Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve Returns To The Joyce 2/28-3/4

The Joyce Theater is set to present the return of Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève from February 28 – March 4, following its critically acclaimed Joyce debut in 2007. For this engagement, the company will present the New York premiere of Preludes et Fugues, an evening-length work by internationally lauded choreographer Emanuel Gat.

Tickets range in price from $10-$49 ($26-$37 for Joyce Theater members), and can be purchased through JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 or via the internet at www.joyce.org. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street.

Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, the more than century-old Swiss company known for its spectacular dancers who perform a repertory of varied works by today's leading choreographers, will present Preludes et Fugues, an enchanting evening-length piece by Israeli-born choreographer Emanuel Gat. Using the music of J.S. Bach as inspiration, juxtaposed with moments of silence, Gat has created a mesmerizing piece performed beautifully by the Ballet de Genève ensemble. "It is with profound humility, gratitude and love for the music of Bach, that I embarked on this project," says Gat. "His ability to transform structure and form into music which holds fundamental truths is, to me, unmatched."

EMANUEL GAT
Emanuel Gat (Choreographer) was born in Israel in 1969. His first encounter with dance was at the age of 23 during a workshop led by Israeli choreographer Nir Ben Gal. Six months later, Gat joined the Liat Dror Nir Ben Gal Company, with whom he toured in Israel and around the world. Shortly after, Gat began working as an independent choreographer, creating his first solo piece, Four Dances, in 1994 to music by Bach. Over the next 10 years, Gat turned his attention to various independent projects that called on his skills as both a dancer and a choreographer. His work has been presented in Israel as well as at dance festivals around the world. He received a scholarship from the Ballet Master Albert Gaubiers Fund in 1995 and the Rosenblum Award for Performing Arts in 2003, as well as the Landau award in 2004. That same year, he established his company - Emanuel Gat Dance, which received Israel's Minister of Culture Award in 2005 for outstanding dance performances. In 2006, Gat was named a chosen artist of the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation IcExcellence, one of Israel's highest honors for artists.

Gat is regularly invited to set his work and create new choreographies for dance companies around the world, including The Paris Opera Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, Le Ballet du Rhin, Tanztheater Bremen,Le Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Ballet de Marseille, Noord Nederlandse Dans, and the Polish National Ballet.

BALLET DU GRAND THÉÂTRE DE GENÈVE
The history of ballet in Geneva dates back to the beginning of the 19th century. The evolution of dance in Geneva was strongly influenced by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and the great Russian dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky. Almost a century later, the Grand Théâtre was put under the direction of Janine Charrat (1962-64). Following Charrat as Artistic Director was Serge Golovine, one of the most remarkable classical dancers of his generation (1964 to 1969). George Balanchine became the Company's Artistic Advisor in 1969. He transformed the GenEva Ballet into a kind of European ambassador for the New York City Ballet, appointing as Director Alfonso Cata (1969-73), who set a new direction for the Company and provided it with a fresh perspective. As well as producing his own works, Cata restaged Balanchine's works. In addition, he invited other world-class choreographers, such as Tudor and Bolender, to Geneva, thereby strengthening the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and widening its popular appeal. Subsequently, under the inspiration of Balanchine, Patricia Neary, soloist at the New York City Ballet, took the reins at the Company (1973-78). With Patricia Neary's departure for Zurich, the Balanchine era came to an end, and Peter van Dyk, an exceptional former principal dancer at the Paris Opera, took charge of the Ballet for two years from 1978 to 1980. As newly appointed Director General, Hugues Gall called upon Oscar Araiz to take over as Director of the Ballet in 1980. The Argentine brought with him a modern and innovative style, during a tenure which lasted eight seasons (1980-88). At the beginning of the 1988-89 season, Gradimir Pankov, former Director of the National Ballet of Finland and of the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm, took his turn at the helm. He was the Company's first Director who was not also a choreographer. As a result, the Company, no longer attached to any particular style, opened a new chapter in its history. Audiences were exposed to a new repertoire and several of the leading choreographers of the day came to Geneva for the first time, such as Jiri Kylian, Christopher Bruce, Rudi Van Dantzig, Mats Ek and Ohad Naharin. This collaboration brought new blood to the Company and was warmly received. From 1996, Renée Auphan became Director General of the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and entrusted the direction of the Ballet to François Passard and Giorgio Mancini. The Company continued to pursue its policy of inviting guest choreographers to Geneva, both neo-classical and contemporary alike. In 2003, Jean-Marie Blanchard, Director General of the Grand Théâtre de Genève since 2001, appointed Philippe Cohen to head the ballet. Since his appointment, Philippe Cohen has continued to seek out new choreographers to bring to Geneva, such as Andonis Foniadakis, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Gilles Jobin and Benjamin Millepied, and has given these artists carte blanche for their productions. He has also continued to enrich the repertoire with works by renowned choreographers such as Carolyn Carlson, Lucinda Childs, Jerome Robbins, Nacho Duato and Saburo Teshigawara. Ballet Du Grand Théâtre de Genève made its Joyce debut in 2007 with an acclaimed program of works by Saburo Teshigawara, Finia Daxis and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

The Joyce Theater FOUNDATION
The Joyce Theater Foundation, a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community and its audiences for three decades. The founders, Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, acquired and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea, which opened as The Joyce Theater in 1982. The Joyce Theater is named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. One of the only theaters built by dancers for dance, The Joyce Theater has provided an intimate and elegant home for more than 320 domestic and international companies. The Joyce has also commissioned more than 130 new dances since 1992. In 1996, The Joyce created Joyce SoHo, a dance center providing highly subsidized rehearsal and performance space to hundreds of dance artists, as well as special residency opportunities for selected choreographers to support the creation of new work. In 2009, The Joyce opened Dance Art New York (DANY) Studios to provide affordable studios for rehearsals, auditions, classes, and workshops for independent choreographers, non-profit dance companies, and the dance/theater communities. New York City public school students and teachers annually benefit from The Joyce's Dance Education Program, and adult audiences get closer to dance through informative Dance Talks, Joyce Pre-Show gatherings, and post-performance Dance Chat discussions. The Joyce Theater now features an annual season of approximately 48 weeks with over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 135,000.

Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève returns to The Joyce Theater with the New York premiere of Prelude et Fuges, an evening-length work by Emanuel Gat, from February 28 – March 4.

Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30pm; Thursday and Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm & 8pm; Sunday at 2pm. Tickets range in price from $10-$49 ($26-$37 for Joyce Theater members), and can be purchased through JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 or via the internet at www.joyce.org. Please note: Ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street.