Sasha Soreff Presents THE OTHER SHOE At The Citigroup Theater 6/25-28

Tap shoes create music; pointe shoes suggest the unreachable; the modern dance bare foot signifies freedom. In choreographer Sasha Soreff's "The Other Shoe," which premieres at Ailey Citigroup Theater, June 25-28, shoes are a symbol of anxiety.

A fusion of theater and dance, "The Other Shoe" is performed by a cast of 16 dancers, each of whom suffers the loss of a shoe, precipitating a wide variety of responses. Hovering above their moving figures is a set comprised of suspended shoes of all kinds-stilettos, Doc Martens, sandals, pointe shoes, sneakers, jazz and tap shoes. The shoes are the result of Calling All Shoes, a donation drive that targeted the downtown dance scene.* Shoelaces inscribed with personal wishes and fears serve at once as metaphors for barbed wire, temptation and security. (The inscriptions were created during sessions that included the dancers, friends and relatives.)

For Sasha Soreff, fear and hope are "future-thinking emotions," which can be tempered by surrendering to the present moment. The forty-five minute dance uses each of its four central characters to explore a different aspect of the seductive lure of dread, desire and fear. Composer Chris Becker created the work's original score; the costumes are by Dawn Marcoccia, and the lighting design is by Carrie Wood. The dancers include Desira Barnes, Jacques Burgering, Janet Forward, Sarah Fried, Akiko Furukawa, Isabel Gotzkowsky, Alaine Handa, Anna-Louise Herzog, Nhan Ho, Joshua Holden, Megan Krauszer, Ryan Leveille, Malcolm Low, Jerly Marquez, Pam Wagner and Jon Zimmerman.

A graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, Ms. Soreff has performed in works by Sean Curran, Laurie DeVito, Rachel Thorne Germond, Stephen Koplowitz, Holly Twining/Delicious Biscuit and Kevin Wynn. Her choreography has been seen in New York City at the Here Theater, the Off-Broadway ArcLight Theatre, where she created the choreography for the Gad's Hill Theater Company's production of "Tartuffe," and at the Williamsburg Art NeXus. Her work has also been presented at Long Island University, the 92nd Street Y, P.S. 122, DUMBO Dance Festival, Portland Dances!, and at One Arm Red. She is a graduate of Barnard College, where she majored in political science.

The curtain for Sasha Soreff Dance Theater at Ailey Citigroup Theater is at 7:30 pm on June 25; 8 pm on June 26 & 27; and 7 pm on June 28. Tickets are $25; $14 for students, artists and senior citizens. They may be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com, or by calling 212-501-2425. Ailey Citigroup Theater is located at 405 West 55th Street at 9th Avenue.

 

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