10 Hairy Legs to Perform at NJPAC, 3/8

Randy James' all male dance company, 10 Hairy Legs, appears at New Jersey Performing Arts Center's Victoria Theater on Saturday, March 8, 2014 at 8:00 pm as part of its Jersey Moves! Dance Festival. Continuing the company's aggressive repertory expansion that explores the range of today's male dancer, this program features two World Debuts - a quartet entitled "The Blind Men and the Elephant" by Julie Bour, and a quintet entitled "Trouble Will Find Me" by Doug Elkins. James' poignant duet, "Closing the Glass Door," which completes the program, and Bour's work will have live musical accompaniment.

'The Blind Men and the Elephant" features a newly composed score by Kyle Olson, a frequent collaborator of Bour's. The work was underwritten in part by a major grant from The O'Donnell Green Music & Dance Foundation. While deeply conscious of her experience and influences, Bour doesn't feel bound by a style or a technique. By exploring the dynamics of contemporary cultures through the prism of who she is today she creates works that resonate the cultural moment. Combining the exploration of her medium with theatrical collaborations Julie crafts her language over time by consistently working with a diverse group of celebrated dancers committed to dance invention. The unorthodoxy and international flavor of both her professional and personal paths are strongly present in her choreographic process. Benjamin Heller designs set pieces for the work.

"Trouble Will Find Me" features five company members in a rousing work set to the music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn, an internationally acclaimed Pakistani musician, who was primarily a singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis. The movement incorporates floreos (small, expressing hand movements used in Spanish dancing), floor work, Capoeira and Salsa. Elkins stated, "I am interested in conversations that deconstruct dance forms and in this work have indulged in the men's sensuality and funkiness while integrating the company members' individual corporeality to create a composite."

"Closing the Glass Door," set to the Haendel-Halvorsen Pascacaglia, a duet for Violin and Cello, had its debut performance at Raritan Valley Community College's "Dances from the Garden" in September 2009. In his review, Star-Ledger critic Robert Johnson noted, "One of the beauties of a subtle dance like this is that it doesn't slap on a label or supply an easy answer that will stop the viewer from thinking. Instead the dancers' physicality insinuates what different kinds of intimate relationships might have in common." The performance on March 8 is preceded by a free inter-active Workshop for ticket holders at 6:30 PM at the NJPAC Conference Center located directly across the street from the theater. Mr. James, members of the company and guest musicians discuss and demonstrate the nuances of the relationship between live music and dance. The performance, musical accompaniment and Workshop for "Closing the Glass Door" is funded in part by a Major Grant from the Frank & Lydia Bergen Foundation.

Additional workshops of "Closing the Glass Door" take place at Crossroads Theatre on May 4 and during the company's New York City season at New York Live Arts June 26-29. Jane Chung (Violin) and Sarah Biber (Cello), who played at the work's debut in 2009, will again perform. Both accomplished musicians, they have worked with James many times over the years, including most recently as part of a quartet for James' new solo work "Rook" at Crossroads Theatre in April 2013 and at New York Live Arts in June 26-29, 2014.

Company members are Alex Biegelson, Tony Bordonaro, Robert Burke, Tyner Dumortier, Kyle Marshall, Aaron Ramos, Scott Schneider, Nick Sciscione, Wil Tomascovic and Carlo Antonio Villanueva. They are all currently actively employed as performers and educators in the field, working with Stephen Petronio, Doug Elkins, The Bang Group, Tiffany Mills Company, ZviDance and off-Broadway in "Sleep No More," among others.

This season the company appeared as part of the The Hub City Sounds Festival on August 27 in New Brunswick, NJ, at the DanceNOW NYC Festival at Joe's Pub, New York City on October 11, the Soaking Wet Festival at the West End Theatre, New York City October 11-14, at Dixon Place New York City on November 13, The Theatre at Raritan Valley Community College on November 3 as part of its Major Artist Series, and will conclude the season on tour to the Cayman Islands in April, at The Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick on May 4, and at New York Live Arts June 26-29.

Tickets are $39, $20 for students using the code 14MOVES. Students must pick up in person with ID. Tickets may be purchased by calling the NJPAC Box Office at or on their web site: http://www.njpac.org/events/detail/jersey-moves-festival-of-dance-1. Group rates are available.