The Joyce Theater Announces Spring/Summer 2015 Season

The Joyce Theater (Linda Shelton, Executive Director), the nation's most prestigious theater devoted to modern dance, announced today the organization's programming for its 2015 Spring/Summer season, featuring a wide array of extraordinary companies, including return engagements of fan favorites and introductions to new companies making their Joyce debuts.

As usual, the season embraces an eclectic mix of companies, many of whom return to The Joyce after highly successful past engagements. Audiences will be delighted to see some of their favorite New York-based troupes, including Stephen Petronio Company, Martha Graham Dance Company, Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, Ballet Hispanico, and Ailey II. Joining them will be an array of exciting international artists. Compagnie CNDC-Angers, under the direction of Robert Swinston, who danced and assisted Merce Cunningham for more than thirty years, will make its U.S. debut, and the Polish National Ballet, featuring electrifying young dancers, makes its New York debut. Also on the international scene-Lyon Opera Ballet comes back, as does MalPaso Dance Company, the wildly popular Cuban dancers who performed at The Joyce in May 2014. Speaking of popular, the roster includes DanceBrazil, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Ballet Tech Kids Dance, and Pilobolus Dance Theater in its annual Joyce romp. Liz Gerring, Michelle Dorrance, Pontus Lidberg, and Brian Brooks-some of the most inspired choreographers creating work today-will share weeks on the Joyce stage, and Wendy Whelan's Restless Creature will make its New York debut.

The following is a complete roster of companies who will be appearing at The Joyce Theater this spring and summer.

MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY

SHAPE&DESIGN

February 10-22

Tuesday (February 10 at 7PM, February 17 at 7:30PM); Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm; Sunday 2pm & 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Wednesday, February 18

Gala: Tuesday, February 10 (For Tickets: 212-229-9200 ext.25)

Tickets: $10-59 (Joyce Members $26; $44)

The company pays tribute to Graham's defining influence as an American Modernist with Shape&Design, a program highlighting the sculptural and architectural aspects of choreography by Graham and others. Panorama and Chronicle, Graham classics that set the standard for geometric force, are featured, along with Embattled Garden and Errand into the Maze, masterworks with evocative sets by Isamu Noguchi. Shape&Design includes recent works by renowned choreographers Nacho Duato, Andonis Foniadakis, and Annie-B Parson. The company celebrates the 85th anniversary of Graham's iconic solo Lamentation with the world premiere of four new Lamentation Variations, choreographed by Kyle Abraham, Michelle Dorrance, Liz Gerring, and Sonya Tayeh.

RONALD K. BROWN/EVIDENCE

February 24-March 1

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2 & 8pm; Sunday 2pm & 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Wednesday, February 25

Family Matinee: Saturday, February 28 at 2pm

Tickets: $10-49 (Joyce Member $26; $37)

"This is dancing that consecrates," said The New York Times about Ronald K. Brown's choreography, and it probably can't be said any better. Experiencing this company's special combination of Cuban, Caribbean, West African, and modern American dance movement is thrilling. For its 30th anniversary season, the company takes the Joyce stage with two programs and many of Brown's signature pieces: Grace (1999), Water (2000), and The Subtle One (2014), performed live with composer Jason Moran and the Bandwagon. Also featured: Through Time and Culture (2014), which offers audiences the now somewhat rare and always wonderful opportunity to see Brown perform a solo work.

MALPASO DANCE COMPANY

March 3-8

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm; Sunday 2pm & 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Wednesday, March 4

Tickets: $10-59 (Joyce Members $26; $44)

Audiences responded ecstatically to this young Cuban company when it made its U.S. debut at The Joyce last spring, and The New York Times declared that it was "impossible to choose favorites among the dancers." Following this acclaim, MalPaso comes back to The Joyce for an equally exciting engagement. Embodying the passion that defines Cuban life and its rich dance tradition, the program includes the New York premiere of a work by Artistic Director Osnel Delgado set to a new composition by the sensational Arturo O'Farrill.

Underwritten by Anh-Tuyet Nguyen & Robert Pollock and supported by The R. Britton Fisher and Family Gift for International Dance.

