Lincoln Center's 2019 White Light Festival Presents EN MASSE

Australia's Circa ensemble embodies electrifying explosions of physicality and power in this work that blurs the boundaries of dance, theater, music, and circus arts. Under the visionary direction of Yaron Lifschitz, the troupe melds circus acrobatics with contemporary dance in the tender and savage En Masse, featuring ten acrobats and three musicians performing to music by Swedish composer Klara Lewis interspersed with selections from Schubert's haunting Winterreise and Schwanengesang. A two-piano arrangement of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring yields the anarchic energy of acrobats caught in a life-and-death struggle. Circa appeared in the U.S. premiere of How Like an Angel in the 2014 White Light Festival.

There will be a post-performance discussion with Libby McDonnell and Elizabeth Streb on Thursday, October 24.

En Masse (U.S. premiere)

Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 7:30 pm

Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 7:30 pm

Friday, October 25, 2019 at 7:30 pm

Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College

Circa

Robert Murray, tenor

Tamara-Anna Cislowska, Michael Harvey, piano

Created by Yaron Lifschitz with the Circa Ensemble

Music by Franz Schubert, Klara Lewis, and Igor Stravinsky
Yaron Lifschitz, direction and stage design
Yaron Lifschitz and Richard Clarke, lighting design
Libby McDonnell, associate director and costume design

Performance length: One hour and 50 minutes, including intermission

Endowment support for the White Light Festival presentation of En Masse is provided by the Blavatnik Family Foundation Fund for Dance.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts 2019 White Light Festival will run October 19 through November 24. For its tenth anniversary season, the multidisciplinary festival will feature events presented in eight venues across the city, including U.S. and New York premieres and the return of festival favorites.

"The resonance of the White Light Festival has only deepened during its first decade, as we have moved into far more challenging times here and around the world," said Jane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic Director of Lincoln Center. "The Festival's central theme, namely the singular capacity of artistic expression to illuminate what is inside ourselves and connect us to others, is more relevant than ever. This 10th anniversary edition spanning disparate countries, cultures, disciplines, and genres emphasizes that the elevation of the spirit the arts inspires uniquely unites us and expands who we are."