Gibney Company Announces Summer 2022 Season at New York Live Arts

Gibney Company has announced its summer 2022 season in New York City with a program of three world premieres by internationally recognized choreographers Rena Butler, Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, and Yin Yue at New York Live Arts, June 14 through 18. The five-night run, titled Up Close, will present a range of contemporary choreographic styles and compositions. Works on the program reflect present-day concerns around reconfiguring and maintaining identity, while navigating personal and shared spaces. The New York Live Arts engagement marks the newly expanded Gibney Company's second New York City season, following a sold-out run at The Joyce Theater last November.

Led by Gibney Founder, Artistic Director, and CEO Gina Gibney and Gibney Company Director Gilbert T Small II, Gibney Company is a creation-based repertory company that commissions work from internationally renowned and emerging choreographers committed to exploring connections between the rigorous physicality of contemporary dance and responsive, humanistic storytelling.

"Now, more than ever, we have a profound appreciation for the unique ability of dance to shine a light on the human experience," said Gina Gibney. "It is our hope that Gibney Company's commitment to commissioning new works, and our deep engagement with diverse choreographers, will inspire audiences and further strengthen our field."

Gilbert T Small II, Gibney Company Director, said, "As Gibney Company continues its evolution, we are thrilled to work with these exciting voices and dedicated to fulling their vision. Gibney Company dancers are some of the most versatile and compelling performers I have had the pleasure to work with, and they are working beautifully to bring these new works to life."

Loosely referencing the "Allegory of the Cave" from Book 7 of Plato's Republic, Rena Butler's Re | Build | Construct examines how our realities are shaped by personal and shared environments. When our surroundings shift, our perspective, and reality, may change. The piece grapples with the effects of changing environments by evaluating the continuous reconfiguration of one's sense of self in both individual and collective spaces. The work includes an original set and lighting by designer Tsubasa Kamei, an original score by Darryl J. Hoffman, and costumes by fashion designer Hogan McLaughlin.

Gustavo Ramírez Sansano's Dance Me to the End of Love explores how technology has changed the pursuit of romance. Fewer young people meet casually, as social networks have become a filter to get to know others. However, love, and moreover desire, need physical contact. What happens when we look into the eyes of another human being and touch their skin? Will human contact prevail? Or will we end up preferring to worship an image on the screen? Dance Me to the End of Love is set to Leonard Cohen's music, a set designed by Luis Crespo Portero, and costume design by Mark Eric Rodorigez.

Our existence is often measured, remembered, shared and felt by our interactions with space, time and each other. In A Measurable Existence, Yin Yue delves into how we discover aspects of ourselves by discovering others. The moment we realize our journeys parallel, intersect, repel or collide with others' experiences, we begin a new understanding of our own existence that may frighten, challenge and, at the same time, sustain us. A Measurable Existence is set to a score by Rutger Zuydervelt, lighting design by Asami Morita, and costume designed by Christine Darch.

Up Close, which will become a regular Gibney Company performance series presented in New York City, will feature Gibney Company dancers, known as Artistic Associates, Alexander Anderson, Rena Butler (Choreographic Associate), Alicia Delgadillo, Zui Gomez, Jesse Obremski, Kevin Pajarillaga, Marla Phelan, Jie-Hung Connie Shiau, Jacob Thoman, and Jake Tribus. More information about Gibney Company Artistic Associates can be found here.

Support
Gibney Company is grateful for leadership support from Andrew A. Davis, a trustee of the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund. The Company also receives generous support from The Bay & Paul Foundations, Con Edison, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, New Music USA, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts, the O'Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, the Office of the Manhattan Borough President, the Omomuki Foundation, The Ready Foundation, the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, The SHS Foundation, Symbio Physiotherapy, and Timothy and Virginia Millhiser, among others.