COMPAGNIE CNDC-ANGERS/ROBERT SWINSTON

EVENT: CHOREOGRAPHY BY MERCE CUNNINGHAM

March 10-15

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm; Sunday 2pm

Curtain Chat: Wednesday, March 11

Family Matinee: Saturday, March 14 at 2pm

Tickets: $10-49 (Joyce Members $26; $37)

With a thirty-one year history of dancing and assisting Merce Cunningham, Robert Swinston, the Artistic Director of this French-based company, is uniquely qualified to carry on the Cunningham legacy. Compagnie CNDC (Le Centre National de Danse Contemporaine)-Angers makes its U.S. debut at The Joyce with Event, a remarkable work that Swinston created by assembling excerpts from pieces choreographed by Cunningham from 1965 through 1990. Featuring scene design by renowned French artist Jackie Matisse, Event is performed by eight dancers whose technical prowess pays tribute to the master choreographer who created the original work and to Swinston, who by capturing what makes Cunningham's work interesting to watch and beautiful to look at, allows audiences to experience it in its most current form. Live music will be performed by John King and Gelsey Bell.

Supported by The R. Britton Fisher and Family Gift for International Dance.

AILEY II

March 17-22

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm; Sunday 2pm & 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Wednesday, March 18

Tickets: $10-59 (Joyce Members $26; $44)

For the first time in five years, Ailey II's "indefatigable, virtuosic, and relentlessly sexy" dancers (Los Angeles Times) return to The Joyce with two programs of premieres and recent audience favorites. Their "off-the-charts energy" (The New Yorker) infuses a diverse repertory by emerging and established choreographers that include Jennifer Archibald, Amy Hall Garner, Dwight Rhoden, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Manuel Vignoulle and Ailey II's Artistic Director, Troy Powell. See why Dance Magazine hails this beloved company as "second to none."

BALLET WEST

March 25-29

Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm; Sunday 2pm & 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Thursday, March 26

Tickets: $10-49 (Joyce Members $26; $37)

From Balanchine to Bournonville and Petipa to Tharp, Ballet West boasts a rich and varied repertoire, elegant and versatile artists and an American style and legacy that is as dynamic, expansive, and unexpected as the Rocky Mountain region it represents. Ballet West has toured the world several times, presenting the very best in American classical and contemporary ballet. A company of gifted dancers, Ballet West gained instant fame as the focus of the reality TV series "Breaking Pointe" and has become a household name across the country.

Underwritten by Gerald M. Appelstein and supported by the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation.

LIZ GERRING DANCE COMPANY

GLACIER

March 31-April 2

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday 8pm

Curtain Chat: Wednesday, April 1

Tickets: $10-30 (Joyce Members $30)

When glacier made its world premiere in September 2013, The New York Times proclaimed that it was an "enthralling and important new work" that had "wit without quirkiness, passion without emotionalism." This well-deserved praise is the result of Gerring's attention to detail when creating movement and the intense physicality of the work. Integral to the piece is an enveloping score created by acclaimed electronic music composer Michael Schumacher, whose "Glacier" originated during a summer stay near Colorado's Glacier Lake, and the expansive set of Robert Wierzel.

DORRANCE DANCE

April 4-5

Saturday 8pm; Sunday 2pm & 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Sunday, April 5 (following 2pm performance)

Tickets: $10-30 (Joyce Members $30)

Michelle Dorrance, founder and artistic director of Dorrance Dance, has been recognized by Dance Magazine for having "monstrous technique and a funny, quirky view of the world." A 2013 Princess Grace Award Winner, 2012 Field Dance Fund Recipient and 2011 Bessie Award Winner, Michelle makes her Joyce debut with a program illustrating why she is one of the most sought after tap dancers of her generation.

STEPHEN PETRONIO COMPANY

April 7-12

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Saturday 8pm; Sunday 2pm & 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Thursday, April 9

Gala: Wednesday, April 8 (For Tickets: 212-473-1660)

Tickets: $10-59 (Joyce Members $26; $44)

Stephen Petronio Company's 30th anniversary culminates with the inauguration of Bloodlines, a five-year project incorporating works by trailblazers of American post-modern dance into the Company's repertory. First up is Merce Cunningham's RainForest (1968), with live score by David Tudor and visual design by Andy Warhol. Also on the program is the world premiere of Petronio's two-part work, Locomotor Non Locomotor. Last year's Locomotor cast the virtuosic dancers careening forward and backward through time and space. Its companion, Non Locomotor, explores movement deep within a torqueing center, sending surges of action throughout the body while stationary in space. The full work features an original score by electronic pioneer Clams Casino, and incorporates vocal elements by the Young People's Chorus of New York City.

