[PhiladelphiaDANCE.org Listserv] Nikolais Dance Theatre Tixs

[Ann Mulgrew]

Dear Dance Community, 

 

As a professional courtesy, Dance Affiliates is offering a limited number of complimentary tickets to see

Alwin Nikolais’ historic masterpieces performed by the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company.  

Tickets are available for Thursday, March 6 at 7:30pm and Saturday, March 8 at 2pm  on a first-come; first served basis.  

Performances will take place at Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut Street as part of the Dance Celebration series presented by Dance Affiliates and Penn Presents.

 

If you are interested in complimentary tickets, please RSVP to this email by Wednesday, March 5 by 5pm.

Please state the date (Thursday at 7:30pm or Saturday at 2pm) and number of tickets (1 or 2).  Confirmation will be sent via email.

 

Alwin Nikolais choreographed the dances, created the electronic scores, designed the sets, projections, dazzling stage effects and costumes. Known for his electrifying visual and kinetic productions, Nikolais created a total theatrical concept defining the future of modern dance in America paving the way for Pilobolus and MOMIX. He has been lauded as a multi-media wizard, genius and magician, The Washington Post praises him as “one of the most extraordinary theatrical wonders of the world.”  The work of this celebrated artist resides in the Utah-based  Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company under the direction of Murray Louis and Alberto del Saz. 

 

The program includes works spanning three decades!

Tent 1968

Noumenon Mobilus 1953

Tensile Involvement 1955

Liturgies  1983

 

Below is more information!

 

 

Utah-based Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company showcases the works of multi-media visionary Alwin Nikolais, March 6-8, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut Street.  Highlights include the revival of his 1968 masterpiece “Tent,” set to his original score and choreographed for ten dancers.  The London Times raved in response to “Tent’s” its circus-like atmosphere, “I do not believe there is a more beautiful, original, or imaginative flight than ‘Tent’. The action is a parade of theatrical marvels…Nikolais is a genius.”  The program features Nikolais’ celebrated “Noumenon Mobilus” (1953), the breathtaking “Liturgies”(1983), and his electrifying “Tensile Involvement” (1955), where dancers utilize stretch fabric to transform stage space into a myriad of shifting architectural forms.  

The Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company was founded by Nikolais students Joan Woodbury and Shirley Ririe in 1964, and was selected by the Nikolais/Louis Foundation in 2003 as the company to house Nikolais’ trail blazing works. These works were reconstructed and directed by Nikolais’ longtime dancer and partner, and Alberto del Saz who danced with the Nikolais company for 20 years. 

Before he became a choreographer, Nikolais began his artistic life as a puppeteer.  He once said, “I learned a lot from those puppets.  They are all motion and no nerves.  I found out that art is motion, not emotion.”  His statement is telling, it reveals the core concept of his abstract Dance Theater, “the art of motion, which, when left on its own merits, becomes the message as well as the medium.” Nikolais used dancers as a means to explore physics rather than convey narrative.    

“Tent” employs a 36 x 28 foot piece of fabric hung from cables and manipulated by the dancers as they move over, under, and within its confines.  The spectacle is illuminated by slides projected onto the stage, and set to Nikolais’ original electronic score.

“Noumenon Mobilus” (1953) features company dancers Jo Blake, Caine Keenan, and TJ Spaur encased in fabric. They are thus divested of any particular identity, so the viewer’s attention is focused solely on the movement.  “Liturgies” (1983) brings light and color center stage, by projecting images onto dancers’ bodies;   “The magic of these productions can delight theatergoers of all ages,” notes the New York Times, “Lovers of Harry Potter’s wizardry might well be enchanted by that of Alwin Nikolias.”  The program closes with Nikolais signature work “Tensile Involvement,” originally choreographed for Dorothy Vslocky, Bruce King and Murray Louis and Nikolais percussive score.  It was later reworked as a large ensemble work for 8 dancers.

 


No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.21.4/1310 - Release Date: 3/4/2008 8:35 AM
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.philadelphiadance.org/pipermail/listserv_philadelphiadance.org/attachments/20080304/683730b1/attachment.html