Jacob's Pillow Welcomes Havana-Based Malpaso Dance Company This Weekend

A charismatic new force in contemporary dance, Havana-based Malpaso Dance Company comes to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival's intimate Ted Shawn Theatre, this weekend, August 5-9. Defined by power, passion, and spotless technique, the company's program will include a new work by burgeoning choreographer and company Artistic Director Osnel Delgado with live music by GRAMMY Award-winning composer Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble. The company will also perform Under Fire, a new work by the ever-popular choreographer Trey McIntyre set to music by Boise-based singer/songwriter Grandma Kelsey. This engagement marks Malpaso Dance Company's Jacob's Pillow debut.

Malpaso Dance Company brings a diverse program that celebrates cultural collaboration, dazzling dance, and live music. Choreographed by Malpaso Dance Company's Artistic Director and one of Dance Magazine's "Top 25 to Watch" of 2015, Osnel Delgado's Despedida is set to an original score by Mexican-American composer Arturo O'Farrill and his Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, performed live. Taking inspiration from the eponymous poem by the award-winning Argentinian writer and recipient of the French Legion of Honour (1983) Jorge Luis Borges, Despedida showcases the company's signature virtuosic range in style from Brazilian capoeira to ballet where "agile dancers rise and spill to the floor with resiliency" (Gia Kourlas, The New York Times). O'Farrill's compositions "traverse pan-American styles and historical eras to draw connections all their own" (Jon Pareles, The New York Times) and his orchestra has been dubbed "the best jazz orchestra in existence" by The New Yorker. The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble includes Arturo O'Farrill on piano, Vince Cherico (drums), Carlo De Rosa (bass), Carlos Maldonado (percussion), Rafi Malkiel (trombone), Adam O'Farrill (trumpet), Ivan Renta (tenor saxophone), and Tony Rosa (percussion).

American choreographer Trey McIntyre's "engaging and provocative" (Karen Campbell, The Boston Globe) Under Fire is an intimate portrait of redemption and renewal. Set to popular covers and original works by Boise-based singer/songwriter Grandma Kelsey, the work includes renditions of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" and Ginuwine's "Pony" with "an alternately plaintive and playful air" (Robert Greskovic, The Wall Street Journal). Gia Kourlas of The New York Times states that Under Fire "builds gradually while never relinquishing its silky flow" and possesses a "meditative quality" and "illusion of weightlessness". Costumes are designed by former Lar Lubovitch Dance Company dancer Reid Bartelme, with lighting design by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Lighting Director Al Crawford. Under Fire is co-commissioned by The Joyce Theater and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.

Founded in 2012 by Osnel Delgado, Dailedys Carrazana, and Fernando Sáez, Malpaso Dance Company is committed to bringing the voice of Cuban contemporary dance into the present and global dance community. The company is based in Havana, Cuba and comprised of ten dancers, many of whom studied at Cuba's National Ballet School. Following their 2014 U.S. debut at The Joyce Theater, the troupe was praised for their "pristine technique" (Siobhan Burke, The New York Times) and "chameleon-like nature" (Amsterdam News, Charmaine Patricia Warren). Since 2014 and the improvement of Cuba-U.S. relations, Malpaso Dance Company has announced plans to tour across the United States during 2015/2016 including California, Ohio, Washington, Texas, Oregon, and Massachusetts.

Praised for his "finely kneaded movement, which almost makes you want to grab it in fistfuls" (Siobhan Burke, The New York Times), Malpaso Dance Company Artistic Director and co-founder Osnel Delgado serves as the resident choreographer for the company. An alumnus and current professor of the National Dance School in Cuba, Delgado has received prestigious awards for choreography including the Premio a Mejor Coreografia del Concurso Solamente Solos (Award for Best Solo Choreography) and el Premio Ramiro Guerra (Ramiro Guerra Prize). Recently noted as one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" of 2015, Delgado's choreographic style is "steeped in the island's distinctive style of modern dance, a blend of Graham and Afro-Cuban techniques" and lauded for his innate "vitality, fluidity, and musicality" (Jordan Levin, Dance Magazine).

Born in Mexico and raised in New York, Arturo O'Farrill is a pianist, composer, educator, and founder of the highly-esteemed nonprofit Afro Latin Jazz Alliance. O'Farrill received his training at the Manhattan School of Music, Brooklyn College Conservatory, and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. After playing piano with the Carla Bley Big Band from 1979 through 1983, he developed a career as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Turre, Freddy Cole, The Fort Apache Band, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Belafonte. O'Farrill went on to direct the Chico O'Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra in 1995, which recently concluded a 15-year residency at Birdland and preserved much of his father's music. Jon Pareles of The New York Times extols O'Farrill for his unparalleled artistry and ambition, "a magnificent player...sharp, splashy, and driving."