Performance Details:

Gibney Company
Up Close
New York Live Arts
June 14 - 18, 2022

Ticket prices: $15-$35
Opening Night Performance and Reception Tickets: $75
Tickets available for purchase at https://newyorklivearts.org/event/up-close/

Credits

Re | Build | Construct
Choreography: Rena Butler
Music: Darryl J. Hoffman
Set and Lighting Design: Tsubasa Kamei
Costume Design: Hogan McLaughlin

Dance Me to the End of Love
Choreography: Gustavo Ramírez Sansano
Music: Leonard Cohen
Set Design: Luis Crespo Portero
Costume Design: Mark Eric Rodorigez

A Measurable Existence
Choreography: Yin Yue
Music: Rutger Zuydervelt
Lighting Design: Asami Morita
Costume Design: Christine Darch

Effective February 27, 2022, proof of full vaccination and a booster dose for those eligible is required for all New York Live Arts visitors ages 5+ and staff. All visitors and staff ages 18+ must also show a valid ID with proof of vaccination. Children under the age of 5 will not be permitted to any indoor program or event. Live Arts also requires all visitors to wear masks while on the premises during a ticketed public event.

About Rena Butler

Rena Butler hails from Chicago, IL. She began her studies at The Chicago Academy for the Arts, studied overseas at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan, and received her BFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. Rena danced with companies such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (also a choreographic fellow), AIM by Kyle Abraham, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, David Dorfman Dance, Manuel Vignoulle/M-Motions, The Kevin Wynn Collection, and Pasos Con Sabor Salsa Dance Company. Currently, she dances for Gibney Company, and was recently named its Choreographic Associate.

Rena's choreographic work includes BalletX, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Boston Dance Theater, The New Orleans Museum of Modern Art in collaboration with Academy Award-Winning jazz composer, Terrence Blanchard, CHTV Stories television program in Switzerland, a film short in collaboration with Third Coast Percussion x Devonté Hynes/Blood Orange, The Young Choreographer's Festival in NYC, The Ailey/Fordham School, TEDxChicago Virtual Salon 3.0: Design Your Life, and more. In 2019, she was the recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Award for Choreography, and has been spotlighted in Dance Magazine's On The Rise feature.

Rena has taught dance and choreographic workshops at L'Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Danse de Marseille in France, The Macau Cultural Center in China, Ailey Camp Chicago, and SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance.

Butler served on the Consortium for Chicago Dancemakers Forum for 3 years, was on the annual panel for Black Girls Dance in Chicago, and co-created and directed DanceLab-a free, choreographic course for Chicago teens, empowering participants of varying socioeconomic backgrounds + identities to find commonality in creation. She currently serves on Dancewave's Artistic Advisory Council in NYC, and as a dance and choreographic mentor for young, aspiring artists as part of the Pointe People Mentorship Program.

About Gustavo Ramírez Sansano

Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, born in 1978 in San Fulgencio, Spain, was Artistic Director of Luna/">Luna Negra Dance Theater from 2009 until 2013, and now combines his work as a freelance choreographer with Proyecto Titoyaya, the Spanish dance company he founded in 2006 with Veronica Garcia Moscardo.

Sansano has been the recipient of numerous awards for his choreography, including first prize at the 1997 Ricard Moragas Competition in Barcelona, 2001 Prix Dom Perignon Choreographic Competition in Hamburg, Germany, and Valencia performing arts awards for best dance show and choreographer in 2005 and 2019. Sansano was chosen by the magazine Por la Danza for its 15th anniversary issue, as one of the "Fifteen Choreographers to Watch". Dance Magazine featured Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, then Artistic Director for Luna/">Luna Negra, as "25 to Watch" in 2011, he was named a "Chicagoan of the Year in Arts & Entertainment" by the Chicago Tribune in 2012, and in June 2017 was chosen by the Associació Professionals Dansa de la CV (APDCV) for its 30th anniversary as "Outstanding Valencian choreographer".

