea-Fisher's company premiere of Identity; and dancer Joe Celej's company premiere of Portals & Passageways. Performances are April 11-13, 2013. Performances on Thursday, April 11 and Saturday, April 13 are at 8:00 p.m., with an additional Saturday matinee at 3:00 p.m.; the gala performance on Friday, April 12 is at 7:00 p.m.

For the past three years chorographer Elisa Monte has embarked on works investigating the evolution and changes around us; from 2011's premiere of Vanishing Language, which dealt with the disappearance of language, last years Unstable Ground, which encompassed the unexpected shifts in our environment. The 2013 premiere of Terra Firma continues this examination of uncertainty with a dance requiem to the many colleagues, close associates and friends of Monte who have passed on but still exist in Monte's accumulated memories. Collaboration with contemporary composer Rubin Kodheli to create an original score inspired by the music of Meredith Monk, provides the perfect anthem to this thought-provoking work.

"In today's world we're forced to do a lot of rethinking - I'm constantly thinking of how these universal changes affect my dancers and artistic vision. Art gives spirit and light to others when hopeless and I feel a responsibility to feed peoples spirits and empower them," says Elisa Monte, Artistic Director of Elisa Monte Dance. "America created contemporary dance and I developed my company through the mentorship of these generous founders. It has been extremely rewarding to continue that legacy by providing a platform for my dancers to create and present their works throughout the world as part of Elisa Monte Dance."

Tiffany Rea-Fisher's Identity is her fifth premiere with the company and her second collaboration with composerKevin Keller. Rea-Fisher, who began the piece in August of last year, explores the variety of hats a person puts on throughout the course of a lifetime and the way in which one's personality adapts to each identity. She is interested in defining where each identity begins and ends, as well as the separate and unchanging real self.

Portals & Passageways, senior company member Joe Celej's fifth work for the company, is an exploration of the minds ability to distort and fade memories and is inspired by the process of personal reflection. Celej utilizes ethereal and haunting images as the main figure travels through the corner of her own mind. The piece marks Celej's third collaboration with lighting designer Andrew Hunt.

This season will also feature Run to the Rock (1998), Monte's 10-minute athletic solo and tribute to mentor Alvin Ailey, 2012 World Premiere Unstable Ground and an excerpt from perennial audience favorite Volkmann Suite (1996).