Manhattan Movement & Arts Center presents THE KNICKERBOCKER SUITE on December 4 at 2 and 7pm, and December 5 at 2 and 6pm, at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, 248 W. 60th Street, NYC (between 10th and 11th). Tickets are $35 for adults and $20 for students. Tickets are available by visiting manhattanmovement.com/calendar.
THE KNICKERBOCKER SUITE features New York City landmarks, such as The Statue of Liberty, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and NY sports teams, weaved into the time-honored holiday tale of The Nutcracker. Classic Nutcracker scenes like "The Land of the Snow" will be transformed to a snowy frenzy of shoppers dancing in and out of stores like Macy's and Bloomingdale's for last minute gifts, while "The Land of Sweets" will be accompanied by street vendors and roasted chestnuts. Perhaps one of the more well-known scenes, "Mother Ginger and her Polichinelles," will be played by the Statue of Liberty and dancing immigrants who just arrived from Ellis Island.
The piece is a true collaboration between former dancers of the New York City Ballet; Rose Caiola, executive director of Manhattan Movement & Arts Center; Charlie Finch; and noteworthy artist Elliott Arkin, whose sculptures have been seen in galleries and museums around the world. They are currently in several permanent collections, including the Louvre Museum's Musee des Arts Decoratifs and the New York Public Library. Arkin's solo exhibitions have garnered reviews in publications such as the Village Voice and Art in America, and he has created work for numerous fundraising projects, including the New York City Ballet's anti-AIDS campaign; Muhammad Ali's World Healing Project; The Nelson Mandela Foundation Project for Human Rights and Amnesty International. In keeping with his refusal to adhere to traditional hierarchies, Arkin has also spearheaded several art-entrepreneurial projects while his sculptures made as cartoonist-in-residence for artnet.com have gained a large following and are collected by prominent curators, critics and artists, including Robert Storr and Maurizio Cattelan. He is currently working on "Mister Artsee," an ice-cream truck turned mobile art laboratory.
"Knickerbocker Suite whisks the audience away into a world of dance, music and holiday spirit. It has all of the classic music from the original Nutcracker, but also allows the audience to become enthralled in the excitement of New York City - the Macy's Day Parade, Rockefeller Center, street performers and Central Park covered in snow," said Francois Perron, Managing Artistic Director of Manhattan Youth Ballet.
Manhattan Movement & Arts Center was developed by Rose Caiola as the home of the Manhattan Youth Ballet, a graded, pre-professional ballet academy and performance company. Ms. Caiola, a lifelong dance enthusiast and a former actress, founded the academy in the fall of 1994 as Studio Maestro at 48 W. 68th Street, and serves today as the youth ballet's executive artistic director.
The school is modeled after the European academies and adheres to the French School of classical ballet technique. Under the direction of Francois Perron, managing artistic director, the Manhattan Youth Ballet has acquired a reputation for excellent teaching in an intimate and individually supportive environment. The school's graduates have danced professionally with American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Nederland Dans Theater, Ballet de Espana, San Francisco Ballet and Complexions.
As the ballet academy grew, the search for a larger space inspired in Ms. Caiola a highly personal vision of a studio and theater complex that would encompass all aspects of dance education and performance.
MMAC opened its doors in June 2008, occupying a dramatic bi-level space within The Element, a luxury high-rise condominium located to the southwest of Lincoln Center. In addition to the Manhattan Youth Ballet, MMAC's studios and theater host daily adult dance and fitness classes, the MMAC Kids program, summer intensive programs, as well as an array of performances and special events.
For more information about mmac, visit www.manhattanmovement.com.
