Ballet NY to Perform 2014 New York City Season, 4/15-17

Ballet NY presents its 2014 Season, including In the Garden of Souls, the company premieres of Kinderszenen, Dreams, and excerpts from Urban Study, from April 15-17, 2014 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street, NYC (at Ninth Avenue). All performances are at 7:30pm. Tickets are $26 ($16 for students and seniors) and are available at www.smarttix.com or by phone at 212-868-4444.

The program includes:

Dreams - Company Premiere
Choreography: Margot Parsons, Music: Ai Isshiki and Steve Milton
"Dreams, is concerned with the inner propulsion of going forward against the force of time," said choreographer Margot Parsons. Dreams is a ballet for three women.

Kinderszenen (Childhood Scenes) - Company Premiere
Choreography: Antonia Francheschi, Music: Allen Shawn
"Kinderszenen was made with the composer, the painter and George Balanchine in heart and mind," said choreographer Antonia Francheschi. The dance features three couples.

Excerpts from Urban Study - Company Premiere
Choreography: Ginger Thatcher, Music: Annie Gosfield
Featuring four women and two men.

In the Garden of Souls - Revisited
Choreography: Medhi Bahiri, Music: Azam Ali, vocal, Greg Ellis, percussion, and a blend of Native tradition of North America and Ancient tradition of India and the Far East
Featuring two men and two women.

Founded in 1997 by former New York City Ballet Principal Ballerina Judith Fugate and International Guest Artist Medhi Bahiri, Ballet NY is a company of accomplished principal and soloist dancers, whose mission is to offer emerging choreographers the opportunity to create new works on those dancers. The Company is committed to keeping ticket prices affordable in an effort to attract, cultivate and educate new audiences for dance. The Company has performed in New York City at The Joyce Theater, Symphony Space, Marymount Manhattan College, The Miller Theater, The Ailey Citigroup Theater, around the country and in Mexico and Canada. For more information, visit www.balletny.org.

Medhi Bahiri (Co-Artistic Director, Ballet NY) brings a wide and diverse background in dance to his position. He was Principal Dancer with Ballet West and Boston Ballet, and a member of Maurice Bejart's Twentieth Century Ballet. As Principal Guest Artist, he has appeared with Ballet National de Mexico, Ballet de Santiago, Chile, Universal Ballet of Korea, Ballet du Louvre, Tulsa Ballet, and Ballet Philippines. Touring in the United States and Europe, his partners have included: Cynthia Gregory, Ann Marie DeAngelo, Valentina Kozlova, Cheryl Yeager, Evelyn Cisneros, Marie-Christine Mouis, Christine Spizzo, Christina Fagundes and Laura Young, among others. Mr. Bahiri won the First Prize of the Prix de Lausanne dance competition, and was recognized for his outstanding artistic achievement and original style at the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. As a non-competitor, he was distinguished as Best Partner at the Jackson and Tokyo ballet competitions.

Judith Fugate (Co-Artistic Director, Ballet NY), former Principal Ballerina with the New York City Ballet, danced roles in virtually every ballet in the NYCB repertoire, counting among her partners Peter Martins, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Helgi Tomasson. During her career she toured extensively with groups led by renowned artists such as Mr. Baryshnikov, Cynthia Gregory and Mr. Martins. Miss Fugate appeared on "Live from Lincoln Center" with Ray Charles in Peter Martins' A Fool for You. In the Metropolitan Opera's production of La Traviata, conducted by Placido Domingo, she was partnered by Fernando Bujones and Peter Boal. She left the company in 1997 to pursue a career as freelance Guest Artist and Co-Artistic Director of Ballet NY. Miss Fugate works as repetiteur for the George Balanchine Trust and the Jerome Robbins Rights Trust, staging these renowned choreographers' works worldwide.