Company C Contemporary Ballet Announces 2014 Season
By: Christina Mancuso Jul. 25, 2013
Company C Contemporary Ballet founder and Artistic Director Charles Anderson has announced details of the Company's 2014 season of two programs plus a benefit gala in San Francisco and Walnut Creek with performances January 30 through May 11, 2014, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and ODC Theater in San Francisco and the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. The 12th season will feature a wide range of the kinds of ballets that have set the barre high for this 14-member Bay Area Company, which will return to New York for its third season there at the Joyce Theater August 9 and 10. Theatricality, precision technique, bravura performance, wit and a flair for the off-beat and innovative will be embodied in world premieres by Anderson, Susan Jaffe, Maurice Causey and Charles Moulton, as well as in the return of repertory favorites by Anderson, Patrick Corbin, Alexandre Proia, Charles Moulton and Yuri Zhukov. The complete 2014 season schedule may be found below. For more details about Company C and the 2014 season, visitwww.companycballet.org.
Railroad Joint (2013) by Yuri Zhukov
Nine Person Precision Ball Passing (1980) by Charles Moulton
Boléro (2007) by Charles Anderson Former American Ballet Theatre star Susan Jaffe has emerged as a choreographic talent to watch who is taking exhilarating classical technique beyond its boundaries to make decidedly edgy and finely crafted dances. Yuri Zhukov's Railroad Joint was a hit of Company C's 2013 Gala performance, and this expanded version will now take its place on the main stage season set to a trance-like score that combines electronic music with train sounds and superbly athletic dancing. Nine Person Precision Ball Passing is a taut and riveting exploration of the finer points of movement as nine dancers circulate colorful balls in a witty, rapid-fire stream that is part dance and part living puzzle. Completing the program is Charles Anderson's signature movement essay to Ravel's iconic score.
LESHER CENTER FOR THE ARTS
1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Thursday, January 30, 2014 at 8 p.m.Friday, January 31, 2014 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, February 1 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Box Office: Lesher Center for the Arts
1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94596
925.943.SHOW (7469)
Tickets: $25, $38, $48
YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS
LAM Research Center Theater
701 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
Thursday, February 13 at 8 p.m.
Friday, February 14 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, February 15 at 6 p.m. (special gala performance)
Sunday, February 16 at 3 p.m.
Box Office: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103
www.ybca.org or 415.978.ARTS(2787)
Tickets: $25, $38 and $48
Benefit GalaSaturday, February 15, at 6 p.m.
LAM Research Theater, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Repertoire to be announced. A special performance, cocktail party, dinner and auction fill this evening to benefit Company C Contemporary Ballet.
WORLD PREMIERE (title to be announced) by Charles Moulton
Polyglot (2013) by Charles Anderson
Rhapsody in Blue (2007) by Alexandre Proia
Partly Cloudy Suite (2005) by Patrick Corbin Maurice Causey's slick, sleek and hard-edged Ominous Rumblings of Discontent was a hit of Company C's 2011 season. The European dance-maker returns with a new ballet created especially for the Company set to a score by Gabriel Prokofiev, grandson of the legendary Russian composer, Sergei Prokofiev. Movement magician Charles Moulton will also create a new work for the program. Three works that show the range of Company C artists' technique and performance mettle include Anderson's Polyglot, which cleverly investigates different linguistic accents in a sound score performed live by Amy Walker. Alexandre Proia's Rhapsody in Blue deftly interprets Gershwin's animated score and Company C audience favorite Patrick Corbin returns with his dizzyingly athleticPartly Cloudy Suite, set to music by Marsha Groethe. Venues, Dates, Times:
ODC THEATER
3153 17th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Friday, April 25 at 8 p.m.Saturday, April 26 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Thursday, May 1 at 8 p.m.
Friday, May 2 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 3 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 4 at 3 p.m.
Box Office:
ODC Theater
3153 17th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Tickets: $25, $38, $48LESHER CENTER FOR THE ARTS
1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 8 p.m.Friday, May 9, 2014 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 10 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 11 at 1 p.m.
