Lar Lubovitch Dance Company To Present A Digital Program Of Highlights From Three Acclaimed Works

The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company will present a unique compilation of highlights from the broadcast premieres of three acclaimed works by Lar Lubovitch including the duet from Concerto Six Twenty-Two, danced by the Lubovitch company; Othello, performed by San Francisco Ballet; and The Planets, created for an ensemble of both ice skaters and non-skating dancers from the US and Canada.

The free, on-demand program will premiere on Friday, May 21, at 7:30pm EDT and will be available to watch for 10 days only through Friday, May 31, at 7:30pm EDT. Reservations are required at www.lubovitch.org.

Concerto Six Twenty-Two received its world premiere at Carnegie Hall in 1986. The duet from Concerto Six Twenty-Two was subsequently performed in 1987 at the Dancing for Life event at the New York State Theatre, the first-ever response to the AIDS crisis by the dance community. The event, conceived and initiated by Lubovitch, united 13 different companies to raise money for AIDS care, research, and education. The male duet gave the work special resonance in the face of the AIDS crisis, even though the theme is timeless. Over the past 35 years, the dance has been performed around the world by both the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and by more than 20 other companies. This BBC recording from 1988 features the duet performed by the Lubovitch company's original cast, Sylvain Lafortune and Rick Michalek.

Lubovitch's Othello received its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1997. The acclaimed evening-length ballet, with an original score by Academy Award-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal, was a joint production of the Lubovitch company, American Ballet Theatre, and San Francisco Ballet. The dance was filmed by PBS and broadcast nationwide in 2002. This recording features scenes from Act III performed by Desmond Richardson (Othello) and the San Francisco Ballet.

In addition to his achievements on the concert stage, in film, and on Broadway, Lubovitch has created award-winning ice-dancing works for Olympians including John Curry, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Brian Orser, JoJo Starbuck, and Paul Wylie. His feature-length ice-dance specials for television include The Planets for A&E, which was nominated for an International Emmy Award, a Cable AceAward, and a Grammy Award. The Planets was broadcast throughout Canada and the US in 1994. This special screening features the Venus section with a cast of skaters led by Olympic medalists Paul and Isabelle Duchesnay, and dancers led by Sonia Rodriguez (National Ballet of Canada), who were assembled specially for the production.

Lar Lubovitch is one of America's most versatile and widely seen choreographers. He founded the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company in 1968. Over 53 years it has gained an international reputation as one of America's top dance companies, produced more than 120 dances, and performed before millions across the US and in over 40 countries. Many other major companies throughout the world have performed the company's dances, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Joffrey Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, and more. Lubovitch has created ice-dancing works for Olympians John Curry, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Brian Orser, JoJo Starbuck, and Paul Wylie, and he has created feature-length ice-dance specials for television: The Planets for A&E and The Sleeping Beauty for PBS and Anglia TV, Great Britain. His theater and film work includes Sondheim/Lapine's Into the Woods (Tony Award nomination), The Red Shoes (Astaire Award), the Tony Award-winning revival of The King and I (on Broadway and in London's West End), Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame in Berlin, and Robert Altman's movie The Company (American Choreography Award). In 2016, he premiered The Bronze Horseman, based on the Pushkin poem, for the Mikhailovsky Ballet in Russia. In 1987, Lubovitch conceived Dancing for Life, which took place at Lincoln Center. It was the first response by the dance community to the AIDS crisis, raising over one million dollars. Together with Jay Franke, in 2007 Lubovitch created the Chicago Dancing Festival in collaboration with the City of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art. It presented 10 seasons entirely free to the public.

Lubovitch is the recipient of numerous awards. Among the most recent: In 2011, he was named a Ford Fellow by United States Artists and also received the Dance/USA Honors Award. In 2012, his dance Crisis Variations was awarded the Prix Benois de la Danse for outstanding choreography at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. In 2013, the American Dance Guild honored him for lifetime achievement, and in 2014 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by The Juilliard School in New York City. In 2016, he received the Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement and the Dance Magazine Award, and was named one of America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures by the Dance Heritage Coalition. He was appointed a Distinguished Professor of Dance at UC/Irvine in 2016. In honor of his company's 50th anniversary, in 2018 he was presented with the Martha Graham Award for lifetime achievement.

For more information about the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, visit www.lubovitch.org.