Peak Performances Kicks Off 2015 Lineup of Music, Theater and Dance

A potent mix of international and American music, theater and dance premieres highlight the second half of the Kasser Theater's 10th anniversary celebration, which begins today, January 24 with the American premiere of Robyn Orlin's extravagantly titled "At the same time we were pointing a finger at you, we realized we were pointing three at ourselves..." performed by the Senegalese dance troupe Compagnie Jant-Bi.

Additional dance premieres and debuts include the first Peak appearances by Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten's ICKamsterdam. The company will present the local premiere of "Rocco," during which two dancers take each other on in a boxing ring. Also headed for its Peak debut is Heidi Latsky Dance, whose "Triptych," a world premiere in three parts includes the first in a series of dance films commissioned by Peak Performances. Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company is readying a world premiere "Analogy: A Trilogy; Part One, Dora: Tramontane," Jones's first new work since "Story/Time," which received its world premiere at Peak in 2012.

One of the world's most tireless arts experimenters, Robert Whitman, returns to Peak with the world premiere of "Swim," a visually powerful theatrical work with virtually no text, designed for both the seeing and the blind.

On the musical front, Peak plays host to the American Contemporary Music Ensemble/Roomful of Teeth's world premiere of Caroline Shaw's "Ritornello" and the world premiere of Du Yun's "Tattooed in Snow" performed by the Shanghai Quartet. The Repast Baroque Ensemble makes its Peak debut with "La Madonna," an afternoon of Baroque music.

World Premieres:

Caroline Shaw's "Ritornello" (February 7)
Du Yun's "Tattooed in Snow" (February 8)
Robert Whitman's "Swim" (March 26-29)
Heidi Latsky's dance film (title to come) (April 16-19)
Bill T. Jones's "Analogy: A Trilogy; Part One, Dora: Tramontane" (June 18-21)

American Premieres:

Robyn Orlin's "At the same time we were pointing a finger at you, we realized we were pointing three at ourselves..." (January 24-February 1)

NY/Regional Premieres:

Emio Greco | Pieter C. Scholten's "ROCCO" (February 12-15)

Robyn Orlin & Compagnie Jant-Bi
At the same time we were pointing a finger at you, we realized we were pointing three at ourselves...(American Premiere)
A piece by Robyn Orlin
January 24-February 1
Times: January 24, 31 at 8:00pm; January 25, February 1 at 3:00pm; January 29, 30 at 7:30 pm

Robyn Orlin's exuberant imagination will be front and center in her newest work, "At the same time we were pointing a finger at you, we realized we were pointing three at ourselves...," which premiered at the 2014 Avignon Festival, and will receive its American premiere at Peak Performances. Choreographed for and with the Compagnie Jant-Bi dancers at École des Sables in Dakar, Senegal, "At the same time" references "Le Feu de Lion," or "Fire of the Lion," a traditional Senegalese coming-of-age dance created to rid young males of their fear of lions.

American Contemporary Music Ensemble | Roomful of Teeth
Ritornello (World Premiere)
Composer: Caroline Shaw February 7 at 8:00pm

Two extraordinary ensembles, American Contemporary Music Ensemble and Roomful of Teeth, join musical forces on February 7 to present a wildly varied program-think 17th to 21st century-of Caroline Shaw, Gavin Bryars and Henry Purcell. The evening features Gavin Bryars's "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet," Caroline Shaw's 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning "Partita for 8 voices," Henry Purcell's "Fantasia No. 6, Z. 737" and the world premiere of a revised version of "Ritornello," for which Shaw created both the music and film.

Shanghai Quartet and Du Yun
Tattooed in Snow (World Premiere)
Composer: Du Yun
February 8 at 3:00pm

The world premiere of Du Yun's "Tattooed in Snow" is among the highlights of the Shanghai Quartet's February 8 concert, which will also include Beethoven's "String Quartet, no. 12 in E-flat Major, op. 127," as well as Ravel's "String Quartet in F Major."

