Gibney Dance David Parker And The Bang Group Present SHORT FORM WEAVE

Symphony Space has invited Gina Gibney and David Parker to weave together an evening of dances at Peter Norton Symphony Space from March 5-6, 2010, thus inaugurating Symphony Space's Short Form Weave Series. Collaborating on a similar theme with the same composer, the two choreographers juxtapose radically different kinetic and aesthetic worlds to create connecting spaces. Friday, March 5 and Saturday, March 6 at 8pm at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, NYC. Tickets are $25 (members $20; students, dancers, seniors, children and groups $15) and can be purchased at www.symphonyspace.org or by phone at 212-864-5400. Appropriate for ages 10 and up.

"Short Form Weave was conceived as a way for two choreographers from the same dance "world" to juxtapose short works against each other so that audiences can experience their similarities and differences," said Kay Cummings, Curator for Dance, Symphony Space.

Both choreographers worked with Ryan Lott, recently named NPR's Best New Artist of 2008. For Gibney Dance, he has composed original music for a chamber ensemble. For Parker, he has taken one of the rhythmic lines of the dance, which he will perform. The original score for Gibney Dance will be performed live by yMusic, who have toured and recorded across genre lines with artists such as Jay-Z, Bjork, Yo-Yo Ma, Meredith Monk, David Byrne and the New York Philharmonic.

Gibney Dance presents the World Premiere of concrete mechanique, which explores movement as a vehicle for communication and physical interaction while examining how bodies fit together and interplay physically. How similar and different are we? How do we fit in or stand out? How are we noticed or overlooked?

Choreographed by Gina Gibney. Performed by Natsuki Arai, Courtney Drasner, Michael Novak, Joshua Palmer and Hannah Seidel. Original Music by Ryan Lott/Son Lux performed live by yMusic: Rob Moose (violin), Nadia Sirota (viola), Mike Block (cello), Alex Sopp (flute), Hideaki Aomori (clarinet) and CJ Camerieri (trumpet). Lighting design by Kathy Kaufmann.

David Parker and The Bang Group presents the World Premiere of Other Arrangements, a robust, post-tap dance for five barefoot people negotiating time with their minds, hearts, voices and feet. The dancers share time with composer Ryan Lott's commissioned score which deconstructs laughter and crying into vivid rhythmic events.

Choreographed by David Parker. Performed by Terry Duncan, Jeffrey Kazin, Marissa Paley, Nic Petry and Amber Sloan. Original Music and Live Electronics by Ryan Lott/Son Lux. Lighting design by Kathy Kaufmann.

About Gibney Dance
Gibney Dance (GD) was founded in 1991 as a pioneering dance company that brings life and art together in works of the highest level of artistic excellence, encompassing a broad social dimension. The company offers a unique dance experience that couples powerful performers, flawless technique and elegant style with intimate, richly textured and intellectually challenging cho reography. Gina Gibney's work, praised by The New York Times for its "great intelligence and almost literary sensitivity," is distinguished by intricately crafted, intensely per formed movement episodes with a sense of deep connection and emotional inevitability. The company has been presented at noted venues in the United States and abroad, including Danspace Project, Works & Process at The Guggenheim Museum, Baryshnikov Arts Center, the Yale Repertory Theater, The Joyce The ater, Internatio nale Tanzmesse (Germany), Dance Theater Workshop, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Central Park Sum merstage, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Bagnolet Platform, l'Agora de la Danse (Canada). Gibney Dance is also highly regarded for its groundbreaking community action with survivors of domestic violence, youth-at-riskand people living with HIV/AIDS. Using movement and creativity to heal and empower individuals in need, these programs are widely regarded as a model in the field. Recently, the company was named to the Vanity Fair Hall of Fame and has been recognized by community groups such as Sanctuary for Families, Safe Horizon and The Retreat (First Annual Inspiration Award).

"Gina Gibney's distinctive choreographic voice has made her one of the most intellectually stimulating of New York dance artists." - Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times

