Works by Kyle Abraham, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Seán Curran, Cherylyn Lavagnino, Brook Notary, Sydney Skybetter, and Johannes Weiland
The Department of Dance at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts will present a one-night-only concert of works by alumni choreographers at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, January 31, 2009. Entitled Past/Forward: A Tisch Dance Alumni Celebration, the program will feature works by Kyle Abraham, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Seán Curran, Cherylyn Lavagnino, Brook Notary, Sydney Skybetter, and Johannes Weiland.
Past/Forward, co-produced by the Department of Dance and the Skirball Center, will highlight the work of several generations of Tisch Dance choreographers, and is the first of what is hoped to be a regular occurring series that will present the work of Tisch Dance alumni. Past/Forward will showcase a range of alumni choreographers, from the newly graduated and emerging, to the more established who are now heading their own companies. It will also feature a variety of choreographic styles, including contemporary pointe, post modern, European contemporary, and modern dance, among others.
Past/Forward will take place for one night only on Saturday, January 31, 2009 at NYU’s Skirball Center, located at 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South). Curtain is at 8 p.m. Admission is $25. Proceeds from the concert will be used to support future presentations showcasing the talents of Tisch Dance alumni. For detailed information, visit Skirball Center online at www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu, or call 212.352.3101. The box office is open Tuesday through Saturday, from noon to 6 p.m.
About the Department of Dance at the Tisch School of the Arts:
The Department of Dance at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, is a conservatory training program that offers an intensive curriculum for students committed to entering the profession as dancers or choreographers. It seeks exceptionally talented students who have learned through previous experience that they are physically and imaginatively capable of committing themselves to a training that reflects the standards of professional work. It provides a full range of technical training, and, for those interested in choreography, a solid base for creative work.
About the Jack H. Skirball Center for Performing Arts at NYU:
The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University, is the premier venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events at NYU and lower Manhattan. Located at 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South), it provides a large-scale, professional performance space for university productions and events and live professional performances from around the world. The 860-seat theater opened in October 2003 and hosts the only major university-based professional multi-arts presenting program in Manhattan. As a result, one natural and continuing mission of the Skirball Center is to build young audiences for live performance through a broad range of compelling performance events at affordable ticket prices. For more information, visit www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu.
Artist Biographies:
Kyle Abraham began his training at the Civic Light Opera Academy and the Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He continued his dance studies in New York, receiving a BFA from SUNY Purchase and an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He has received several awards for choreography including a Thayer Fellowship in 2000, Pennsylvania Council for the Arts Fellowship in 2002, and a Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant 2008. Abraham’s choreography has been presented throughout the United States and abroad, most recently in 2007’s Fall for Dance Festival at New York’s City Center, Emoves 8 at Harlem Stage/Aaron Davis Hall in Harlem, New York, and the 11th Internationales Solo-Tanz-Theater Festival in Stuttgart, Germany. As a performer, Abraham has worked with many acclaimed modern dance companies including David Dorfman Dance, Nathan Trice/Rituals, Mimi Garrard Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Dance Alloy, The Kevin Wynn Collection, and Attack Theatre. In addition to performing and developing new works for his company, abraham.in.motion, Abraham also teaches his unique approach to post-modern dance in schools and studios throughout the United States. For more information, visit: www.abrahaminmotion.org.
Charlotte Boye-Christensen, a native of Denmark, joined Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in 2002 to assist in the artistic direction of the company and has created 18 new works for the company. She received her formal training at London Contemporary Dance School and at the Laban Centre in London (where she won the 1992 choreography award) and earned an MFA in Dance at the Tisch School of the Arts. She has been commissioned to create new works for The Milwaukee Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, The Arts Fissions Dance Company, Ballet de Camaguey in Cuba, New Danish Dance Theatre, Tisch Dance’s Second Avenue Dance Company, London Contemporary Dance School’s Edge Dance Company, and Verb Ballets in Cleveland. She has also choreographed at the Universities of Utah, Princeton, Rutgers, Long Beach, Southern Utah University, and at The National School for Contemporary Dance in Denmark, The Kuopio Conservatory in Finland, The Royal Danish Ballet School, the University of the Americas in Mexico, and at the Bellas Artes International Choreography Competition in Mexico City. Boye-Christensen has participated in “The Yard” Dance Colony in Massachusetts, The International Course for Professional Choreographers and Composers in England, and the International Choreographic Platform in Portugal, as well as taught and choreographed at the International Dance Competition in Seoul. She has worked with multimedia artist Usman Haque, theatre director Erik Gottlieb, and the Utah Symphony. Her credits also include directing a stage workshop at the famed Bauhaus Institute in Germany, a collaborative work with Brolly Arts and multimedia artists Juhl/Viktov. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and grants from the Theatre and Arts Councils in Denmark, Germany, Mexico, and Singapore among others, as well as a recipient of the Choo-San Goh Award for Choreographic Excellence. For more information, email charboye@hotmail.com.
