La MaMa Presents US Premiere of FALL AND RECOVER 3/17-4/3

"Fall and Recover," Irish choreographer John Scott's poignant and mesmerizing work based
on the experiences and stories of survivors of torture in Africa, Asia and Rumania, will receive its
United States premiere at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre, March 17-April 3, as part of Imagine
Ireland. The 55-minute work is a La MaMa presentation.

In "Fall and Recover," the personal accounts of the 11 survivors are transformed into a non-
narrative dance with the memories, stories and emotional responses suggested rather than literally expressed. While there are words, sung phrases, and a score by Rossa O'Snodaigh, it is through the language of the body that the terrifying and uplifting stories are told. The power is in the simplicity of the movement: a single gesture, a shrug of the shoulder, or a raised arm intimates compassion, hope, great violence or great love.

A runaway success at the 2009 Dublin Dance Festival, "Fall and Recover," which also includes
three members of the Irish Modern Dance Theater, is the result of John Scott's collaboration with the Centre for the Care for Survivors of Torture in Dublin, where he conducted dance workshops for victims of torture who were offered asylum in Ireland. Movement was a means to heal, to release, transform and share experiences still too brutal to speak about. "Fall and Recover" is dedicated to the memory of Ellen Stewart, founder of LaMaMa, who remains an inspiration to the cast.

John Scott, who founded Irish Modern Dance Theatre in Dublin in 1991, graduated in English literature from University College Dublin. He studied with Judith Malina and Julian Beck at The Living Theater in France and Italy before returning to Ireland to train with the Irish National College of Dance. In addition to apprenticing with the Dublin City Ballet, he studied with Andy De Groat, Meredith Monk, Susan Buirge, Deborah Hay, and performed with Sara Rudner, Yoshiko Chuma, and Meredith Monk. He has conducted dance workshops at the Irish Centre for Care for Survivors Torture since 2003. He also successfully challenged several Irish Government 
deportation orders. Most recently, Scott created a new work, "In this Moment," with the American 
filmmaker Charles Atlas. His duet, "Actions," which was part of the 2010 La MaMa Moves! festival, has toured Germany, Sweden, and will be part of the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland this summer.

The evening curtains for the March 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 31 and April 1 and 2 performances of "Fall and Recover" are at 7:30pm. There are 2:30pm matinee performances on March 20, 27 and April 3. Tickets, which are $25 apiece, and $20 for students and seniors, can be purchased at the La MaMa box office located at 74A East 4th Street (between 2nd Avenue and Bowery) or by calling 212-475-7710. The Ellen Stewart Theater is located at 66 East 4th Street (between 2nd Avenue and Bowery). http://lamama.org/