New York City Center to Feature FALL FOR DANCE FESTIVAL, 10/27-11/2

By: Aug. 24, 2011
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

New York City Center will reopen following the historic restoration and modernization of its landmarked building with its eighth annual Fall for Dance Festival, running October 27 - November 6, 2011. In keeping with its commitment to make dance accessible to everyone, all tickets will be $10, as they have been each year since the Festival's beginning. The two-week Festival will showcase 20 national and international companies and choreographers and will include company debuts and premieres in five programs (each program will be repeated once). Tickets will go on sale Sunday, October 2 at 11 a.m. 

The Fall for Dance Festival is a celebration of the diversity and vitality of dance, in New York City, throughout the United States and around the globe. Steven McRae, Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet, London, and Pontus Lidberg Dance, based in Sweden and New York, will make their U.S. debuts; other international companies and artists include: The Australian Ballet from Australia, CCN de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne / Compagnie Käfig from France, Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba from Cuba, Richard Alston Dance Company from the U.K., Royal Ballet of Flanders from Belgium, TAO Dance Theater from China, and Vertigo Dance Company from Israel.

American companies and performers will include: Maurice chestnut from New Jersey, Lil Buck from California, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago from Illinois, The Joffrey Ballet from Illinois, and from New York: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Drew Jacoby, Jessica Lang Dance, Liz Gerring Dance Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, New York City Ballet and Trisha Brown Dance Company.

The Fall for Dance Festival has received national and international recognition for its quality, innovation and success in introducing new and younger audiences to the world of dance. Since its inception, the Festival has presented 145 different dance companies to more than 150,000 dance enthusiasts for just $10 per ticket. Newcomers and dance enthusiasts alike look forward to the Festival as both an introduction to new artists and a welcome return to familiar and beloved companies.

Program One: Thursday, October 27 and Friday, October 28
The Festival's opening program features works from four acclaimed American dance companies and choreographers. Mark Morris Dance Group opens the evening with All Fours (2003), a piece for 12 dancers set to Bartók's String Quartet No. 4, performed by live musicians. Lil Buck brings his brilliant Memphis jookin' to the stage in The Swan (2007). Trisha Brown Dance Company returns to the festival with a new work, Rogues (2011), by Trisha Brown. The evening concludes with The Joffrey Ballet's Woven Dreams (2011), a new work for 18 dancers choreographed by Edwaard Liang.

Program Two: Saturday, October 29 and Sunday, October 30
Vertigo Dance Company from Israel makes its Festival debut with Mana (2009), a hypnotic work for 12 dancers choreographed by Noa Wertheim and adapted for Fall for Dance. Next, contemporary ballet dancer Drew Jacoby performs the world premiere of a new work, TBA by Gallim Dance Artistic Director Andrea Miller, and Jessica Lang Dance presents Among the Stars (2010), inspired by the Japanese star festival Tanabata. The evening ends with the U.S. premiere of Richard Alston's Roughcut (1990), performed by Richard Alston Dance Company of the U.K. to live music by Steve Reich.

Program Three: Tuesday, November 1 and Wednesday, November 2
The Australian Ballet, celebrating its 50th Anniversary season, opens the program with Glen Tetley's Gemini (1973), set to music by Hans Werner Henze. The evening continues with three Festival debuts: Steven McRae, Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet, London, makes his U.S. debut with Something Different (2009), a joyous solo tap piece. Pontus Lidberg Dance makes its U.S. debut with Faune (2010), choreographed by Pontus Lidberg and inspired by Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago closes the evening with the New York premiere of Ohad Naharin's THREE TO MAX (2011), a new work created especially for HSDC.

Program Four: Thursday, November 3 and Friday, November 4
This international program opens with the Festival debut of TAO Dance Theater of China, presenting the U.S. premiere of Weight x 3 (2009), choreographed by Tao Ye and adapted for Fall for Dance. French choreographer Mourad Merzouki's Agwa (2008), a unique blend of samba, hip-hop, capoeira, bossa nova and electronic music, will be performed by 11 dancers from CCN de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne / Compagnie Käfig. The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Belgium's only classical ballet company, follows with The Return of Ulysses (2006), a New York premiere by Christian Spuck, adapted for Fall for Dance. The Festival debut of Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba ends the evening with Lizt Alfonso's passionate Pa' Cuba me voy (2001), performed by 17 female dancers and seven musicians in a sensual combination of flamenco, ballet, Afro-Cuban and Cuban rhythms.

Program Five: Saturday, November 5 and Sunday, November 6 (matinee)
The final program opens with the Festival debut of Maurice chestnut's Floating (2010), a high-energy tap piece with live music performed by The Above Ground Project. Christopher Wheeldon's stirring Polyphonia (2001), performed to live music by New York City Ballet, will be followed by the Festival debut of Liz Gerring Dance Company, which will perform Gerring's Lichtung/Clearing (2010), adapted for Fall for Dance. The Festival comes to a rousing finish with Mauro Bigonzetti's Festa Barocca (2008), performed by 30 dancers from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Stanford Makishi serves as Artistic Advisor to the Festival.

The 2011 Fall for Dance Festival runs Thursday, October 27 - Sunday, November 6 at New York City Center (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues). All performances are at 8 p.m., except for the Sunday, November 6 performance, which is a 3 p.m. matinee. All tickets are $10 and go on sale Sunday, October 2 at 11 a.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.NYCityCenter.org, by calling CityTix at 212.581.1212, or at the City Center Box Office.

Photo Credit: Steve Vaccariello



Videos