In 2002, O'Farrill created the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra for Jazz at Lincoln Center, and received GRAMMY Award nominations with the Orchestra in 2006, 2009, and 2011, earning GRAMMY Awards for Best Latin Jazz Album in both 2009 and 2015.

One of the most sought-after choreographers and artists working today, Trey McIntyre has garnered a number of awards and much acclaim including a United States Artists Wynn Fellow, a recipient of the Gold Medal of Lifetime Achievement from the National Society of Arts and Letters, two choreographic fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Choo-San Goh Award for Choreography. The Los Angeles Times called McIntyre a "bright light, a brainy ballet choreographer whose best works fuse visceral physicality with a deep and true humanism." McIntyre has served as choreographic associate for Houston Ballet (1989-2008) and resident choreographer for Oregon Ballet Theatre, Ballet Memphis, and The Washington Ballet. He has created a canon of works for some of the premier dance companies in the world including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Moscow Ballet Theatre, the State Ballet of Georgia, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Ballet de Santiago (Chile), Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Philadanco, Sacramento Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, and Smuin Ballet.

Under Fire choreographer Trey McIntyre debuted his company, Trey McIntyre Project, at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in 2005; the company gave their farewell performance during Festival 2014.

Malpaso Dance Company Executive Director and co-founder Fernando Sáez will be featured in the PillowTalk entitled It's Happening in Havana, Saturday, August 8 at 4pm. All PillowTalks are located in Blake's Barn; admission is free.

IF YOU GO:

Malpaso Dance Company
Ted Shawn Theatre
Wednesday, August 5 through Saturday August 8 at 8pm
Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9 at 2pm

· Free Pre-Show Talks with Jacob's Pillow Scholar-in-Residence Maura Keefe are offered in Blake's Barn 30 minutes before every performance.

· A Post-Show Q&A with members of Malpaso Dance Company and Scholar-in-Residence Maura Keefe will take place onstage on Friday, August 7.

· Tickets $45-$75. Now on sale online at jacobspillow.org, via phone at 413.243.0745, or in person at the Jacob's Pillow Box Office. A limited number of $19 Under 35 Friday tickets are available for August 7; limit 2 per person, must be between the ages of 18 and 35.

· Box Office Hours: Sunday through Tuesday, 11am-5pm, Wednesday through Saturday 11am-8pm.

Jacob's Pillow is located at 358 George Carter Road in Becket, MA, 01223 (10 minutes east on Route 20 from Mass Pike Exit 2). The Jacob's Pillow campus and theaters are handicapped accessible.

Jacob's Pillow, celebrating its 83rd Festival in 2015, is a National Historic Landmark, recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and home to America's longest-running international dance festival. Each Festival includes more than 50 national and international dance companies and 350 free and ticketed performances, talks, tours, classes, exhibits, and events. The School at Jacob's Pillow, one of the most prestigious professional dance training centers in the U.S., encompasses the diverse disciplines of Ballet, Cultural Traditions, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre Dance, as well as an Intern Program in various disciplines of arts administration, design, video, and production. The Pillow's extensive Archives, open year-round to the public, chronicle more than a century of dance in photographs, programs, books, costumes, audiotapes, and videos. Year-round Community Programs enrich the lives of children and adults through public classes, residencies in area schools, and an extensive schedule of free public events. Through Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion, a nationally-recognized program, Artist Educators work with Berkshire County teachers and students grades K-12, transforming curricula such as biology, literature, and history into kinesthetic and creative learning experiences. Creative Development Residencies, in which dance companies are invited to live and work at the Pillow and enjoy unlimited studio time; choreography commissions; and the annual $25,000 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award all support visionary dance artists and choreographers. Virtual Pillow is aimed at expanding global audiences for dance and offers the opportunity to experience dance and Jacob's Pillow from anywhere in the world via online interactive exhibits, global video networks, and social media. As part of the Virtual Pillow initiative, Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive is a curated online video collection of dance highlights from 1936 to today. On March 2, 2011, President Obama honored Jacob's Pillow with a National Medal of Arts, the highest arts award given by the United States Government, making the Pillow the first dance presenting organization to receive this prestigious award. For more information, visit www.jacobspillow.org.

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