Box Office: Lesher Center for the Arts
1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94596
925.943.SHOW (7469)
Tickets: $25, $38, $48
ALL INDIVIDUAL TICKETS ON SALE October 1, 2013
SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW
Subscribers enjoy the best seats in the house, special rates and exclusive benefits. Subscriptions are priced from $48 to $76.80. Visit www.companycballet.org or call 925-954-7368.
About Company C Contemporary Ballet
Beauty, passion, wit, and drama converge in the stunning performances of California's Company C Contemporary Ballet. Dynamic, adventurous, contemporary choreography is the hallmark of the Company led by founder and Artistic Director Charles Anderson, a former member of the New York City Ballet. The fourteen-member ensemble of classically trained dancers from across the country performs a diverse repertoire of moving, provocative, sensual, and entertaining contemporary choreography. This repertoire includes master works by some of the most accomplished contemporary choreographers of today, including Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Antony Tudor, David Parsons, Lar Lubovitch and Daniel Ezralow as well as new works commissioned from talented choreographers such as former New York City Ballet Soloist Alexandre Proia, former Paul Taylor Dancer Patrick Corbin, former Frankfurt Ballet principal dancer Maurice Causey and Gregory Dawson, formerly of Alonzo King LINES Ballet. The Company's work has been nominated for seven Isadora Duncan Awards and has been named Best in the East Bay by Diablo Magazine five times. In 2010, the Company was named one of "25 to Watch" by Dance Magazine and will return to New York for its third season there at the Joyce Theater August 9 and 10, 2013. Charles Anderson founded Company C Contemporary Ballet in 2001 after dancing with the New York City Ballet from 1985-93, performing works of George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins and many other notable choreographers. Anderson began choreographing ballets while still a dancer with the New York City Ballet, and he co-founded and acted as artistic director for Ballet, Inc. in New York, where he choreographed many of his early works. He later founded Company C Contemporary Ballet in 2002, where he currently serves as Artistic Director. In addition to his work as a dancer, choreographer and teacher, Anderson has served on the board of governors for the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), created costumes for the New York City Ballet's Diamond Project, been an adjudicator and instructor for the Bob Fosse Scholarship Program and served as a panelist for the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Grant. Guest ChoreographersMaurice Causey
Based in Europe, American-born choreographer Maurice Causey has created original pieces for Stockholm 59 North, O Dance, Company C, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HS2), Milwaukee Ballet, Northwest Dance Project, the Augsburg Ballet, iMEE, the Nederlands Dans Theater and Switzerland's Tanz Luzerner Theater. Throughout the 1990s, Maurice was a Principal Dancer with Ballet Frankfurt, where he danced virtually the entire William Forsythe repertoire and also developed a unique knowledge of improvisational skills and avant-garde dance theatre. With Forsythe, Maurice co-choreographed various works including Eidos Telos, Sleepers Guts, and Alien Action. Post-Frankfurt, Maurice was a Principal Dancer with the Gothenburg Ballet in Sweden, dancing innovative work by various choreographers including Wayne McGregor, Jacopo Godani and Tero Saarinen. A few years ago, he retired as a full-time dancer and has since worked as Ballet Master for the Royal Swedish Ballet, and as Ballet Master for the Nederlands Dans Theater I. He continues to teach workshops around the world on the Forsythe Improvisational Technologies.
Patrick Corbin
Patrick Corbin was born and grew up in Potomac, Maryland. He began his dance training under the direction of Bernard Sprigg at the District of Columbia City Ballet in 1977 and continued at the Washington School of Ballet with Mary Day and Alistair Munro. In 1983, Corbin moved to New York City to study at the School of American Ballet and in 1984 he joined ABT II. In 1985, he joined the Joffrey Ballet and was introduced to the choreography of Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, Mark Morris, Frederick Ashton, Laura Dean, Leonide Massine, Vaslav Nijinsky, Pilobolus and Paul Taylor. He joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in 1989 and over the next fifteen years became one of its most celebrated artists. During this period, he was featured in five PBS Great Performances and in the Academy Award nominated documentary Dancemaker and received the New York Performance Award for Sustained Achievement with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Since retiring from the Taylor Company in 2005, Corbin has danced with Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and stages his own work and the work of Paul Taylor on companies throughout the world. He is also Artistic Director of CorbinDances.
