BALLET BUILDERS 20TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR

April 9-11, 2010 at The Ailey Citigroup Theatre

BALLET BUILDERS celebrates 20 years of presenting works by both emerging and established choreographers from around the country with performances April 9-11 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 55th Street & Ninth Avenue.   All 2010 dancemakers are joining the Ballet Builders family for the first time, bringing the total number of choreographers over the past twenty years to ninety-six.   Ballet Builders is produced by New Choreographers on Point, founded twenty years ago by Ruth Chester and Michael Kraus.

“These programs are always adventures in discovery, for they feature new works by emerging choreographers from around the country.”
The New York Times
 
“Thank you, Ballet Builders, for showing us New Yorkers how much life there is in ballet outside the city…….To see the markedly different perspectives of these up-and-comers was a rare opportunity.”
Dance Magazine

20th Anniversary Program Choreographers:

DEANNA CARTER – “Ash to Glass,” for eight members of Ballet Quad Cities, headquartered in Illinois, to a musical collage that includes Garage Band, Garry Eister, and Ezio Bosso.  Choreographer Deanna Carter, a native of Seattle, is currently Assistant Professor of Dance at The University of Iowa.  She has also created works for the Leipzig Ballet, Stars of La Scala, and the Dessau Ballet.
 
DAVID FERNANDEZ – “Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear,” a ballet for five dancers set to Requiem for Adam by Terry Riley, performed by the Kronos Quartet.   A native of Mexico City, Fernandez moved to the U.S. in 1989 on a scholarship to Giordano Jazz Dance in Chicago.  Most recently, he has created dances for NYCB’s Ask La Cour and Joaquin de Luz.  “Objects” was premiered in 2009 at Lincoln Center’s Dance on Camera Festival, and starred NYCB’s Daniel Ulbricht.
 
JA’MALIK – “The Hour Before I Loved You” (excerpts), to string quartet music by Jody Talbot.   The four dancers are drawn from ABT, DTH Ensemble, and Ballet Noir.  Ja’Malik danced with the Cleveland Ballet in his native Ohio; as well as with Oakland Ballet and North Carolina Ballet, among others.   He is the recipient of the 2009-2010 Fund for New Work Grant, presented by Harlem Stage.
 
JOHN-MARK OWEN – “Triptych,” a duet to music by Bouzignac, Biber, and Rachmaninoff.    The choreographer began training in Macon, GA, and has danced with the Nashville Ballet, Ohio Ballet, Augusta Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, Ballet NY, and Dances Patrelle.   He has choreographed for the Middle Georgia Youth Ballet, the Nashville Ballet’s Trainee program, and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
 
PEDRO RUIZ – “Tempo Rosso,” a romantic dance for a company of fourteen, music by Vivaldi.   Ruiz trained in his native Cuba and in Venezuela, and spent  21 years as a highly praised principal dancer with Ballet Hispanico.  Writing in Time Out, Gia Kourlas noted that “In all his work, Pedro Ruiz has displayed prized choreographic abilities: musicality, an aptitude for showing steps in new ways, and theatrical clarity.”

Ballet Builders performances will take place on April 9-11 (Friday & Saturday at 8 pm; Sunday at 3 pm) The Ailey Citigroup Theater, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Joan Weill Center for Dance, 405 West 55 Street (corner 9th Avenue)

Tickets: $30
Reservations: smarttix 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com

Please visit the official Ballet Builders website at http://BalletBuilders.org

Topics: American Repertory Ballet, Augusta Ballet, Ballet Builders, Ballet NY, Cleveland Ballet, Dances Patrelle, David Fernandez, Deanna Carter, Dessau Ballet, Giordano Jazz Dance, JA'MALIK, John-Mark Owen, Leipzig Ballet, Michael Kraus, Nashville Ballet, New York Times, Ohio Ballet, Pedro Ruiz, Ruth Chester, Stars of La Scala, The University of Iowa

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