The Joyce Presents Two-Week AUSTRALIA FESTIVAL April 29-May 12

The Joyce Theater Foundation (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) is pleased to welcome three programs from Down Under for its Australia Festival from April 29-May 12 at The Joyce Theater. Three companies-Dancenorth and The Australian Ballet, making their Joyce debuts; and Australian Dance Theatre, returning for the first time since 2005-will take the stage during the two-week celebration. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$75, can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information, please visit www.Joyce.org.

Continuing its commitment to showcasing international dance, The Joyce Theater welcomes three of Australia's most respected companies for three distinct programs during the two-week Australia Festival. Unrehearsed audience volunteers will join Dancenorth, making its Joyce debut with Lucy Guerin and Gideon Obarzanek's Attractor, kicking off the festivities from April 29-May 1. Australian Dance Theatre, returning to The Joyce after nearly 15 years, follows from May 3-6with The Beginning of Nature, set to a score with text sung in Kaurna, the first language of their home, the Adelaide Plains. Closing out the festival is the Joyce debut of The Australian Ballet, recipient of The Joyce Theater's Rudolf Nureyev Prize for New Dance, presenting a triple bill of works by Australian choreographers from May 7-12.

The following is a complete schedule for The Joyce Theater's Australia Festival:

Dancenorth

Attractor

April 29-May 1

Mon-Wed 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Tue, Apr 30

Pay What You Decide: Wed, May 1

Tickets: $10-$40

Melbourne natives Lucy Guerin and Gideon Obarzanek combine their choreographic talents with Indonesian music duo Senyawa to create the evening-length work Attractor. Featuring one of Australia's leading contemporary dance companies, Dancenorth -making its Joyce Theater debut - dancers turn the Javanese tradition of entering trance through dance into an accessible, present-day ritual. Audience volunteers are selected at each performance to take the stage completely unrehearsed alongside the dancers, reinstating dance as a vital component of secular expression.

Australian Dance Theatre

The Beginning of Nature

May 3-6

Fri 8pm; Sat 2pm & 8pm; Sun 2pm; Mon 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Sat, May 4 (after 2pm performance)

Tickets: $10-$50

The powerful and long-running Australian Dance Theatre explore the earth's rhythms and rituals in The Beginning of Nature. Set to an original spell-binding score sung in Kaurna-the first language of the Adelaide Plains, home to ADT-explores the complex and ever-evolving relationship humans have with the natural world around them. Dancers' movement ebbs and flows from explosive to graceful, reflecting the symphony of rhythms of nature and life itself in this exhilarating performance which marks the company's return to The Joyce stage after almost 15 years.

The Australian Ballet

May 9-12

Thu-Fri 8pm; Sat 2pm & 8pm; Sun 2pm & 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Fri, May 10

Tickets: $10-$75

Known equally for classical works and commissions, The Australian Ballet makes its Joyce debut with a trio of works by the company's resident choreographers. Supported by The Joyce Theater's Nureyev Prize, a $25,000 commissioning grant that The Joyce Theater Foundation gives to a large-scale dance company to help support the creation of a medium scale work that they will perform at The Joyce, Alice Topp's Aurum is inspired by the Japanese art of repairing cracked pottery with precious metals, known as kintsugi. Stephen Baynes' award-winning Unspoken Dialoguesfollows, with a new work by Tim Harbour completing the bill.