The Joyce Theater Foundation presents Brian Brooks Dance

The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) is thrilled to present Brian Brooks Dance, under the direction of award-winning choreographer Brian Brooks, from March 14-18. The program for this engagement will feature two works by Brooks including the New York premiere of Prelude. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$46, 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.

This engagement marks the second opportunity to Pay What You Decide. On Sunday, March 18 at 2pm, patrons will have the option to participate in the initiative which seeks to promote more adventurous performance selections, encouraging art seekers to take a chance on a show they might not have seen otherwise. Instead of paying a fixed price before coming to the theater, patrons are able to see the show, and decide what to pay afterwards. Tickets for the Pay What You Decide performance can be arranged by visiting: Joyce.org/PWYD.

A 2013 Guggenheim Fellow, NY City Center Fellow, and 2013-2014 Joyce Theater Creative Residency, acclaimed choreographer Brian Brooks returns to The Joyce with the New York premiere of his latest work, Prelude. Commissioned by Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, where Brooks is currently serving as the inaugural Choreographer-in-Residence, Prelude explores the idea of undoing one's action. Featuring designs by longtime collaborators Karen Young (costumes) and Joe Levasseur (lighting), the work inhabits an unraveling world in a perpetual state of rewind, in which nine dancers trace actions back to their moment of inception.

In addition, the evening will feature a revival of Division, created during Brooks' Creative Residency at The Joyce with a world premiere in 2015. Set to an original score by Jerome Begin, Division is danced by a cast of six who navigate an ever-shifting maze made of movable, hand-held surfaces.

The Brian Brooks World Premiere of One Line Drawn was commissioned for Miami City Ballet by the Harris Theater for Music and Dance with support from the Jay Franke and David Herro Choreographer in Residence Fund through the Imagine campaign.

ABOUT Brian Brooks

Brian Brooks is the inaugural Choreographer-in-Residence at Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance. This innovative three-year fellowship supports several commissions for Brooks, including new works for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Miami City Ballet, and his own New York-based group. A 2013 Guggenheim Fellow, other recent awards include a NY City Center Fellowship, Joyce Theater Creative Residency, and Mellon Foundation Creative Artist Fellowship. Brooks' work has toured internationally since 2002 with presentations by BAM's Next Wave Festival, The Joyce Theater, Jacob's Pillow, the American Dance Festival, NY City Center Fall for Dance Festival, and the Works and Process series at the Guggenheim Museum, among others. Lumberyard Performing Arts (formerly American Dance Institute) has provided ongoing support through commissioned premieres and Incubator Production Residencies. Beyond his company, Brooks has developed work with renowned ballet dancers, actors, and student groups. Damian Woetzel/Vail International Dance Festival has commissioned him to create three works featuring dancers from New York City Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet, including First Fall, in which he dances with former NY City Ballet Principal Wendy Whelan. He is in his fifth year collaborating and touring with Whelan, currently performing an evening of duets accompanied by the string quartet Brooklyn Rider. Brooks has choreographed off-Broadway Shakespeare productions for Theatre for a New Audience including A Midsummer Night's Dream (2013), directed by Julie Taymor, and Pericles (2016), directed by Trevor Nunn. He has created dances for Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech, The Juilliard School, Boston Conservatory, The School at Jacob's Pillow, Harvard University, and many others. Brooks dedicated 12 years as a Teaching Artist at Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education and has been on part-time faculty at Rutgers University and Princeton University. He learned how to run up walls and fly off a trampoline while performing for three years with daredevil choreographer Elizabeth Streb.
ABOUT THE Joyce Theater Foundation

The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community for over three decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and The Joyce renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also presented dance at Lincoln Center since 2012, and launched Joyce Unleashed in 2014 to feature emerging and experimental artists. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K-12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce's annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 150,000.

Performances of Brian Brooks Dance will be March 14-18 at The Joyce Theater (175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street) according to the following schedule: Wednesday at 7:30pm; Thursday through Saturday at 8pm; and Sunday at 2pm. There will be a post-performance Curtain Chat with Brian Brooks Dance on Thursday, March 15, which is open to all patrons attending that evening's performance. Tickets range in price from $10-$46 and can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at (212) 242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. There will be a Pay What You Decide (PWYD) option available on Sunday, March 18 at 2pm. Instead of paying a fixed price before coming to the theater, patrons are able to see the show, and decide what to pay afterwards. Tickets for the Pay What You Decide performance can be arranged through Joyce.org/PWYD.

The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street.

For more information, please visit www.Joyce.org.