Hilary Easton + Company Present LIGHT AND SHADE At Baryshnikov Arts Center

Hilary Easton + Company presents the New York premiere of Light and Shade, an evening-length dance performed by Emily Pope-Blackman and Michael Ingle, with original music by Mike Rugnetta, lighting by Kathy Kaufmann, and costumes by Madeleine Walach. Performances begin at 7:30 pm, October 14, 15, and 16 (Thursday-Saturday) and 2pm October 17(Sunday).

Light and Shade investigates the nature and confines of intimacy. It unearths a world for two whose relationship develops and changes: by turns subtly or surprisingly, sometimes abruptly, as they experience connection and separation, reliance and autonomy. It mines an imaginative movement palette, considering the ways two individuals can "be" with each other and how those outside their union can effect and inform their ongoing dynamic. Described by The New York Times as a "poet" and a "humanist", Ms. Easton's latest work creates a landscape in which the dancers and the audience are asked to lean in towards each other: to examine closely, to navigate ways of experiencing. This is a dance of focus and hush. Light and Shade continues Ms. Easton's commitment to the open-ended dialogue that exists between performers, the work of art, and the viewer.

Ms. Easton has been working on Light and Shade since September of 2009 with longtime company members Michael Ingle and Emily Pope-Blackman and composer Mike Rugnetta. The work reflects the intensity and specificity that such an extended and focused rehearsal process engenders. Light and Shade has been shown in excerpts throughout the past year and presented in full at Bard College at Simon's Rock College in September of 2010.

Light and Shade has greatly benefited from development residencies at The Hermitage Artists Retreat and The Silo Artist Residency Project. The creation of the work has been made possible through generous assistance of The Soros Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, and many individuals.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
The New York Times described Ms. Easton's work this way: "Watching the piece unfold, you realize two things about Ms. Easton's work over the last 15 years or so and why it is so intelligent and engaging. She choreographs like a poet, weaving together piercing, elliptical observations. And she knows her dancers lovingly and well." Hilary Easton has been creating dances for over 20 years, establishing Hilary Easton + Company in 1992 and since then performing at venues throughout the US, including American Dance Festival, The Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church (5 NYC seasons), Dance Theater Workshop (4 NYC seasons), PS 122, The University of Texas/Austin, Central Park Summerstage, The Center for Contemporary Arts of Santa Fe, The Yard, Mount Tremper Arts, Kaatsbaan Center for Dance, Bard College at Simon's Rock College, Bennington College, and the 92Y-Harkness Dance Festival. As a dancer, Ms. Easton performed with a wide range of choreographers and companies, including Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane and Company, Kinematic, XXY Dance/Music, Monica Lévy Performance Group, and Ze'eva Cohen and Dancers. Hilary Easton + Company has been honored with grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Jerome Foundation, The Soros Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Bossak-Heilbron Foundation, Meet The Composer, The Manhattan Community Arts Fund, and The Maxine Greene Foundation for Social Imagination, the Arts, and Education.
"One of downtown's best and brightest" The New Yorker

"Marvelous and deeply thoughtful." The Village Voice

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