Susan Jaffe Susan Jaffe was born in Washington, D.C., and began her dance training at the Maryland School of Ballet. She joined American Ballet Theatre II in 1978 and in 1980, at the invitation of Mikhail Baryshnikov, she joined American Ballet Theatre and became well known in the dance world at an extremely young age. Her debut in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center was made when she was plucked from the corps for the 1980 opening night to dance opposite recently defected Alexander Godunov in the pas de deux, "Pas d'Esclave," from Le Corsaire. She has received critical praise for her interpretations of such roles as: Odette/Odile (Swan Lake), Kitri (Don Quixote), Nikiya & Gamzatti (La Bayadere), Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty), Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), Swanhilda (Coppelia), Tatiana (John Cranko's Eugene Onegin), Kate (Taming of the Shrew), and the title roles in Giselle, La Sylphide, and Kenneth MacMillan's Anastasia and Manon. Ms. Jaffe has also worked with and performed the repertoire of many of the 20th century's most prominent choreographers, including George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, Kenneth MacMillan, Jerome Robbins, Roland Petit, Twyla Tharp, Nacho Duato, Jiri Kilyan and James Kudelka. Ms. Jaffe's European engagements have included performances with The Royal Ballet, The Kirov Ballet, The Stuttgart Ballet, The Munich State Opera Ballet, La Scala Ballet in Milan, The Vienna State Opera Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, The Royal Swedish Ballet, and The English National Ballet. Since July of 2012, Jaffe has served as Dean of the School of Dance at the University of North Carolina's School of the Arts. Charles Moulton Charles Moulton began his professional career as a dancer in 1972 with Contemporary Dancers Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Moving to New York in 1973, he joined the Merce Cunningham Company, remaining three years, 1973-76. An outstanding athlete in high school, Moulton looked to sports and games as the inspiration for his first work. Premiered in 1979, Three Person Precision Ball Passing immediately established him as a leader of the post-modern movement. Moulton founded his own company in 1978 and for the next ten years performed in New York and toured extensively in the US and Europe. Moulton has also created and set works on Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Project, The Joffrey Ballet, The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, The Ohio Ballet, Bat Sheva (Israel), North Carolina Dance Theater, Concert Dance Company (Boston), The Path Dance Company, Le Ballet Theatre du Silence (La Rochelle), The Joyce Trisler Dance Company, The Cloud Gate Dance Theater (Taiwan), Ballet Omaha, The Milwaukee Ballet and The Oregon Ballet Theater. Moulton has directed several works for television and film, including the choreography for the movie Matrix II Reloaded. He has received numerous awards for his work, including a 1983 Guggenheim Award and a Los Angeles Film Festival Blue Ribbon for his collaboration with John Sanborn and Mary Perillo, Visual Shuffle/Fractured Variations.Alexandre ProiaBorn in France, Alexandre Proia is a graduate of the School of Paris Opera Ballet. He was a member of the Boston Ballet from 1981-83 and was a featured dancer with the New York City Ballet from 1984-95, where he danced the Company's extensive repertoire, including George Balanchine's Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Jewels, The Four Temperaments, Peter Martins Poulenc Sonata, Fearful Symmetries, Ecstatic Orange and Jerome Robbins' Afternoon of A Faun, Ives Song and In Memory of... . Since retiring from New York City Ballet in 1995, Proia has performed, taught and choreographed for numerous companies and schools across the globe including New York City Ballet, School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Stars of Paris Opera, the Paris Opera Ballet, Teatro Colon (Buenos Aries) Maggio Danza (Florence), Cape Town City Ballet (SA), Ballettakademien (Stockholm), the Julliard School, the Alvin Ailey School, Steps on Broadway, the Lines Ballet School (San Francisco), the New Jersey Ballet, Bordeaux Opera Ballet and the Joffrey School in New York. In April 2013, he became the Artistic Director and resident choreographer of the Georgia Ballet company and school.
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