Alessandro Sciarroni's FOLK-S, WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW? Set for CROSSING THE LINE Festival, 10/1-3

By: Sep. 24, 2015
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One of Europe's most intriguing new artists, Italian performer, choreographer and director Alessandro Sciarroni will make his New York City debut with FOLK-S, WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW? at New York Live Arts as part of the French Institute Alliance Française's Crossing the Line festival.

The deeply rhythmic and auditory work for six dancers strips a traditional Tyrolean folk dance down to its most essential elements, leaving only unceasing, pounding feet and a token pair of lederhosen. As the traditional schuhplattler form collides with a contemporary staging, Sciarroni's trance-like performance pushes the limits of human potential to the point of exhaustion and beyond.

FOLK-S, WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW? is the final of three co-presentations in the fall of 2015 between New York Live Arts and the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)'s Crossing the Line festival. Tickets start at $15. October 1-3, 2015 at 7:30 PM.

New York Live Arts is an internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry offering audiences access to art and artists notable for their conceptual rigor, formal experimentation and active engagement with the social, political and cultural currents of our times. At the center of this identity is Bill T. Jones, Artistic Director, a world-renowned choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer. We commission, produce and present performances in our 20,000 square foot home, which includes a 184-seat theater and two 1,200 square foot studios that can be combined into one large studio. New York Live Arts serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, provides an extensive range of participatory programs for adults and young people and supports the continuing professional development of artists. For more information, visit www.newyorklivearts.org.

Crossing the Line is the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)'s annual fall festival, presenting interdisciplinary works and performances in New York. The festival explores the dialogue between artist and public, and examines how artists help re-imagine the world as critical thinkers and catalysts for social evolution. Crossing the Line is initiated and produced by FIAF in partnership with leading cultural institutions. The festival's ninth edition takes place this year from September 10-October 4, 2015.

France has a long history of supporting national and international cultural practices, welcoming and nurturing new ideas and influential perspectives from around the world. FIAF, as the leading French cultural institution in the US, critically maintains that tradition through the Crossing the Line festival, presenting leading edge artists from France and the US alongside their peers from around the world.

Since its inauguration in 2007, Crossing the Line has cultivated an increasingly large and diverse following, and received numerous accolades in the press. The festival has been voted "Best of 2009," "Best of 2010," "Best of 2012," "Best of 2013," and "Best of 2014" by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time Out New York, Artforum, and Frieze, with performances earning an Obie and several Bessie awards. The New York Times states, "For terrifically unusual, unpredictable, unnamable performance, we've come to expect a lot from ... the curators of the French Institute Alliance Française's interdisciplinary festival," and The New Yorker says, "This interdisciplinary festival...goes from strength to strength." For more information, visit fiaf.org/ctl.

The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is New York's premiere French cultural and language center. FIAF's mission is to create and offer New Yorkers innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. FIAF seeks to generate new ideas and promote cross cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression. For more info, go to fiaf.org.

Alessandro Sciarroni is an Italian performer, choreographer and director with a background in visual arts and performance. His work has been presented in dance and contemporary theatre festivals, museums and art galleries as well as in non-theatrical venues. His work has been performed in 21 European countries, in Uruguay (FIDCU) and in the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi Art Fair). In 2013 his work, Folk-s, launched the Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis in Bagnolet, France and concluded the ImPulsTanz festival in Vienna. He has been invited to present his work at many acclaimed European festivals including the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels and the Festival d'Automne in Paris, which invited him to present a monographic program in different theatres throughout the city.

His most recent work, Untitled, premiered in 2014 at the Biennale de la danse in Lyon along with Joseph_Kids, a version for young audiences of his solo piece Joseph. In 2013 and 2014, Sciarroni was invited to create two events for the Venice Biennale, dance section, directed by Virgilio Sieni.

Sciarroni has participated in cross-border networks that promote contemporary dance and artists' mobility throughout Europe, including Anticorpi Explo, Aerowaves and Modul Dance, a multi-annual project established through the collaboration of 19 European dance houses from 15 different countries. He has also taken part in residency projects like Choreographic Dialogues and Choreoroam Europe. He is currently involved in Performing Gender, a European dance project on gender and sexual orientations, and Migrant Body, a dance project that aims to translate a reflection on migration and its cultural impact on the European and Canadian society into choreographic creations. He is one of the artists of the Progetto Matilde, a regional project that promotes artists in the Marches region in Italy.

Sciarroni is supported by Advancing Performing Arts Projects and is produced by Marche Teatro in collaboration with international co-producers including Comune di Bassano del Grappa, Centro per la Scena Contemporanea, Biennale de la danse / Maison de la Danse de Lyon, Mercat de les Flors-Graner in Barcelona, Centrale Fies, and by the association Corpoceleste_C.C.00#, of which he's the Artistic Director.

Photo Credit: Matteo Maffesanti



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