The Joyce Theater Foundation Will Welcome Dorrance Dance for a Three Week Engagement
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Nov. 12, 2019
Just in time for the holidays, The Joyce Theater Foundation (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) welcomes the return of the always-thrilling Dorrance Dance for three weeks of merriment and cheer. With a festive world premiere capping off each evening of three mixed-bill programs, Michelle Dorrance and her collaborators will play The Joyce Theater from December 17-January 5. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$105, 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.
Following their smash-hit season at The Joyce in 2017, Dorrance Dance returns for a three-week engagement to celebrate the holidays and ring in the New Year with a jazz-infused program of enchanting tap dance works. Acclaimed choreographer and MacArthur Fellow Michelle Dorrance foregoes the traditional seasonal tunes, opting for Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's inspired interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite to score the company's world premiere reimagining of the enduring holiday favorite. With their hallmark imagination and innovation in tap dance, Dorrance Dance is poised to create a brand-new holiday tradition this season at The Joyce.
Rounding out the first week's program, Dorrance and her collaborators-Hannah Heller, Melinda Sullivan, and Josette Wiggan-Freund-pay tribute to another jazz great with the New York premiere of All Good Things Come to an End. The iconic music catalogue of Fats Waller sets the mood for a journey through tableaux, from "Cane and Able" to "The Myth of the American Dream," showcasing the rich, layered sound for which the quartet is known. Other highlights of this engagement include Elastic Times, an excerpt from the 2018 sensation Elemental, co-created by Dorrance and Nicholas Van Young, featuring original live music by Donovan Dorrance, Gregory Richardson, and Aaron Marcellus; Harlequin & Pantalone (2019), choreographed by guest artist Bill Irwin and danced by Irwin and Warren Craft; and Basses Loaded, a glorious piece for four dancers and four basses.
The schedule for Dorrance Dance's three-week holiday Joyce engagement is as follows:
Program A:
All Good Things Must Come to an End (2018)
Co-created, choreographed, and performed by Michelle Dorrance, Hannah Heller, Melinda Sullivan, Josette Wiggan-Freund
Music by Fats Waller
The Nutcracker Suite (World Premiere)
Co-created by Michelle Dorrance, Hannah Heller, and Josette Wiggan-Freund
Choreographed by Michelle Dorrance and Josette Wiggan-Freund
Music by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn
Tuesday, December 17 at 7:30pm
Wednesday, December 18 at 7:30pm (Curtain Chat)
Thursday, December 19 at 8pm
Friday, December 20 at 8pm
Saturday, December 21 at 2pm
Saturday, December 21 at 8pm
Sunday, December 22 at 2pm
Sunday, December 22 at 7:30pm
Program B:
Elastic Time (2019)
Excerpt from 2018's Elemental co-created by Michelle Dorrance and Nicholas Van Young
Choreographed by Nicholas Van Young
Original live music by Donovan Dorrance, Gregory Richardson, and Aaron Marcellus
The Nutcracker Suite (World Premiere)
Co-created by Michelle Dorrance, Hannah Heller, and Josette Wiggan-Freund
Choreographed by Michelle Dorrance and Josette Wiggan-Freund
Music by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn
Tuesday, December 24 at 7:30pm
Thursday, December 26 at 2pm
Thursday, December 26 at 8pm
Friday, December 27 at 8pm
Saturday December 28 at 2pm (Family Performance)
Saturday, December 28 at 8pm
Sunday, December 29 at 2pm
Program C:
Lessons in Tradition (2016)
Choreographed by Michelle Dorrance and Bill Irwin
Music by Vincent Youmans
Performed by Michelle Dorrance, Bill Irwin, and Kate Davis
Harlequin & Pantalone (2019) with guest artist Bill Irwin
Choreographed by Bill Irwin
Performed by Warren Craft (2019 Bessie-nominated performance) and Bill Irwin
Original live music by Donovan Dorrance and Gregory Richardson
Basses Loaded (2019)
Choreographed by Michelle Dorrance
Original Live Music by Donovan Dorrance and Gregory Richardson with Kate Davis and Michelle Dorrance
The Nutcracker Suite (World Premiere)
Co-created by Michelle Dorrance, Hannah Heller, and Josette Wiggan-Freund
Choreographed by Michelle Dorrance and Josette Wiggan-Freund
Music by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn
Tuesday, December 31 at 7:30pm
Thursday, January 2 at 8pm
Friday, January 3 at 8pm
Saturday, January 4 at 2pm
Saturday, January 4 at 8pm
Sunday, January 5 at 2pm
Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based out of New York City. The company's work aims to honor tap dance's uniquely beautiful history in a new, dynamic, and compelling context; not by stripping the form of its tradition, but by pushing-rhythmically, technically, and conceptually. The company's inaugural performance garnered a Bessie Award for "blasting open our notions of tap" and the company continues its passionate commitment to expanding the audience of tap dance, America's original art form. Founded in 2011 by Artistic Director Michelle Dorrance, the company has received countless accolades, rave reviews, and performed for packed houses at venues including The Joyce Theater, Jacob's Pillow, New York City Center, Carolina Performing Arts, Vail International Dance Festival, The Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center Out of Doors, among many others. The company is currently touring its repertory nationally and internationally while rehearsing and creating new works in its NYC home and through additional creative residency opportunities.
Michelle Dorrance (Founder/Artistic Director) is a New York City-based tap dancer, choreographer, teacher, and performer. Mentored by Gene Medler, she grew up performing with his North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble and has since performed with STOMP, Savion Glover's Ti Dii, Manhattan Tap, Barbara Duffy @ Co, JazzTap Ensemble, Rumba Tap, Ayodele Casel's Diary of a Tap Dancer, Mable Lee's Dancing Ladies, Harold Cromer's original Opus One, Derick Grant's Imagine Tap, Jason Samuels Smith's Charlie's Angels/Chasing the Bird, Jon Batists and Stay Human on CBS's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and toured the U.S., Europe, and Australia playing the bass for indie-pop sensation Darawin Deez. Michelle is a 2018 Doris Duke Artist, 2018 Capezio Award winner, 2017 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, 2017 Vail Dance Festival Artist in Residence, 2016-17 New York City Center Choreography Fellow, 2016 United States Artists Award recipient, 2015 MacArthur Fellow, 2014 Alpert Award winner, 2013 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award winner, 2012 Princess Grace Award winner, 2012 Field Dance Fund recipient, and 2011 & 2015 Bessie Award winner. She is an Artist in Residence at the American Tap Dance Foundation, has been featured on the cover of Dance Magazine and Dance Teacher Magazine, and is a Capezio Athlete. A passionate educator, Michelle holds a Bachelor of Arts from NYU, she teaches on faculty at IFTRA, taught on faculty at Broadway Dance Center for over a decade, and teaches as a guest artist all over the world.
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