New York, NY – BalletNext, the acclaimed contemporary ballet company founded by former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Michele Wiles, will return to the performance arena for its 2018 season at New York Live Arts, March 6-10.
Wiles and the company have been on hiatus as she welcomed the birth of her first child in 2017. Through this period of self exploration in both her personal and professional life, Wiles has returned with a renewed creative focus and will continue exploring unique paths in the ballet world via extraordinary partnerships and by further delving into live music collaborations. The 2018 season will feature four new works choreographed by Wiles, along with her return to performing on stage since the expansion of her family.
Vibrer fuses classical ballet with the improvisational flow of jazz, andcontinues Wiles’ partnership with Grammy nominated jazz trumpeter Tom Harrell. Harrell will perform live with Criss Cross recording artist Danny Grissett on piano. In Vibrer, the movements in the music are inspired by several distinctive jazz genres, which propel six female dancers through space to reflect on time and personal history.
Follin is a world premiere that melds the dance of sign language with ballet. Co-choreographed and performed with deaf dancer Bailey Anne Vincent, this work featuring six females utilizes and expands on the intricate hand movements of American Sign Language. Follin surveys the experience of losing sound, the pervasive silence that remains, and the after effects. Set to music by Philip Glass and poetry by Robert Frost, the work will also feature a sign language interpreter as part of the performance. This work is named in honor of Vincent’s daughter who lost some of her hearing as an infant and is a tribute to deaf children as well as those who need to be heard.
Experience is a duet that explores the possibility of female partnering. A work that features the vigorous physicality and strength of the female body coupled with music by Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi’s composition of the same name, it is inspired by Wiles’ personal physical journey as a dancer through pregnancy, birth and rebuilding her performance dance strength. Experience embodies gender neutral strength, power and beauty.
The Pianist, set to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto in D minor placesfive female dancers in a playful comedy suggestive of a modernized version of Edgar Degas’ masterpieces depicting ballerinas. The work features a piano center stage played live as a flirtatious and charming piece with a surprising end, unfurls.
Performances will take place:
DATE
| TIME
|
Tuesday, March 6
| 7:30 PM
|
Wednesday, March 7
| 7:30 PM
|
Thursday, March 8
| 7:30 PM
|
Friday, March 9
| 7:30 PM
|
Saturday, March 10
| 2:00 PM
|
Saturday, March 10
| 7:30 PM
|
TICKETS and LOCATION:
Tickets range from $10-$90 and can be purchased online at https://newyorklivearts.org.
New York Live Arts is located at 219 W 19th Street, New York, NY 10011
About Michele Wiles & BalletNext
Wiles founded BalletNext in 2011 with the vision to pair classically trained dancers with artists from diverse backgrounds and interpretations. BalletNext features new work in a collaborative setting encouraging risk taking and a focus on process. Wiles was a Gold Medal winner at the 18th International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria and Erik Bruhn Prize winner in 2002. She joined American Ballet Theatre in 1997 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2006. Wiles has been choreographing new work with BalletNext since 2011 to critical acclaim.
For the most up-to-date schedule for all BalletNextprogramming, follow BalletNext via the below links and visit http://www.balletnext.com
Twitter: @BalletNext
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/balletnext5
Instagram: instagram.com/balletnext
About Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell is widely recognized as one of the most creative and dynamic jazz instrumentalists and composers of our time. He is a frequent winner in DownBeat andJazzTimes magazines' Critics and Readers Polls and a multiple Grammy nominee. Carlos Santana, Cold Blood, Azteca, Vince Guaraldi, Hank Jones, Kenny Barron, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Danish Radio Big Band, WDR Big Band, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Metropole Orchestra, Orchstre National de Lorraine and Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra are among the many who have recorded or performed his work.
About Bailey Anne Vincent
Bailey Anne Vincent is a Washington DC-based dancer, director and choreographer of Company360. Vincent, who began to lose her hearing in her teens due to a rare medical condition, has never stopped dancing. She trained at Rockbridge Ballet in Virginia and later founded Company360 in DC.
Piece Information
Experience - (5 minutes)
World Premiere – March 2018
Choreography: Michele Wiles
Music: Ludovico Einaudi - Experience
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker
Performers: Violetta Komyshan, Natalie Stys
Follin (15 minutes)
World Premiere – March 2018
Choreography: Michele Wiles and Bailey Anne Vincent
Music: Philip Glass - Floe, Dance VIII
Poetry: Robert Frost - Acceptance
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker
Performers: Egle Andreikaite, Violetta Komyshan, Alice Regnouf, Emmi Strickland, Bailey Anne Vincent, Michele Wiles
Interpreter: Emily Hepburn Moran
The Pianist - (11 minutes)
World Premiere – March 2018
Choreography: Michele Wiles
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto in D minor
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker
Performers: Egle Andreikaite, Violetta Komyshan, Alice Regnouf, Emmi Strickland, Michele Wiles
Vibrer - (15 minutes)
World Premiere – March 2018
Choreography: Michele Wiles
Music: Tom Harrell - Vibrer
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker
Performers: Egle Andreikaite, Violetta Komyshan, Alice Regnouf, Natalie Stys, Bailey Anne Vincent, Michele Wiles
