Fadi Khoury's FJK DANCE Combines with Contemporary Ballet and Ballroom

Fadi Khoury's FJK DANCE returns to New York Live Arts with two premieres and repertory in two different programs, Thursday, Sept. 14 and Friday, Sept. 15 at 7:30pm. The company's fourth annual season presents a contemporary fusion of culture and dance: ballet to ballroom, Middle Eastern to jazz, an international blend featuring new and exciting collaborations, live music, projection design, and new choreography.

FJK SEASON '17 will premiere a new work, MUNDO, bringing Latin American dancing together with Middle Eastern tradition. The score will include music by Paco de Lucia and Diego Amador, to be performed by Frank Abenante, Grammy nominee music producer and jazz pianist, accompanied by his NYC Latin Jazz Ensemble.

TANGO ON POINT, in which Argentinian tango meets contemporary ballet, will also premiere. Inspired by the dramatic movement of tango and its sensuality in partnering, Tango on Point will be performed on September 14 by MusicTalks Cello Quartet lead by Israeli cellist Elad Kabilio, to a passionate tango score by composer Astor Piazzolla. Special costumes were created in collaboration with fashion designer Herve Pierre, former Creative Director at Carolina Herrera, New York.

The FJK DANCE 2017 Season will also feature two repertory works:

ECHOES (2015), in which five men dance to music by Shamou, a Persian percussionist and composer who fuses Middle Eastern drums and percussion instruments with electric based sounds and rhythms. Inspired by "Dabke," a folkloric traditional Bedouin dance from the mountains of Lebanon and Syria, the dancers together find unity, mutual support and confidence. "Echoes" offers a prayer for hope and new beginnings. Video Lighting Design: Calvin Anderson; Music: Shamou

REFLECTIONS (2016), a collaborative work combining projection designs by Calvin Anderson and music by Peter Michael von der Nahmer, FJK's Composer-in-Residence. The project was inspired by the visual impact of art works capturing the energy and intensity of the reflection of light through water currents. The vibration in those images imparts a dramatic human truth: we can be gorgeous, but also restless and evanescent. We participate in phenomena shared by light, water, humanity, and dance. As humans and dancers we embody ideas of balance, unity, and the duality of observer and observed.

*Performance line up below.

FJK DANCE SEASON 2017
THURSDAY, SEPT. 14 AND FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
7:30-9PM

NEW YORK LIVE ARTS
219 W 19th Street,
New York, NY 10011
(212) 691-6500

TICKETS: http://newyorklivearts.org/event/fjk-season17/
September 14 Gala/world premieres: $65, $85
September 15 $25 $45 $65
Benefactor Gala Ticket - $1000
Sponsor Gala Ticket - $500

TWO EVENINGS WITH TWO DIFFERENT PROGRAMS:

Thurs., September 14 at 7:30pm

· Reflections (2016)
· Tango on Point (Premiere)
· Mundo (Premiere)

Friday, Sept. 15 at 7:30pm

· Reflections (2016)
· Tango on Point (Premiere)
· Echoes (2015)

ABOUT FJK DANCE:

Based in New York City, Fadi J Khoury's FJK DANCE is a contemporary dance company founded in 2014 by Fadi J. Khoury and Sevin Ceviker. FJK DANCE fills a void in the current dance scene as it fuses the vocabularies of ballroom, jazz, classical ballet, and traditional folkloric styles to create our own new language. We believe in the simple beauty of movement - dance in its purest form - drawing on the use of abstract body lines, form and energy to communicate with the audience. Our choreography continually experiments with the fundamentals of various forms of dance, creating captivating, dynamic, and expressive art. The Company fosters tolerance and understanding of diverse cultures through dance, as it brings people together through performances and educational programs. Read More ?

VIEW COMPANY DOCUMENTARY

FJK Dance "strips away unnecessary glitter from these forms to emphasize the beauty of movement itself..." The New York Times

ABOUT FADI J. KHOURY
Artistic Director - Choreographer - FJK Dance

Fadi J. Khoury's innovative style - both as dancer and choreographer - showcases his life-long immersion in a world of dance forms. He was born in Baghdad, Iraq, surrounded by the folkloric music and dance of Arab culture. His father, also a dancer and choreographer, was Artistic Director of the National Iraqi Ballet. Through his father, Fadi was exposed to diverse approaches to dance in Mesopotamia, still present in Assyrian, Syriac, and Bedouin folkloric dances of the Middle East.

When Fadi was thirteen, he moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where he trained in classical ballet and folkloric dance, but also in Modern, Jazz, and Ballroom. Still in his teens, he began experimenting with the eclecticism that has defined his work ever since. By seventeen, he was dancing professionally with the Rahbani Musical Theatre, while studying at the Lebanese Fine Arts University.

Photos credit: Jaqlin Medlock