American Dance Machine for the 21st Century (ADM21) will make its Joyce Theater debut,November 11 - 16, with eight performances of show-stopping musical theater dance numbers by legendary choreographers including Rob Ashford, Michael Bennett, Patricia Birch, Gower Champion, Jack Cole, Henry LeTang, Jerry Mitchell, Jerome Robbins, Susan Stroman and more.
Each piece will be coached by artists intimately involved in their original productions, will be performed by guest stars from the musical theater and dance worlds (to be announced), and will feature live music.
Friday and Saturday evening performances only will include the numbers "One-on-One" from Oh, Calcutta!, choreographed by Margo Sappington; and "The Production Code" from Day in Hollywood, Night in the Ukraine choreographed by Tommy Tune. Complete programing will be announced at a later date.
American Dance Machine for the 21st Century (ADM21) was founded by Artistic Producer Nikki Feirt Atkins in 2012 and is dedicated to creating a living and vibrant archive of classic and current notable musical theater choreography. To date, ADM21 has worked with artists such as Susan Stroman, Donna McKechnie, Robert La Fosse, Marge Champion, Nicole Fosse and Kathryn Doby to reconstruct the original choreography of Michael Bennett's "Music and the Mirror" from A Chorus Line; Jerome Robbins' "Mr. Monotony" from Jerome Robbins' Broadway; Susan Stroman's "Simply Irresistible" from Contact; Bob Fosse's "Beat me Daddy Eight to the Bar" fromBig Deal; and Michael Bennett's "Turkey Lurkey Time" from Promises, Promises recreated by the original featured dancers, Margo Sappington, Donna McKechnie and Baayork Lee.
The ADM21 Dance Company will continue to present workshop presentations and full-length productions with a goal of demonstrating the value of theater dance choreography through careful research and reconstruction with respect to how the dance relates to the source of the choreographers inspiration and will do justice to those works that stand alone as outstanding entertainment.
Currently plans are to maintain a core company of dancers joined by guest artists proficient in the style and technical requirements of each dance piece. Nikki Feirt Atkins and Margo Sappington are continuing the legacy of the late Lee Theodore, who established The American Dance Machine in 1976. Theodore created a "Living Archive" of musical theater dance to address her belief that "many great choreographic works are lost with the musical they once embellished." Of concern was that the artistry of each dance would vanish with the artists who created them. That was the impetus that drove The American Dance Machine from its pilot program in 1976 to its final days following the death of Lee Theodore in the late 1980's.
The performance schedule is as follows: Tuesday, November 11 and Wednesday, November 12 at 7:30 pm; Thursday, November 13 at 7 pm; Friday, November 14 at 8 pm; Saturday, November 15 at 2 pm (family matinee) and 8 pm; andSunday, November 16 at 2 pm and 7:30 pm.
Tickets range from $10 -$59 and are available by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 or online at www.joyce.org. ($10 tickets are only available by phone, via JoyceCharge). Ticket price is subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street. For more info, please visit Joyce.org. For further information on the company, visitwww.americandancemachine21.org
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