He has been commissioned to create works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Nederlands Dans Theater, Compañía Nacional de Danza, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Luzerner tanz Theater, Ballet BC, Atlanta Ballet, and Ballet Hispánico. As a dancer, Sansano was part of the prestigious companies such as Víctor Ullate Ballet - Comunidad de Madrid, Nederlands Dans Theater II, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Also doing original works by Jacopo Godani, Hans van Manen, Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, Paul Lightfoot, and Victor Ullate. Sansano created a few operas with Chicago Opera Theater conductor Andreas Mitisek, Opera Omaha, Opera Philadelphiawith, and Bard Summerscape both with James Darrah.

He has worked with Luis Crespo and also collaborated with other artists including David Delfin, Angel Sanchez, Nicolas Fischtel, Bregje van Balen, Branimira Ivanova, and Gelson Amaran. Sansano has been invited to teach and choreograph numerous schools, universities and companies including Centro Coreográfico Galego, Scottish Dance Theatre, Conservatorio Superior de Danza de Valencia, Springboard Danse Montréal, The Juilliard School, Escuela Municipal de Música y Danza de Torrevieja, Institut del Teatre de Barcelona, DAF Dance Arts Faculty, California Institute of the Arts, Butler University, Escuela Moderna de Música y Danza, Ballet de Santiago, Copenhagen Contemporary Dance School, and The School at Jacob's Pillow.

About Yin Yue

Yin Yue is the founder and artistic director of YYDC. She created an innovative contemporary dance technique FoCo Technique that soon caught the attention of the dance industry and was taught by Yin Yue around the world. Yin was the winner of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago 2015 International Commissioning Project, the 2015 BalletX Choreographic Fellowship, and the Northwest Dance Project's 5th Annual Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition in 2013. Yin was commissioned by all three of these widely recognized companies as well as Pennsylvania Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Limon Dance Company, Alberta Ballet, Gibney Dance, Whim W'him, Bruce Wood Dance, Ririe-woodbury Dance Company, Boston Dance Theater, 10 Hairy Legs, New Dialect, Balletto Teatro di Torino, Backhausdance. She was also awarded First Place in Choreography at National Professional Dance Competition in Shanghai, China, 92Y Harkness Dance 2016-2017 Artist In Residence, Emerging Choreographer of 2015 at Springboard Danse Montreal, as well as a finalist at the A.W.A.R.D Show 2010! presented by the Joyce Theater Foundation. Her work has been recognized by organizations and festivals such as SummerStage, Jacob's Pillow Inside out Festival, Schrit_tmacher Festival in Aachen, Germany, New York International Fringe Festival, DanceNow NYC at Joe's Pub and many more.

About Gibney Company
Gibney Company, led by Artistic Director Gina Gibney and Director Gilbert T Small II, is Gibney's resident dance ensemble. Gibney Company is a creation-based repertory company commissioning work from both internationally renowned and emerging choreographers who are committed to exploring connections between the rigorous, often superhuman physicality of contemporary dance alongside responsive, humanistic storytelling.

Transformed in 2020 through a $2 million gift from Andrew A. Davis, a Trustee of the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund, Gibney Company (formerly Gibney Dance Company) presents a broad range of aesthetics and techniques and has an unrelenting focus on artistic excellence and social integrity.

About Gibney

Founded by Gina Gibney in 1991, Gibney is a New York City-based performing arts and social justice organization that taps into the vast potential of movement, creativity, and performance to effect social change and personal transformation. Gibney deploys resources through three strategic and interwoven program areas: Gibney Center, a meeting ground for New York City's artistic community comprising 23 studios and 5 performance spaces that provide critical space for training, rehearsal, professional development, performances, and convenings; Gibney Community, programs that use movement to help address a range of social issues with a focus on gender-based violence and its prevention; and Gibney Company. Gibney supports movement-based artists in every aspect of their creative development: classes, residencies, low-cost rental space, entrepreneurial training and incubation, presentation opportunities, commissioning, and operating a professional dance company.

Image Credits: Rena Butler, photo by Nir Arieli; Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, photo by Jonathan Mackoff; Yin Yue, photo courtesy of the artist.