Seán Curran began his dance training in Boston before he went on to make his mark on the dance world as a leading dancer with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company where he received a New York Dance and Performance Bessie Award for his performance in Secret Pastures. An alumnus and guest faculty of Tisch Dance, Curran was an original member of the New York City cast of the Off-Broadway percussion extravaganza Stomp. He has performed his solo evening of dances at venues throughout the United States as well as at Sweden’s Danstation Theatre and France’s EXIT Festival. He formed his own company, Seán Curran Dance, in 1997. Current and recent projects for Curran include: Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for The Shakespeare Theater; Nixon in China and Street Scene at Opera Theater of St. Louis; choreography for the New York City Opera productions of L’Etoile, Alcina, Turandot, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Capriccio, and Acis and Galetea; the Playwrights Horizons’ production of My Life with Albertine; and Shakespeare in the Park’s As You Like It. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut choreographing Romeo and Juliette and his work has appeared on Broadway in James Joyce’s The Dead and The Rivals. He has created works for Trinity Irish Dance Company, American Ballet Theatre’s studio company, Denmark’s Upper Cut Company, Sweden’s Skänes Dance Theater, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Ririe Woodbury Dance Theater, and Dance Alloy, as well as for numerous college and university dance departments. Curran has taught extensively at the American Dance Festival, Harvard Summer Dance Center, Bates Dance Festival, and Boston’s Conservatory of Music. Curran was awarded a Choreographer’s Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts in 2002. For more information, contact seancurranco@aol.com
Cherylyn Lavagnino has an MFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, as well as a BA in Philosophy from the University of Southern California. Lavagnino toured nationally as a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet performing at New York’s City Center and BAM, and has been a member of the San Diego Ballet, Arizona Ballet Theatre, and Ballet Teatro del Espacio in Mexico City. She has performed a range of classical repertoire and contemporary work by choreographers including Balanchine, John Butler, Hans Van Manen, and Tere O’Connor. Her choreography has been presented in New York City at The Joyce Theatre, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, Dance Theater Workshop, Symphony Space, Colloquium Contemporary Dance Exchange, The Field, Dancenow at John Jay College Theater, and Ballet Builders at Florence Gould Hall. She was resident choreographer at The Yard in 2001 and most recently was awarded a company residency in July, 2008. Lavagnino received a space grant from the Baryshnikov Arts Center in 2006 and is the recipient of the 2007-08 Manhattan Community Arts Fund awarded by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Tisch Faculty Artistic Development grant in 2006. Her company, Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance, was formed in 2000. It has been presented by: Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow, The Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, and New Dance Alliance Inc. The Company was in residence at The Yard July 2008, returning to Jacob’s Pillow, and was featured in the Dancenow Festival this fall 2008. Lavagnino has taught professional ballet internationally and in several NYC studios. She has taught at the Paul Taylor Intensive (NYC), at Bates Dance Festival, and at Jacob’s Pillow and taught daily company class for the Lyon Opera Ballet. She has been a full-time member of the Faculty at NYU since 1987 and directed Tisch’s Second Avenue Dance Company for 14 years. In recognition of her superior work, she won New York University’s prestigious David Payne Carter Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2003. Lavagnino is currently serving as Chair of the Tisch Dance Department at NYU. For more information, contact: clavagnino@aol.com
Brook Notary, a native of San Francisco, is the artistic director and choreographer of the modern dance troupe, Notario Dance Company which has performed at Jacob’s Pillow, the Duke on 42nd, The Kitchen, Joyce SoHo, Symphony Space, and the Cowell Theater-SF, and has also aired on PBS. This year she choreographed an aerial show for pop artist, Usher. Notary received her BFA at the Univ. Of Calif. Irvine and received her MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts, ‘05, where she was honored with the Deans Scholarship. As well as touring the US as a rhythmic gymnast /dance captain with Cirque Ingenieux, Notary has danced and choreographed for Emittime Productions and has had the privilege of performing, with the off-Broadway hit show De La Guarda in NY. For more information, contact: bnotary@earthlink.net.
Sydney Skybetter is a choreographer, curator, and management consultant for performing arts organizations. He studied at Interlochen Arts Academy, Columbia University, and NYU where he received a Masters in Dance Performance and Choreography and was a Graduate Assistant in Dance History. Skybetter has performed with Christopher Williams, Larry Keigwin, Kun-Yang Lin, Gus Solomons jr., and the Anna Sokolow Foundation. His choreography has been presented in New York at numerous venues, including Dance Theater Workshop, La MaMa, ETC., Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, University Settlement, and Dixon Place, among others. He is a producer with the DancenOw|NYC Festival, serves on the board of directors of Gotham Arts Exchange /Zia Artists, the board of trustees of Dance/USA, and is the co-founder of the Tisch East Alumni Council. For more information, contact: Sydney@skybetter.org. Johannes Wieland was recently appointed artistic director/choreographer of the resident dance company at the State Theatre of Kassel, Germany. A native of Germany and former principal dancer with the Béjart Ballet Lausanne and Berlin’s State Opera, he established his company, johannes wieland, in New York in 2002. Since then, he has been developing a singular body of work that has garnered critical acclaim from The New York Times, Time Out New York, The Village Voice, and many other national and international publications, amongst them Dance Magazine, which cited him as one of the “25 to Watch” in January 2003. His duet, shift, won Germany’s 2004 Kurt Jooss Award and he is also a winner of the 2004 Hubbard Street 2 National Choreographic Competition. Wieland was also associate artistic director of PARADIGM (New York), and is a guest choreographer and teacher at companies and schools around the world. He holds a BFA from the University of Amsterdam, and an MFA from NYU. For more information, contact: wieland.johannes@gmail.com.