BALLET HISPANICO

April 14-26

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm; Sunday 2pm; Sunday (April 19 only) 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Wednesday, April 15

Tickets: $10-59 (Joyce Members $26; $44)

Under Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro, Ballet Hispanico has melded its Latino roots with an eclectic, sleekly modern style that has made it one "of the best contemporary repertory ensembles" (The New York Times). Highlights of its Joyce season include two choreographic delights new to New York: a raw and athletic world premiere by Mexico-based choreographer Miguel Mancillas and the dazzling New York premiere of Show.Girl. by Miami-based award-winning choreographer Rosie Herrera. Imaginative and theatrical, Ballet Hispanico's two programs promise to "whisk us away to contemporary dance's hottest spot" The Washington Post.

LYON OPERA BALLET

April 29-May 3

Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm; Sunday 2pm & 7:30pm

Curtain Chat: Thursday, April 30

Dance Dialogues: Monday, April 20

Tickets: $10-59 (Joyce Members $26; $44)

Lyon Opera Ballet, heralded for its commitment to showcasing the work of significant contemporary choreographers, performs a spectacular program featuring some of the best choreography created over the last thirty years. On tap is William Forsythe's Steptext, a 1985 quartet for three male and one female dancer in which the choreographer plays with theatrical conventions and constantly shifts weight and balance between dancers. The program also includes Benjamin Millepied's Sarabande, a "rollicking work" for four male dancers that includes "good-natured jostling" Dance Magazine.

Underwritten by Steven & Michèle Pesner and supported by the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation and The R. Britton Fisher and Family Gift for International Dance.

ALONZO KING LINES BALLET

May 5-10

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm; Sunday 2pm

Curtain Chat: Wednesday, May 6

Tickets: $10-59 (Joyce Members $26; $44)

San Francisco-based Alonzo King LINES Ballet returns to The Joyce with two New York premieres, including Writing Ground, an emotionally searing, lyrical work inspired by poetry from award-winning author Colum McCann. Set to a collection of sacred music from the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, Writing Ground "illustrates the power of Alonzo King's story-telling at its height" (Huffington Post). The second premiere, Concerto for Two Violins - called "smart and satisfying" by the San Francisco Chronicle - is set to Bach's Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, first immortalized by Balanchine in 1941. This sleek, sharp salute to ballet's past marks the continued evolution of neoclassicism.

HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO

May 12-24

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm; Sunday 2pm

Curtain Chat: Wednesday, May 13

Tickets: $10-59 (Joyce Members $26; $44)

"The list of choreographers who have worked with this immaculately technical group reads like an international who's who of contemporary dance," proclaims The New York Times about Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and its Joyce season is no exception. Celebrating its 37th season in 2014-15, the company, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, performs two programs featuring works by Ji?í Kylián, Crystal Pite, Nacho Duato, and Hubbard Street resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo.

WENDY WHELAN

RESTLESS CREATURE

May 26-31

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Saturday 8pm; Sunday 2pm

Curtain Chat: Wednesday, May 27

Dance Dialogue: Monday, May 11

Tickets: $10-75 (Joyce Members $38; $56)

Described by The New York Times as "America's greatest contemporary ballerina," Wendy Whelan, the New York City Ballet former principal, recently launched the Wendy Whelan New Works Initiative, which begins spectacularly with Restless Creature, a suite of four duets, each created by Whelan with a talented young artist with whom she also performs. This Joyce co-production and co-commission features Kyle Abraham's The Serpent and the Smoke; Josh Beamish's Waltz Epoca; Brian Brooks's First Fall; and Alejandro Cerrudo's Ego Et Tu. Set to music ranging from Max Richter and Philip Glass to Hauschka & Hilder Guðnadóttir, Restless Creature explores each artist's particular movement style and aesthetic while capturing the essence of Whelan's "uncompromising, generous, bold, enthusiastic, adult, at the same time decisive and investigative" (The New York Times) artistry.

Underwritten by Virginia & Timothy Milhiser and sponsored by First Republic Bank.

BRIAN BROOKS MOVING COMPANY

June 2-4

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday 8pm

Tickets: $10-30 (Joyce Members $30)

Curtain Chat: Wednesday, June 3

A recipient of a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship, Brian Brooks creates dances that test the edges of physical endurance, making "you feel the excitement of the pure-movement experiment in every moment" (The New York Times). His Joyce engagement features a world premiere; a New York premiere set to Steve Reich's "Vermont Counterpoint;" and two of Brooks' most recent works-Division, in which the company navigates through an ever-shifting maze of movable and held-held surfaces, and Torrent, which sends a cast of 28 soaring to a revelatory score by Max Richter as they fluctuate between orderly patterns and unrestricted turbulence.