About The Bang Group
David Parker founded The Bang Group (TBG) in 1995 as a choreographic laboratory in rhythm, rigor and humor. Pressing through boundaries which once separated high and low art, comedy and tragedy, vaudeville and concert dance, The Bang Group has developed a solid reputation in both Europe and North America for its uncompromising wit, innovative movement and ribald approach to gender and sexuality. Parker was recently cited as a notable emerging artist by the jury of the 2002 Nijinksy Awards in Monte Carlo and his collaborative work with Dutch designers Melanie Rozema and Jeroen Teunissen received a 2002 Bessie Award for Design. TBG performs regularly in New York City and has had five full-evening programs presented by Dance Theater Workshop and two by Danspace Project at Saint Mark's Church. TBG is also a regular participant in Dance Now Festival and DTW's Family Matters series. It has performed at Joe's Pub, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Joyce Soho and at many other downtown venues. Recently TBG has become the first dance company in residence at the West End Theater. The company has made evening-length works on commission for The Arena di Verona Ballet in Verona, Italy (Dylan Dog 1999) and for the auditorium theater of the Carlo Felice Opera House in Genoa, Italy (Nutcracker Project 2003) as well as Maryland Dance Ensemble at University of Maryland at College Park (Tender Traps 2002), Heidi Latsky, The Anna Sokolow Theater Dance Ensemble and numerous student groups at festivals and universities. European appearances include: Holland Dance Festival (The Hague), Confrontations Festival (Prague), Biennale de Charleroi Danses (Belgium), Divadelna Nitra Festival (Slovakia), Belluard Bollwerk International (Switzerland), OT301 (Amsterdam), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland), Tanze Sprache (Vienna), BalletUmbria International (Italy), Invito Alla Danza (Rome), Monaco Danse Forum, Tanzmesse NRW (Germany), Nervi Estate Festival (Italy) and many others. Notable domestic appearances include Dance Affiliates in Philadelphia, Sushi in San Diego, Summerstages Dance Festival in Massachusetts, Clarice Smith PAC in Maryland, Tampa Bay PAC in Florida, Boston's First Night Festival, Actors Theater of Louisville, Jacob's Pillow Inside-Out, Rivertown Arts Festival in New York, The Fire Island Dance Festival (DRA) and The American Dance Festival's Young Choreographers and Composers series.

About Ryan Lott/Son Lux
Ryan Lottstudied composition and piano at Indiana University School of Music before moving to Cleveland, where he earned a reputation as a versatile and zealous collaborator. Equally at ease in the creative company of choreographers, classical musicians, and break-dancers, he cut his teeth spear-heading multi-disciplinary "performance parties," composing music for modern dance companies and collaborating with musicians across many genres. His works have been performed dozens of times in NYC and throughout the US and Europe. His first album At War With Walls and Mazes earned him as Son Lux, his alter-ego, the title of Best New Artist by NPR's All Songs Considered in 2008. Ryan moved to New York in 2007 and has since become a sought-after arranger and remixer, reimaging the music of Beirut, Nico Muhly, My Brightest Diamond, Anathallo, and many others. He has been collaborating with Gibney Dance for several years (including three evening length commissions.) This is his first collaboration with The Bang Group.

About yMusic
yMusic is an expandable group of performers actively engaged and equally comfortable in the overlapping classical and pop music worlds. In addition to being conservatory-trained, their members are multi-instrumentalists, improvisers, composers, arrangers, conductors and singers. Six core musicians perform as a dynamic chamber ensemble, writing and commissioning works to feature their revolving instrumentation and unique musical perspectives. They also serve as a ready-made collaborative unit for artists interested in expanding their sonic palette on recordings and in performance. Formed in 2008, yMusic consists of Moose, Alex Sopp, Nadia Sirota, C.J. Camerieri, Hideaki Aomori and Mike Block. Its members have toured and recorded with top artists across genre lines such as Jay-Z, Bjork, The New York Philharmonic, Antony and The Johnsons, Ryuichi Sakamoto, The National, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Rufus Wainwright, Grizzly Bear, Yo-Yo Ma, Meredith Monk, David Byrne, St. Vincent, My Brightest Diamond, and Sufjan Stevens.

concrete mechanique received generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York Community Trust/Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Fund, the New York State Of?ce of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Emma A. Sheafer Charitable Trust, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, the Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, Senator Thomas Duane and others.

The Bang Group has received major support from New York Foundation for the Arts in a 2001-02 Build grant, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, Arts International, The Trust for Mutual Understanding, 2wice Foundation, Netherland-America Foundation, Hale Matthews Foundation, Heathcote Art Foundation, Puffin Foundation and through commissioning initiatives at Dance Theater Workshop and Danspace Project as well as from several private patrons.

Other Arrangements was made possible, in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Short Form Weave
Peter Norton Symphony Space
2537 Broadway at 95th Street, NYC
March 5-6, 2010 at 8pm
Tickets $25 (members $20; students, dancers, seniors, children and groups $15)
www.symphonyspace.org, 212-864-5400
Box Office windows are open Tues-Sun, 1-6pm

For more information, visit www.symphonyspace.org.

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