National Choreographers Initiative

NEWSrelease

Molly Lynch, director
National Choreographers Initiativ
e

presented in association with
Irvine Barclay Theatre

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 26, 2006

 

4 Choreographers to Premiere New Works
at the National Choreographers Initiative

Four choreographers have been invited to participate in the annual National Choreographers Initiative at Irvine Barclay Theatre. The choreographers invited by Director, Molly Lynch, come from a variety of backgrounds and are leaders in the dance community. 

The choreographers invited this year are: 

Ron De Jesus,  Graham Lustig,  Charles Moulton,  Gina Patterson.
 

The process for the National Choreographers Initiative begins with a three-week rehearsal period that takes place in the dance studios at the University of California, Irvine, culminating in a public performance, NCI Discovery, on July 22, 2006 at 8pm at Irvine Barclay Theatre. During the three weeks of intense creative effort, choreographers and dancers will produce 4 new dance works. Each choreographer is given complete freedom to choose the style and theme of the work. Artistic Directors from dance companies around the country have been contacted for their input and involvement and will be invited to preview the new works for possible inclusion in their company's repertoire. [The choreographers retain the right to promote and license the works they have created to other companies.]  

Ron De Jesus was a member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for 17 years. After leaving the Company in 2002, he joined the original cast of Twyla Tharp and Billy Joel’s Broadway musical Movin’ Out. His choreographic works have been presented by many dance organizations, including HSDC and HSDC2, Gus Giordano’s Jazz Dance Theater, Momenta Dance Company, and Luna Negra Dance Theater. He has received numerous awards including the Chicago Dance Festival 2004 “Best Choreographer” and the Chicago Music and Dance Alliance Award 2004. He has worked with many well-known choreographers including Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Lou Conte, Nacho Duato, Bob Fosse, Jiri Kylian, Ohad Naharin, and Alonzo King. He has also performed and been involved with various television and film projects.

 

Graham Lustig – received his dance training at the Royal Ballet School. In 1980 he joined the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet. During that time he created four works for the company’s repertoire. He has choreographed for numerous companies including the Scottish Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Ballet West, Singapore Dance Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, Chautauqua Dance Festival, Hong Kong Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, and the Sacramento Ballet. Washington Ballet chose him as its Choreographer-in-Residence in 1993. During this three-year tenure, his works were performed at the Joyce Theatre in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and on tour. In 1999 he was named the artistic director of American Repertory Ballet and in 2003 was named a charter member of the Artists Council for Americans for the Arts in Washington D.C. He has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, 2003 & 2005 Dance Grants and Policy Panels and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Choo-San Goh and H. Robert Magee Foundation.

 

Charles Moulton – has created and set works on Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Project, The Joffrey Ballet, The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, The Ohio Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theater, and many other companies in the U.S. and abroad. A 1983 Guggenheim Award winner, he is the recipient of the first Dorothy B. Chandler Performing Arts Award in 1989, three Jerome Foundation awards and three Meet the Composer/Choreographer awards. He has received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Arts Council, and The Zellerbach Family Fund. Moulton has choreographed and directed numerous works for television and film. His collaboration with John Sanborn and Mary Perillo, Visual Shuffle/Fractured Variations, won the 1987 Los Angeles Film Festival Blue Ribbon. He most recently completed choreography for over 1000 dancers in The Matrix Reloaded. He began his career in New York, dancing with the Merce Cunningham Company from 1973 to ‘76. He is a co-founding director of Performance Space 122, in lower Manhattan, and currently resides in northern California. 

Gina Patterson – started her dance career as an apprentice with Pittsburgh Ballet. She has danced with Ballet Florida and is currently a principal dancer with Ballet Austin. She performs a diverse repertoire including works by Vicente Nebrada, Ben Stevenson, Peter Martins, Val Caniparoli, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Daniel Ezralow, Sean Lavery, and Trey McIntyre. Her choreography has been commissioned by Ballet Austin, Dayton Ballet, Ballet East, Montana Ballet, and Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Dallas. Three of her works were presented at the Ballet Builder’s Showcase in New York. She has been awarded the Choo-San Goh Award for Choreography in 2002, the B. Iden Payne Award for Outstanding Choreographer by Austin Circle of Theaters, and won the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago 2 National Choreography Competition in 2005.

The first NCI took place July 22, 2004 with the idea of promoting the creation and production of professional dance. Under the direction of Molly Lynch, NCI provides an opportunity to engage outstanding choreographers from around the U.S. in the creative process. There is a need nationwide to have a workshop setting where choreographers can create works of their choosing and have time to experiment and develop their craft. Through this project, NCI provides this opportunity and therefore supports these national choreographers, dancers, and the greater dance community.

Past participants in NCI have seen their work continue on to other companies or venues. Val Caniparoli’s piece from NCI 2005 premiered at Richmond Ballet in March 2006, and says his piece “has legs and has really progressed because of the [NCI] project.” Christopher D’Amboise used some of his NCI choreography and concepts in his new play, The Studio, which premiered at South Coast Repertory Theatre April 7th. Luca Veggetti is staging a piece for Paris Opera Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet this season and says: “Some of the ideas developed there [NCI] will probably flow into it.”  

Choreographers from 2004 have also premiered their works elsewhere. Lynne Taylor-Corbett expanded her Appalachia Stories into a full evening’s work, Jamboree, for Carolina Ballet, which premiered March 2005 and was aired on public television in June 2006. Ann Marie DeAngelo’s work, Guy in the White Shirt, will be presented by Marymount Manhattan College in May of 2006. James Sewell’s piece Anagram (originally titled Modular) premiered at the Joyce Theatre in N.Y. this month. Peter Pucci's Whisper On the Wind will be performed at Symphony Space, N.Y., in the fall of 2006.

NCI Discovery
Saturday, July 22 at 8pm

Tickets for NCI Discovery performance are $28 and $22.  For information call The Barclay (949) 854-4646 or Ticketmaster (714) 740-7878. Full-time students can purchase 1/2 priced tickets at the Barclay box office with a valid student I.D. Tickets can also be ordered online at www.thebarclay.org. MasterCard, VISA, American Express, and Discover accepted. 

The theatre is located at 4242 Campus Drive at Bridge and West Peltason Roads in Irvine.

Click links below to view previous Press Releases
2004 Press release
2005 Press
release

| Home | About NCI | Showing | Choreographers/Dancers | News | Get Involved |

                      Site design:

Copyright © 2005-2008
National Choreographers Initiative

Optimized for IE 6 & Firefox 1.0. Best viewed @ 1024 x 768
Problems with this site? Contact: