New York Theatre Ballet Presents Spring 2019 REP At Danspace Project

New York Theatre Ballet (Diana Byer, Founder and Artistic Director) announces its return to Danspace Project for their fifth season with their REP program (March 14-16), this year featuring Sir Richard Alston's The Seasons, Matthew Nash's The Elements of Style, and Merce Cunningham's Scramble (1967). As the "small but mighty" (The New York Times) company gears up to celebrate its 40th Anniversary, they are also pleased to announce that Sir Richard Alston-a choreographer who has spent "half century in the rigorous pursuit of purity in movement" (The Guardian), and who was knighted in this New Year's Honours-has accepted the post of Resident Choreographer for the next two seasons.

Alston's first commissioned work for New York Theatre Ballet, A Rugged Flourish, premiered in 2011, and his second, The Seasons, was first performed last year. He has also remounted Light Flooding Into Darkened Rooms and Such Longing for NYTB. Alston's The Seasons (dedicated to the memory of Alston's friend, writer and critic David Vaughan) is one of the three dances in this year's REP at Danspace Project, and was deemed one of the Best Dance Picks of 2018 by The New York Times. A serene and limpid meditation on the cycle of a year in Nature, the score (by John Cage, also used in a very early Cunningham dance of the same name) has an extraordinary clarity with images of Quiescence (Winter), Creation (Spring), Preservation (Summer) and, intriguingly, Destruction (Fall), which all come from Indian philosophical thought. The Seasons will be danced by Alexis Branagan, Giulia Faria, Dawn Gierling Milatin, Erez Milatin, Joshua Andino Nieto, Sean Stewart, and Amanda Treiber. The dance features costume design by Sylvia Taalsohn Nolan and lighting by Kelly Martin; Michael Scales (piano) will perform Cage's score.

Alston says, "The Seasons was written by John Cage for Lincoln Kirstein in 1947 and was choreographed by Merce Cunningham for Ballet Society. Only one year earlier Balanchine had choreographed one of his true masterpieces The Four Temperaments. One year earlier than that the English choreographer Frederick Ashton had created one of his masterpieces, Symphonic Variations, with a detailed synopsis based on, guess what? - the four seasons. Ashton's ballet was made very much in the aftermath of the War, with a sense of the austerity of Winter giving way to a future more hopeful. These thoughts were in my head as I made this ballet for David [Vaughan]...who so often spoke of the 'ABC' of his most cherished choreographers, Ashton, Balanchine and Cunningham."

Cunningham's Scramble (1967) is presented by NYTB as part of the Merce Cunningham Centennial, which unites artists, companies, and cultural and educational institutions in a multifaceted display and celebration of Cunningham's vital impact. Scramble is first piece whose designer, Frank Stella, was selected by Jasper Johns after his appointment as artistic advisor of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. It consists of eighteen sections whose order could be changed, or omitted. A live recording of the music by Toshi Ichiyanagi, Activities for Orchestra (featuring John Cage, David Behrman, David Tudor, Gordon Mumma, Malcolm Goldstein, and Max Neuhaus) will be played for the NYTB performance. Scramble will be danced by Alexis Branagan, Giulia Faria, Monica Lima, Dawn Gierling Milatin, Erez Milatin, Joshua Andino Nieto, Sean Stewart, and Amanda Treiber. The performance will be staged by Jennifer Goggans (a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 2000 until its closure in 2011), with lighting by Beverly Emmons.

REP performances will also include choreographer/composer Matthew Nash's 1981 take on William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White's classic guide to writing, The Elements of Style. Called a "dance maverick" by Dance Magazine, Nash is known for his quick wit, fluent movement style, and in-depth background in classical and contemporary styles. The Elements of Style will be narrated by Dirk Lumbard, and performed by Dawn Gierling Milatin, Sean Stewart, and Amanda Treiber,with music by Nash performed by Michael Scales, costume design by Sylvia Taalsohn Nolan and lighting design by Kelly Martin.

Nash describes, "The directives set forth in Strunk's book [enlarged and revised by White for Macmillan Publishing Company in 1959] are much the same as the principles my dancing teachers emphasized in their technique and composition classes: clarity, economy, courage, balance, and most importantly, craftsmanship over self-expression. I loved these principles as I loved my teachers who taught me more than just dancing. They enabled me to forge a career, create ballets, and live a life that took me far beyond the ballet studio. And so I love The Elements of Style which, in turn, offers life lessons far beyond the craft of composition. Elements applies to us all."

NYTB also announces other company news: William Whitener has joined the artistic staff this season as Artistic Advisor and Rehearsal Director. The scope of his contribution to Diana Byer's team is invaluable, with his collected wisdom as a former lead dancer with Twyla Tharp, Joffrey Ballet, and Artistic Director of Kansas City Ballet for 17 years. Meanwhile, veteran performing arts producer Alyce Dissette, has just reached her first Anniversary as NYTB's Executive Director.

Performances will take place March 14-16 at 8pm at Danspace Project (131 E 10th Street). Tickets are $25 general and $15 for Danspace Project members, and can be purchased at nytb.org.