ICKamsterdam
ROCCO (NY/Regional Premiere)
Artistic Director: Emio Greco | Pieter C. Scholten
February 12-15
Times: February 12, 13 at 7:30pm; February 14 at 8:00 pm; February 15 at 3:00pm

Inspired by Luchino Visconti's 1960 classic "Rocco and his Brothers," Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten's fast-paced, fleet-footed, alternately angry, loving and emotionally charged competition between the boxers uses the sport to metaphorically explore a search for identity. Since "ROCCO" is set in a boxing ring, the Kasser Theater audience will be seated on the stage, surrounding the dancers arena style. "ROCCO" will be performed to a soundtrack by Pieter C. Scholten.

Robert Whitman
Swim (World Premiere)
March 26-29
Times: March 26, 27 at 7:30pm; March 28 at 8 pm; March 29 at 3 pm

For Robert Whitman, celebrated as one of the greatest creators of visual art theater, the theater is a laboratory for audience perception. Take his newest work, "Swim." Working with the assumption that we all see and hear differently, and consequently experience the world uniquely, Whitman was invited to make a work for the visually impaired and the blind, as well as the sighted, offering each a different way to experience the same work. Whitman promises a performance rich in sound, movement, smells, and activities, in an effort to unite the audience into a single community.

Heidi Latsky Dance
Triptych
Dance film (title to come) (World Premiere)
Artistic Director: Heidi Latsky
April 16-19
Times: April 16, 17 at 7:30pm; April 18 at 8:00pm; April 19 at 3:00pm

For her Peak Performances debut, Heidi Latsky, the first of three choreographers selected to participate in Peak Performances' "Dance for Film on Location at Montclair State University" project, will present "Triptych," comprised of the world premiere of Lastky's film (title to come) and two dances for the stage. The first, "Solo Countersolo" begins with Latsky dancing in counterpoint to an ensemble vigorously performing to a commissioned score by British composer Chris Brierley, who also created the music used in the film. The second dance, "Somewhere," celebrates Latsky's belief in the beauty of all bodies; it will be performed by a range of ballet and contemporary virtuosic dancers, as well as performers with cerebral palsy, Parkinson's and hearing loss.

Repast Baroque Ensemble
La Madonna
May 10 at 3:00pm

The Repast Baroque Ensemble makes its Peak debut, May 10, with "La Madonna," a program that features an array of Baroque works by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Henry Purcell, Mar'Antonio Ziani, George Friedrich Handel, Giuseppe Sammartini and Antonio Vivaldi. The Ensemble includes Laura Heimes, soprano; Amelia Roosevelt and Claire Jolivet, baroque violins; Jessica Troy, baroque viola; John Mark Rozendaal, baroque cello; and Gabe Shuford, harpsichord..

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Analogy : A Trilogy
"Part One, Dora: Tramontane" (World Premiere)
Artistic Director: Bill T. Jones
June 18-21
Times: June 18, 19 at 7:30pm; June 20 at 8:00pm; June 21 at 3:00pm

"Part One, Dora: Tramontane," the first section of Bill T. Jones's "Analogy: A Trilogy," receives its world premiere at Peak Performances, marking Jones's first new work since 2012. With each section, a full-length dance unto itself, each part has its own central real-life character with its own dramatically different story that examines questions about the nature of service, duty and the meaning of a life well-lived in its own way. "Dora: Tramontane" focuses on Dora Amelan, now 94 years old, who had been a French Jewish nurse and social worker serving in the underground resistance in Vichy France's interment camps. Her determination to persevere and survive under such horrific circumstances offers one look at the questions. The following sections will be premiered over the next year.

WHERE TO GO:

The Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University is located at 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey 07043. All tickets are $20, and are available at the box office, www.peakperfs.org, or by calling 973-655-5112.

Charter bus service is provided from New York City's Port Authority Bus Terminal-arcade on 41st Street between 8th and 9th Avenues-to the Alexander Kasser Theater ($10 per person, roundtrip) for all Saturday and Sunday performances. Bus reservations may be made by calling 973-655-5112 or by visiting www.peakperfs.org. For train service, available only on weekdays, go online to www.njtransit.com or call 973-275-5555.

For restaurants close to the Alexander Kasser Theater, visit www.destinationmontclair.com.

Pictured, left to right: Christophe Raynaud de Lage, Nicholas Whitman, Darial Sneed, Laurent Ziegler, brie abbe and Lois Greenfield.

To post a comment, you must register and login.