Stephen Petronio Company to Present Five New Dance Works in The Joyce Theater's 2021 Digital Season

Stephen Petronio Company is presenting five dance works newly created or reimagined in the wake of the global pandemic as part of The Joyce Theater's 2021 digital season from May 13-26 at www.Joyce.org. All works were filmed on site at the Petronio Residency Center and Hudson Hall in upstate New York while following strict Covid-19 safety protocols during a series of "bubble residencies." Individually and cumulatively, the works - film and stage versions of a new duet, Are You Lonesome Tonight; a reimagining of the 1993 solo, Love Me Tender; the debut of New Prayer For Now (Part 1); and Trisha Brown's Group Primary Accumulation, marking the 7th season of Petronio's Bloodlines - are a journal grappling with the past year, expressing a longing for human connection, and highlighting the unique ways a body-in-motion can transcend our current moment.

Stephen Petronio Company's 2021 Joyce Theater season begins streaming at 8pm on Thursday, May 13 and will be available on-demand until 11:59pm on May 26. Also available for purchase on The Joyce Theater website is Stephen Petronio's In Absentia, a stunning new limited-edition book in collaboration with Sarah Silver and Rafael Weil, tracing Stephen Petronio Company's 2020 performance season that wasn't. Tickets for the performance are $25 per household; "In Absentia" is $250 and includes free on-demand access to the performance. To purchase tickets, please visit www.Joyce.org. For more information, please visit www.petron.io.

Stephen Petronio Company's 2021 Joyce Theater program of digital performances features two versions of a new duet, Are You Lonesome Tonight, set to the homonymous song performed by Elvis Presley. One version is a dance film co-directed by Stephen Petronio and Blake Martin. The second version, a collaboration between Stephen Petronio and filmmaker John Fitzgerald, adapts the duet for the stage. Are You Lonesome Tonight explores longing and intimacy as performers Ryan Pliss and Mac Twining dance through memories of being together.

Set to another iconic Elvis Presley tune, Love Me Tender was originally choreographed and performed by Petronio in 1993 as a prelude to a collaboration with Cindy Sherman called The King is Dead. The new version features Nicholas Sciscione and is filmed by John Fitzgerald. Both Love Me Tender and Are You Lonesome Tonight are part of a new suite of Petronio works set to Presley songs.

Petronio will also debut New Prayer For Now (Part 1). This full company work, also filmed by Fitzgerald, features music by Monstah Black inspired by Balm in Gilead by Harry Thacker Burleigh, Young People's Chorus of New York City, and Bridge Over Troubled Water by Paul Simon. New Prayer For Now (Part 1) is a four fronted work for virtual and live performance that will eventually allow for virtual participation of dancers from multiple locations.

Trisha Brown's 1973 work, Group Primary Accumulation, marks the 12th restaged work and 7th season of Petronio's Bloodlines.This autobiographical project not only honors the lineage of American postmodern dance, but also traces the influences and impulses that have shaped choreographer Stephen Petronio, an artist uniquely positioned to preserve this postmodern tradition. This variation of Brown's Primary Accumulation is performed in unison by four dancers placed equidistant from each other filmed from a long aerial view by John Fitzgerald. This is the first time a male body has been welcomed into this work.

The program will also include Pandemic Portraits, a film by Dancing Camera featuring Petronio dancers. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, dancers across the world have sheltered in place, unable to connect with each other and perform their art. Stephen Petronio Company dancers share their experiences while in "bubble residencies" at the Petronio Residency Center throughout this unprecedented time.

NEW LIMITED-EDITION BOOK IN ABSENTIA

Stephen Petronio presents In Absentia, in collaboration with Sarah Silver and Rafael Weil, tracing Stephen Petronio Company's 2020 performance season that wasn't. Featuring entries from Stephen's personal journals written in quarantine at the Petronio Residency Center, the text is paired with never-before-seen studio and behind-the-scenes photos by Sarah Silver and Grant Friedman in anticipation of our 2020 Joyce season that was preempted by Covid-19. This is a rare opportunity to support Stephen Petronio Company as it battles uncertainty through daunting times. Limited edition/100, Signed and Numbered.

Purchase In Absentia by Stephen Petronio and receive on-demand access to the streaming performances for free.