Jessica Lang Dance to Bring Evening of Contemporary Dance at Mesa Arts Center, 11/20

Choreographer Jessica Lang, who was recently recognized with a Bessie Award for Best Emerging Choreographer, will bring her company, Jessica Lang Dance (JLD) to perform an evening of contemporary dance in Mesa Arts Center's Piper Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 20. Tickets are available at the Mesa Arts Center Box Office, at mesaartscenter.com or by calling 480-644-6500.

Based in New York City, the ballet-influenced contemporary dance company was founded in 2011. Hailed as "a master of visual composition" by Dance Magazine, Lang seamlessly incorporates striking design elements and transforms classical ballet language into artfully crafted, emotionally engaging contemporary works. Judith Mackrell of The Guardian said of her, "Lang was formerly a dancer with Twyla Tharp, and like Tharp she has the gift of cramming together an eclectic range of colours and ideas without losing thought with her individual sensibility."

JLD is currently in residence at the Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts in Wickenburg through November 10, while Lang puts the finishing touches on her new full-length piece, The Wanderer. Accompanied by the music of Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, the evening-length work will make its world premiere at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) as part of the prestigious 2014 Next Wave Festival in December.

As part of Mesa Arts Center's educational outreach programs, JLD will offer free dance master classes to students in dance programs at Arizona State University, Glendale Community College, Grand Canyon University and Scottsdale Community College, and to Ballet Etudes, a Founding Resident Company at Mesa Arts Center.

Since the company's inception, marked by Lang's receipt of a Joyce Theater Artist Residency supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, JLD has made rapid success performing at renowned venues and festivals throughout the country including Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, New York City Center's Fall for Dance Festival, the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, the Joyce Theater and the Winspear Opera House in Dallas, TX where the company's performance was chosen as the best dance event of 2013.

To post a comment, you must register and login.