Lydia Johson Dance Co. to Perform at Ailey Citigroup Theater, 3/10-12

Lydia Johnson Dance announces its New York season, March 10-12, 7:30 PM, at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55 Street (corner 9th Avenue), presenting a program of company favorites and the world premiere of a work set to new versions of classic jazz standards including "I'm Old Fashioned" by Jerome Kern. The choreography abstracts the romantic arc of these pieces and, while fully enjoying the lyrical romance inherent in the music, the piece becomes somewhat surrealistic, as the dancers seem to function in a world of their own memories.

With every new concert, Johnson reconfirms her exceptional musicality, creating a dance vocabulary and style inspired by her musical choices - which run from Golijov and Glass to jazz to the crooning of Dean Martin.

From the repertory are two ballets to music by contemporary Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov - Night of the Flying Horses andGiving Way, and What Counts to the jazz trio Bad Plus.

Night of the Flying Horses matches the passion and mystery of the score by Golijov, and provides a stunning showcase for two of the company's leading dancers, Laura Di Orio and Brynt Beitman. The work "is filled with sublime imagery," remarked Darrell Wood, adding "It's a beautiful and emotional work, a dance that stays with you long after you have seen it. Ms. Johnson reached in and pulled Night of the Flying Horses from her heart." (www.nydancestuff, June 2013)

Johnson turned to another score by Golijov, a cello and marimba duet, along with an aggressive string octet by Marc Mellits, for her 2015 premiere Giving Way, a complex abstract work for which, noted Mary Cargill, "one view is not really enough to absorb the subtle musical nuances and underlying dramatic grace notes." (danceviewtimes.com, 2015)

The program will be completed by What Counts, an engaging quintet set to three tracks by the jazz trio the Bad Plus. Premiered in 2015, the work was most enthusiastically received, inspiring Philip Gardner to report that "What Counts evoked a volley of cheers from the crowd." (www.oberonsgrove.com)