VIDEO: The Joyce Theater Presents PONTUS LIDBERG And JONAH BOKAER

The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) is thrilled to present two illustrious companies under the direction of internationally acclaimed choreographers, Pontus Lidberg and Jonah Bokaer, each for three performances over one week, from October 23-28 at The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street in New York City. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$40, 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.

Pontus Lidberg, artistic director of Danish Dance Theatre, returns to The Joyce Theater with his company, Pontus Lidberg Dance, performing the U.S. premiere of SIREN. The dance for seven is inspired by Ulysses's encounter with the Siren whose song incited sailors to throw themselves into the sea in Homer's Odyssey. Lidberg investigates desire and isolation in a social media-driven world with this riveting new work.

Pontus Lidberg Dance performs at The Joyce Theater on Tuesday, October 23 & Wednesday, October 24 at 7:30pm and Thursday, October 25 at 8pm.
Internationally esteemed choreographer Jonah Bokaer, newly appointed as choreographer to Team USA's international champions on ice, will celebrate the 15th Anniversary of his Jonah Bokaer Choreography with its debut at The Joyce Theater.

The program includes four New York premieres, notably Late Nights On Air, featuring a total environment by architect Charles Renfro, composer Nico Muhly, and a special collaboration with violinists Angela & Jennifer Chun, who will join the company's eight dancers onstage to perform Muhly's music. See Jonah Bokaer Choreography at The Joyce Theater on Saturday, October 27 at 8pm and Sunday, October 28 at 2pm & 7:30pm. The company's 15th Anniversary Gala is on Saturday, October 27 at 8pm.

These engagements offer audiences the opportunity to Pay What You Decide (PWYD) for specific performances. On Thu, Oct 25 at 8pm, and Sun, Oct 28 at 7:30pm, patrons will have the option to participate in PWYD for Pontus Lidberg Dance and Jonah Bokaer Choreography, respectively. This initiative seeks to promote more adventurous performance selections, encouraging art seekers to take a chance on a show they might not have seen otherwise. Instead of paying a fixed price before coming to the theater, patrons are able to see the show, and decide what to pay afterwards. Tickets for the Pay What You Decide performance can be arranged by visiting: Joyce.org/PWYD.

Choreographer, filmmaker, and dancer, Pontus Lidberg has firmly established himself as a creative and visionary artist, bringing dance and film together. Recently, he has been appointed as the new Artistic Director of Danish Dance Theatre, a role he assumed in April 2018. Lidberg's dance film, The Rain, received numerous awards. As a choreographer for the stage, Lidberg has created works for international dance companies including NYC Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Semperoper Ballet Dresden, Royal Swedish Ballet, Le Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Danish Ballet, BalletBoyz, Beijing Dance Theatre, and Morphoses, as well as for his own concert group, Pontus Lidberg Dance. His film ForLabyrinth Within, developed in 2010 while Lidberg was a Joyce Theater Creative Residency Artist at Joyce SoHo, won Best Picture at the Dance on Camera Festival in 2012. He was nominated for a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie) in Outstanding Visual Design, for his dance and film evening WITHIN (Labyrinth Within)-created during his 2012 tenure as Resident Artistic Director of Morphoses. He holds an MFA in Contemporary Performing Arts from the University of Gothenburg, Faculty of Fine, Applied, and Performing Arts.

Born to Tunisian and American parents, Jonah Bokaer has been active as choreographer and exhibiting artist since 2002. The author of 60 works in a wide variety of media including dances, videos, motion capture works, three interactive installations, four mobile applications, and one feature film, shown in 31 nations, 24 of the United States, and 292 cities, Bokaer is one of the most acclaimed choreographers to have emerged since the post-modern era, and the first to pioneer Dance Apps. Recent Prizes include the Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in (Choreography 2015); USArtists Fellow in Choreography (Ford Foundation, 2015); NYU CBA Fellowship (for Royal Ballet of Flanders, 2016); Civitella Ranieri Foundation (Visual Arts, Italy, 2016), the National Theatre of Serbia Prize (for Rules Of The Game, 2017), and most recently the UNC DISTIL Fellowship of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (September 2018), the Mohr Prize (Stanford University, 2019), the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Residency (2019), and 1st Place at Olympic Rink of Lake Placid, for his first choreography on Champion Ice Skaters. He has established 3 permanent facilities for the performing arts in Brooklyn, and Hudson, NY.

The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community for over three decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and The Joyce renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies.

The Joyce has also presented dance at Lincoln Center since 2012, and launched Joyce Unleashed in 2014 to feature emerging and experimental artists. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K-12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce's annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 150,000.

Pontus Lidberg Dance and Jonah Bokaer Choreography will share a week at The Joyce Theater from October 23-28 according to the following schedule: Pontus Lidberg Dance Tuesday, October 23 & Wednesday, October 24 at 7:30pm, and Thursday, October 25 at 8pm (PWYD performance) Jonah Bokaer Choreography Saturday, October 27 at 8pm and Sunday, October 28 at 2pm & 7:30pm (PWYD performance)

There will be post-performance Curtain Chat with members of Pontus Lidberg Dance on Wednesday, October 24. This discussion is open to all patrons attending that evening's performance.

As previously announced, The Joyce Theater will offer a Pay What You Decide (PWYD) option for both presentations. On Thu, Oct 25 at 8pm, and Sun, Oct 28 at 7:30pm, patrons will have the option to participate in the PWYD for Pontus Lidberg Dance and Jonah Bokaer Choreography, respectively. The PWYD initiative seeks to promote more adventurous performance selections, encouraging art seekers to take a chance on a show they might not have seen otherwise. Instead of paying a fixed price before coming to the theater, patrons are able to see the show, and decide what to pay afterwards. Tickets for the Pay What You Decide performances can be arranged through Joyce.org/PWYD.

Tickets range in price from $10-$40 and can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling Joyce. Charge 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.ay

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