Periapsis Announces OPEN SERIES 2017

Alison Cook Beatty Dance, joined by guest artists of the New York City dance community, musical ensemble group Tenth Intervention, and composer Dorian Wallace, will perform a 20-minute excerpt of the Second Act of MAHAWAY: Spring Eternal within the Periapsis Open Series. Other collaborative artists on the program presenting work are: Julia Bengtsson with composer Charlotte Mundy, Belinda McGuire Dance Projects, and Barbara Gail Montero with composer Dmitri Tymoczko.

Artistic Director Alison Cook-Beatty commented, "I am so excited to be working with composer Dorian Wallace as part of Periapsis Open Series 2017, performing the Second Act of MAHAWAY: Spring Eternal. This is by far the largest scale group piece I have worked on with dancers, musicians, composer, and costume designer. In 2013, when I set out to begin choreographing a dance celebrating the 100th anniversary of The Rite of Spring, I knew I would need a community of artists. In the 2017 cast, you will see we have dancers of all ages, abilities, and stylistic backgrounds. All of this brings the group together and I think you will be surprised to see how beautiful people's differences are and how the arts connects people, cultures, and ideas. MAHAWAY: Spring Eternal is about community and the power of the group within society. As with this dance, communities have the power to make changes and work together."

MAHAWAY: Spring Eternal, features 23 dancers in hand-painted costumes designed by Zoe Alexandra with support from Sansha, a leading global dancewear brand. The original score is by composer Dorian Wallace and performed live by the six-member musical ensemble group Tenth Intervention. MAHAWAY: Spring Eternal is a commemorative dance and musical celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Paris premiere of Igor Stravinsky's and Vaslav Nijinsky's "The Rite of Spring". The dance storyline is inspired by the Mayan folktale, The Jaguar and the Little Skunk, Tales and Legends of the Q'anjob'al Maya.

About Alison Cook Beatty Dance:

Alison Cook Beatty Dance, founded in 2012, is a classically based modern dance company exploring the universal human condition through expansive and emotionally driven movement grounded in American modern dance. The healing and transformational power of the arts inspires the company to work with diverse groups within the community, in addition to collaborative efforts with other artists. Under the artistic direction of Alison Cook-Beatty, her choreography has been commissioned by professional companies and universities such as Ballet Next for its Joyce Theater season, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, and The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. The company has toured throughout the United States. Locally, the company has performed at New York Live Arts, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Salvatore Capezio Theater at Peridance, the 92nd Street Y, The Martha Graham Studio Theater, The Theater at The 14th Street Y, Battery Dance Festival, and Gibney Dance POP Performance Series, and other performance venues.

About Periapsis Open Series:

The Periapsis Open Series, a program of Periapsis Music and Dance, is a paid performance opportunity for New York City-based choreographers who are collaborating with composers and/or performing with live music. Artists are selected through an open application process, curated by Jonathan Howard Katz. The Periapsis Open Series is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.