Dance Theater Workshop, the preeminent U.S. based center for contemporary dance and performance, has announced the 2010 - 2011 season. Spanning ten months and supporting over 40 artists, this season from acclaimed Artistic Director, Carla Peterson, continues Dance Theater Workshop's deep tradition of supporting artists at all stages of their careers, from all over the globe, and across the vast spectrum that is contemporary performance.
Leveraging over four and half decades of dedication to artistic exploration, innovation, and quality programming, Dance Theater Workshop's 2010 - 2011 season includes anticipated premieres, venerable remounts, increased Studio Series creative residencies, platforms for artistic discourse, and Dance Theater Workshop debuts
"Our new season once again shines a bright light on an intergenerational array of imaginative and rigorous art makers, while bringing to our audiences some of the most provocative, beautiful, exciting, and revered dance and performance voices working today. Building upon a deep and decades-long commitment to nurturing artists, Dance Theater Workshop joins forces with these gifted artists, our audiences, and our strategic partners to reflect on, debate, and celebrate these varied expressions borne out of the cultural landscape of our time," said Carla Peterson, Artistic Director.
The upcoming season highlights International Artists Alain Buffard (France), Raimund Hoghe (France/Germany) with Faustin Linyekula (Congo), Verdensteatret (Norway); national artists olive Dance Theatre (Philadelphia), and Rude Mechs (Austin); and New York City based artists, Sidra Bell, Yanira Castro, Walter Dundervill, Natalie Green, Neil Greenberg, Juliana F. May, Andrea Miller, Juliette Mapp, and Richard Move. The critically acclaimed Season of Returns remounts works by Trisha Brown Dance Company and Faye Driscoll. David Parker and The Bang Group return with Nut/Cracked, the celebrated downtown dance version of The Nutcracker as Dance Theater Workshop's holiday programming. The Studio Series supports the creative processes of Vanessa Anspaugh, Souleymane Badolo, Oren Barnoy, Maria Bauman, Maggie Bennett, Hilary Clark, Wendell Cooper, Niall Jones, Susan Rethorst, Jen Rosenblit, David Thomson, and Geoff Trenchard. Tony Orrico creates a drawing installation in the Dance Theater Workshop lobby.
Programs such as the Dance Theater Workshop Commissioning and Residency program, Season of Returns, Studio Series Creative Residency Program, Family Matters, Fresh Tracks Performance and Residency Program, and Lobby TALKS continue to catalyze a vital cultural discourse in the field today. Strategic partnerships with Barnard College, DanceNOW [NYC], FIAF's Crossing the Line Festival, Hip Hop Theater Festival, Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, Movement Research, Urban Word NYC, and Siti Company, and new partnerships with Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Invisible Dog Art Center, FuturePerfect, National Dance Center Bucharest, Performance Space 122, Romanian Cultural Institute New York, and the Gabriela Tudor Foundation extend Dance Theater Workshop's ability to provide access to a diverse range of significant cultural programming.
As the go-to destination for extraordinary dance and performance, "Dance Theater Workshop is as dedicated to nurturing and supporting audiences as it is artists," said Andrea Sholler, Executive Director. "We were very pleased to see the groundswell of interest in the many audience engagement activities we initiated last year and I am looking forward to the continued expansion of these programs during the coming season."
The 2010 - 2011 Season will be supported by the following audience engagement programs designed to increase the enjoyment and appreciation of contemporary dance and performance. New to the platform this year are Context Notes, in depth notes included in every performance program highlighting the artist's trajectory and history; CarlaCasts, a podcast series featuring Artist Director, Carla Peterson with special guests published in coordination with every performance; and In-the-Works, a new daytime open rehearsal series featuring a brief contextual discussion with Artistic Director, Carla Peterson, a sneak-peek of an artist's working process in the theater, and an open group discussion in the lobby.
Launched last year, the highly successful Dance Docent program returns providing audiences a go-to staff member to ask questions, engage in dialogue, and meet the artists. Also continuing this year are Coffee and Conversation pre-show talks every opening night at 6:30pm, Post-Show Talks on Fridays, a Toast to the Artist following every opening night, and free wine receptions after every performance.
