The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble to Perform at 14th St. Y, 3/9-13

The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble will present a program of works by legendary modern dance choreographer Anna Sokolow, a tribute to the melting pot that is New York, including the rarely seen Ride the Culture Loop, created in 1975 for the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, and the world premiere of We Remember by guest choreographer and former company member Rae Ballard, March 9-13 at the Theater at the 14h Street Y, 344 East 14th Street. Other Sokolow works are the 1968 Steps of Silence and her tribute to her friend Kurt Weill, created in 1988. All works have been staged by longtime Sokolow company members.

The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, under the artistic directorship of longtime Sokolow associate and disciple Jim May, is dedicated to insuring that the works of Anna Sokolow, one of history's most iconoclastic and original modern dance choreographers, are kept alive into the future. This season, the Sokolow works are being directed by veteran company members, who will perform along with several new dancers joining the cast.

Ride the Culture Loop, reconstructed by Samantha Geracht, was premiered in 1975 by the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, and has not been seen in its entirety for more than 20 years. Following its premiere, the work was called "...more savage than anything I've seen her do," (Village Voice, 1975). Writing in the Washington Post, Sarah Kaufman described the work: "A subway route through New York's patchwork of ethnic neighborhoods was the inspiration for Ride the Culture Loop, but you don't need to know that to pick up on the voyeurism, the hard stares, the jarring moods, the suffocating sense of crowds and the tension, even in the jauntier, Caribbean-flavored moments. Sokolow paired her work to the clashing cords and infectious beats of experimental jazz musician Teo Macero."

Kurt Weill, staged here by Eleanor Bunker, was created in 1988 as a tribute to the composer, who died in 1950. Sokolow first collaborated with Kurt Weill in the 1946 musical Street Scene, and remained close friends with the composer and his wife Lotte Lenya.

The 1968 Steps of Silence is the choreographer's shattering vision of people denied their humanity, even more relevant today than when it was first created. Jennifer Dunning described the work as a "...dark portrait of lost, trapped men and women, churning through life to turbulent music by Anatol Vieru." (The New York Times, April 22, 2008) Lauren Naslund has staged the work for this season.

Veteran choreographer Rae Ballard's work has been described as having "the quality of a short story" (The New York Times), and as a "dance-theater style which rests in the bedrock of Humphrey-Limon-Sokolow aesthetics" (Village Voice). Ballard, who has worked in the companies of Sokolow and Ruth Currier, among others, will premiere We Remember, in which three women come together to support each other in the aftermath of a shared experience.

Wednesday-Sunday, March 9-13 (Wednesday thru Saturday at 8 PM; Saturday & Sunday at 3 PM) (total of 6 performances)

(Gala performance and reception, Friday March 11 at 8 PM)

Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 East 14th Street (between First & Second Avenues)

Tickets: $30; $18 students/seniors

Tickets for March 11 Gala: $100 (includes reception)

Reservations: 212.395.4322 or available at the door

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