 Older,
wiser and even more rambunctiously inventive, David Dorfman takes
on big issues (with a slight smile) during David Dorfman Dance’s
20th anniversary celebration at The Joyce Theater, May 31–June
5. Marking the company’s first performances at The Joyce in
seven years and kicking off the theater’s summer season, the
engagement features two world premieres including “Older Testaments,”
set to an original score by Frank London, and the duet “approaching
some calm.” All three dances, including last season’s
hit, “Lightbulb Theory,” will be performed to live music.
“Older Testaments,” inspired
by the centuries-old history of Arabs and Jews, both celebrates
the kinship of the two seemingly disparate cultures and presents
a sardonic and irreverently humorous look at the difficulties that
divide them in their ongoing struggle for land. Using movement and
music to pose questions about the relationship between ritual and
dogma, antagonism, negotiation, ownership, cultural identity and
communication, the dance incorporates Dorfman’s signature
bold, athletic movement with suggestions of folk dance, gesture
and bits of text. The klezmer score by London, a member of the Klezmatics,
will be played live by the trumpeter/composer and a brass band of
three.
“approaching some calm”
is a co-creation between Dorfman and his wife Lisa Race, with whom
he also co-created their 4-year-old son Samson. Obviously, a lot
has happened to the couple since 1994 when they created “approaching
no calm.” The new work, which they consider its sequel, reflects
the changes that their shared history has wrought, while still teeming
with plenty of partnering, kinetically infectious movement and big,
strong feelings—emotional and physical. The music by master
accordionist Guy Klucevsek, which includes bits of Burt Bacharach,
will be played live by the composer.
Is it better if a lightbulb flickers
before it goes out, or just goes out? In his meditative, but wacky
“Lightbulb Theory,” Dorfman asks such challenging questions
about death, which he answers in typically unorthodox ways. Infused
with flashes of playfulness and surprise, the dance alternates between
the literal and abstract in its poignant exploration of issues raised
when struggling to deal with death. The haunting musical accompaniment
is an original piano score by Michael Wall, who plays live at all
shows.
Please note that Dorfman credits company
dancers Jennifer Nugent, Paul Matteson, Joseph Poulson and Heather
McArdle as choreographic collaborators for “Lightbulb Theory”
and adds newer members—Shani Collins, Tzveta Kassabova and
Francis Stansky—to the list for “Older Testaments.”
Artistic Director David Dorfman, a
native of Chicago, earned a B.S. in business administration from
Washington University in St. Louis and an M.F.A. in dance from Connecticut
College, where he has recently taken a position as associate professor
of dance. He has performed internationally with Kei Takei's Moving
Earth and Susan Marshall & Co. The recipient of several fellowships
from both the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation
for the Arts, Dorfman has also been honored with an American Choreographer’s
Award, a 1996 New York Dance & Performance Award (Bessie) and
a 2005 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. In addition to the dances
he creates for his own company, recent commissions include works
for Bedlam Dance Company in London, Seattle’s d9 Dance Collective
and the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia for the original musical
“Green Violin,” for which he won a 2003 Barrymore Award
for best choreography.
In 1985, Dorfman created David Dorfman
Dance, which has since performed extensively in New York City and
throughout North and South America, Great Britain and Europe. The
company, which frequently collaborates with contemporary composers
and visual artists, has received seven Bessie Awards. In addition
to performing in venues such as The Kitchen, Brooklyn Academy of
Music, The Joyce Theater, Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project
and P.S. 122, David Dorfman
Dance also creates community-based works such as “Out of Season
(The Athletes Project),” “Arts in Action (The No Roles
Barred Project) as well as “Familiar Movements (The Family
Project),” for which Dorfman received his Bessie Award.
Following its Joyce Theater engagement,
David Dorfman Dance will perform at Summer Stages Dance in Concord,
MA (July 14); Algonquin Arts Theatre in Manasquan, NJ (August 20);
and Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT (September 23–24).
In 2006, look for the company at the American Dance Festival in
Durham, NC (June 12–14, 2006) and as part of the BAM’s
Next Wave Festival in Brooklyn, NY (November 14–18, 2006)
where the company will present the New York premiere of “underground.”
The evening curtain for David Dorfman
Dance’s Joyce Theater season, Tuesday through Saturday, is
at 8pm; on Sunday, the show begins at 7:30pm. There will also be
2pm matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $38. All tickets
are available at The Joyce Theater box office, by calling JoyceCharge
at 212-242-0800 or online at www.joyce.org. The Joyce Theater is
located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street.
###
Live music for this engagement is made possible by a grant from
the American Music Center Live Music for Dance Program.
The production of “Older Testaments” was made possible
by generous grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the
National Endowment for the Arts with additional funding from the
R.F. Johnson Faculty Development Fund (Connecticut College) and
the Friends of David Dorfman Dance. The commissioned score was made
possible by the American Music Center Live Music for Dance Program.
Choreographic material for “Older Testaments” was developed,
in part, during a residency at the Tisch Dance Summer Residency
Program at New York University.
The production of “Lightbulb Theory” was made possible
by generous grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the
National Endowment for the Arts with additional funding from the
92nd Street Y New Works in Dance Fund and The Edith Meiser Foundation.
“Lightbulb Theory” was first staged at George Mason
University Center for the Arts in Fairfax, Virginia. Choreographic
material for “Lightbulb Theory” was developed, in part,
during residencies at the Tisch Dance Summer Residency Program at
New York University, Cornish College for the Arts (Seattle) and
George Mason University (Fairfax, VA).
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