Pittsburgh Dance Council Announces 2022-2023

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces the Pittsburgh Dance Council 2022-2023 season, celebrating 52 years of contemporary dance presentations, will showcase a diverse roster of national and international returning artists, premieres, and unique dance-inspired spectacles taking place in public spaces.

Randal Miller, Director of Special Projects and Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, notes, "Last season we celebrated the return to live performances in Pittsburgh's Cultural District and received overwhelming support from the Pittsburgh community. I am excited to announce that the Pittsburgh Dance Council will be back in full force during the 2022-2023 season with a six-show series and two unique season specials!"

Pittsburgh Dance Council welcomes the return of Alonzo King LINES Ballet celebrating their 40th anniversary and Ballet Hispánico whose repertoire elevates the voices of the Latinx community. Dance premieres have been part of the Dance Council's visionary presenting history. This 52nd season is no exception and showcases the Pittsburgh premieres by International Artists RUBBERBAND, Le Patin Libre, and Rocío Molina. Two season specials will feature events in public spaces that offer exciting audience engagement opportunities to experience and explore dance through visionary multi-element contemporary works by STREB EXTREME ACTION, this June 2022 (also part of the 2022 Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival), and dance + visual arts by Hiroaki Umeda at Wood Street Galleries in December. The 2022-2023 season will conclude with the exciting return of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. This award-winning, internationally renowned U.S. dance company has been showcased on past seasons, including the Dance Council's first presenting season.

Tickets

Subscription packages: Pick 4 packages range from $40-$260 and Super 6 packages range from $60-$390. To subscribe, call 412-456-1390. Groups of 10 or more tickets, please call 412-471-6930. For more information visit, TrustArts.org/DANCE.

Single tickets (as low as $10) for the Pittsburgh Dance Council 2022-2023 Season (52nd presenting season) will be available at a later date, by visiting TrustArts.org/DANCE, or calling Guest Services at 412-456-6666.

Student Discounts: Students are welcome to spend a day off campus and explore the arts in the Cultural District! Undergraduate and graduate students are eligible for ticket discounts of up to 50% off select Pittsburgh Cultural Trust performances. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is the premiere performing and visual arts organization in Pittsburgh's Cultural District. For more information, visit the Student University Tickets webpage at www.TrustArts.org.

Information about Know Before You Go: Health and Safety Protocols, visit: TrustArts.org/Welcome. Additional information specific to the performance is published on the event page at TrustArts.org.

Pittsburgh Dance Council 2022-2023 Season, 6-Show Series

Alonzo King LINES Ballet
September 17, 2022
Byham Theater

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of Alonzo King LINES Ballet. For 40 years, LINES Ballet has inspired students, artists, and nearly 2 million audience members worldwide to envision their fullest, most compassionate, most extraordinary potential. Gorgeous, stunning dancers with impeccable technique and powerfully visual works are what make Alonzo King LINES Ballet so special. Like none other, Alonzo King creates an unforgettable dialogue between movement and music. Join us in commemorating this milestone and looking forward to untapped potential still to come. Beautiful and glorious on stage, Alonzo King LINES Ballet is a must-see LIVE performance experience!

Ballet Hispánico

November 19, 2022
Byham Theater

18+1, Con Brazos Abiertos, and Línea Recta

For over fifty years, Ballet Hispánico has been the leading voice intersecting artistic excellence and advocacy and is now the largest Latinx cultural organization in the United States and one of America's Cultural Treasures. Ballet Hispánico brings communities together to celebrate and explore Latinx cultures through innovative dance productions, transformative dance training, and enduring community engagement experiences.

Returning to the Byham stage after more than a decade, Ballet Hispánico will perform a mixed repertory program that draws from musical influences ranging from Pérez Prado's mambo music (18+1) to Julio Iglesias and rock en Español (Con Brazos Abiertos) to flamenco (Línea Recta).

RUBBERBAND
January 21, 2023
Byham Theater

Pittsburgh area premiere

Country of Origin: Canada

Ever So Slightly

Choreographer Victor Quijada and his RUBBERBAND have redefined breakdance codes within an institutional context and enlivened the Quebec dance scene and opened the way for new creators fascinated by this dance form. Quijada is the creator of the RUBBERBAND Method, an electrifying dance vocabulary combining the energy of Hip Hop, the refinement of classical ballet, and the angular quality of contemporary dance.