Underwritten by Steven & Michèle Pesner.

PONTUS LIDBERG DANCE

June 6-7

Saturday 8pm; Sunday 2pm & 7:30pm

Tickets: $10-30 (Joyce Members $30)

Pontus Lidberg, a Swedish choreographer, actor/dancer, and filmmaker, has been creating dances for stage and film since 2000 and has received commissions to create new works for major international dance companies, including Morphoses, the Royal Swedish Ballet, Beijing Dance Theater, and Semper Oper Ballet Dresden.

Underwritten by Steven & Michèle Pesner.

BALLET TECH KIDS DANCE

June 11-14

Thursday-Friday 7pm; Saturday 2pm & 7pm; Sunday 2pm

Tickets: $10-39 (Joyce Members $19; $29)

Ballet Tech's Kids Dance returns with the bubbly Balkan KYDZNY, with more effervescent dancing kids than raindrops in a sun shower. Don't miss KYDZNY and other pop up and frabjous repertory from Eliot Feld, danced by the remarkably poised, scrupulously schooled, and impeccably rehearsed students from the Ballet Tech school. Give yourself a treat!

POLISH NATIONAL BALLET

June 16-21

Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm; Sunday 2pm

Tickets: $10-49 (Joyce Members $26; $37)

"Our mission," says Krzystof Pastor, director of the Polish National Ballet, "is to show that we are young, dynamic, innovative and creative." To this end, the company makes its New York debut with three works displaying the elaborate partnering and athleticism that have characterized its aesthetic since 2009 when Pastor became its director. On tap is Emanuel Gat's Rite of Spring, whose frenetic Latin American dance movement set to Stravinsky music prompted Le Figaro to describe it as "salsa on top of a volcano." Two works by Pastor-Allegro/Scherzo, set to Shubert, and Moving Rooms, set to Schnittke and Górecki-complete the dazzling program.

Supported by The R. Britton Fisher and Family Gift for International Dance.

DANCEBRAZIL

June 23-July 3

Week One: Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm; Sunday 2pm

Week Two: Monday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm

Tickets: $10-49 (Joyce Members $26; $37)

Captivating audiences with his mastery of capoeira, Jelon Vieira, Artistic Director of DanceBrazil, bases his aesthetic on this art form and works with capoeiristas who have learned their technique in the urban setting of Bahia, Brazil. "What matters here above all," says The New York Times about Vieira's choreography, "is the gorgeously full physicality of movement, allied to music." The spirited Joyce program includes Malungos, a new piece named for a slang word used among enslaved Africans traveling on ships to Brazil that indicated their commitment to each other. A similar sense of friendship and unity that exists within capoeira communities is a model, Vieira believes, for addressing social concerns in Brazil today.

PILOBOLUS DANCE THEATER

July 13-August 8

Monday-Wednesday 7:30pm; Thursday-Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm & 8pm

Tickets: $10-59 (Joyce Members $26; $44)

Each summer, Pilobolus enthralls sold out Joyce audiences with its wittingly provocative dancers who are propelled into physically challenging movement through sheer confidence in their own strength and trust in those who lift and support them. Two programs and two New York premieres are on the roster for this season, along with repertory favorites that span the company's more than 40 years of creative energy and enduring fun.

BALLET FESTIVAL

August 11-16

BalletX: Tuesday-Wednesday 7:30pm

Emery LeCrone: Thursday-Friday 8pm

Amy Seiwert's Imagery: Saturday 8pm; Sunday 2pm

Tickets: $10-39 (Joyce Members $19; $29)

In summer 2013, The Joyce season ended with a ballet festival featuring choreographers and dancers who are creating work outside the traditional large company milieu. This season, The Joyce brings back this eclectic and popular week of dance that represents a range of ballet styles, from neo-classical to contemporary.

Underwritten by Deborah and Charles Adelman

DANCE DIALOGUES (previously Dance Talks)

This series of conversations-between artists and audiences-and open rehearsals provide an informal, but in-depth, examination of issues shaping dance today.

April 20 - Lyon Opera Ballet

May 11 - Wendy Whelan/Restless Creature

Dance Dialogues take place at DANY Studios, 305 West 38th Street (at Eighth Avenue), from 6-8pm and are FREE. RSVP required: 646-792-8377 or dancetalks@joyce.org

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