Featuring ten dancer-athletes in top form, a live DJ, a musician, and a wide-open venue, Ever So Slightly explores the behavioral mechanisms and reflexes we develop against the ceaseless flow of irritants that bombard us in our daily lives. Most of us long for calm and resilience, but how do we get to a zone where noise and aggressivity no longer have a place? Simultaneously delivering delicacy, brutality, finesse, and high-voltage action, the choreographer conveys all the energy contained in urgency, revolt, chaos, and flight.

Le Patin Libre
March 9-11, 2023
The UPMC Rink at PPG Place, 100 Three PPG Place

Site-specific piece
Pittsburgh area premiere

Country of Origin: Canada

Carte Blanche

Le Patin Libre is a contemporary ice-skating company from Montreal, originally founded in 2005 by ex-high-level figure skaters. They regrouped with the intention of transforming their athleticism into a means of free expression. Far from sparkles, stereotypes and champions' demos, the creations of Le Patin Libre propose real works of art exploiting the amazing choreographic and theatrical potential of glide.

In Carte Blanche, a new work being developed specifically for Pittsburgh, the company will revisit parts of their showstopping repertory and debut innovative new material. This special event will take place at The UPMC Rink at PPG Place.

Rocío Molina
April 5, 2023
Byham Theater

U.S. Premiere Tour

Country of Origin: Spain

Caída del Cielo

Spanish choreographer Rocío Molina has coined her own artistic language based on a reinvented traditional flamenco style which respects its essence and embraces the avant-garde. A graduate of the Royal Dance Conservatory in Madrid, Molina was awarded the National Award for Dance by the Spanish Ministry of Culture at age 26.

In Caída del Cielo (Fallen From Heaven), Molina contrasts light and darkness, celestial and savage. Accompanied by a live band, Molina's dancing goes deep into her roots while pushing the norms of movement and gender, making a loud declaration that flamenco is an expression of freedom that cannot and should not be domesticated. Contains partial nudity.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
May 9, 2023
Benedum Center
Presented by BNY Mellon

Connecting with audiences is at the heart of the Ailey experience, so Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's much-anticipated return to the Benedum stage is reason to rejoice for both the dancers and fans. Enjoy a mixed repertory program that includes contemporary works and the beloved signature work Revelations, a universal anthem of resilience that resounds anew more than 60 years after its premiere. Revel in the passion these extraordinary dancers bring to each program, the skill and artistry no pandemic can diminish, and the communal joy of live performance.

Pittsburgh Dance Council Season Specials, part of the 2022-2023 Season

STREB EXTREME ACTION
June 3-5, 2022
Free, outdoor public spectacle
Location: Pittsburgh's Cultural District
Performance times and location to be announced.

This event is a Pittsburgh Dance Council season special, also part of the 2022 Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, a production of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Taking flight by pushing the boundaries of aesthetics and kinesthetic bravery, MacArthur Award-winning choreographer Elizabeth Streb is known for "her loud, unflinching explorations of physics" and has, "devised what looks like her own Olympic sport" (The New York Times).

Returning to Pittsburgh for the first time in over a decade, STREB EXTREME ACTION revisits their roots with a retrospective of Elizabeth Streb's classic solos from the 70s and 80s, early equipment experimentations from the 90s, and jaw-dropping extreme action opuses with the large scale "action machines" the company has since become known for from the early 21st century. This historic look back connects their experimental path with the extreme action of their current and future works.

Hiroaki Umeda
Pittsburgh Dance Council season special
December 28-31, 2022
Wood Street Galleries, 601 Wood Street (above the Wood Street T-Station)
Wood Street Galleries is programmed by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and features digital media, film, video, robotic, and new media installations. The gallery is free and open to the public year round.

Pittsburgh area premiere

Country of Origin: Japan

Intensional Particle

Hiroaki Umeda is a choreographer and a multidisciplinary artist recognized as one of the leading figures of the Japanese avant-garde art scene. Since the launch of his company S20, his subtle yet violent dance pieces have toured around the world to audience and critical acclaim. His work is acknowledged for the highly holistic artistic methodology with strong digital background, which considers not only physical elements as dance, but also optical, sensorial and, above all, spatiotemporal components as part of the choreography. Based on his profound interest in choreographing time and space, Umeda has spread his talent not only as a choreographer and dancer, but also as a composer, lighting designer, scenographer, and visual artist.

Join us at Wood Street Galleries for special, small group performances of Hiroaki Umeda's high intensity solo work, Intensional Particle. The piece showcases Umeda's signature style of mixing digital imagery, minimal soundscape, and extremely potent corporeality.

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