RIOULT 2012 Season to Include Untitled Joan Tower Premiere and Stravinski's Firebird

­ RIOULT, an American modern dance company, announces their four-day 2012 NY Season at The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, May 10-12, 2012 with a family matinee May 13, 2012. The Season features the World Premiere of Artistic Director/Choreographer Pascal Rioult's new work, inspired by T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land with a commissioned score by Grammy-Winning composer Joan Tower. The World Premiere will be performed at each performance to live musical accompaniment with Joan Tower at the piano, and cellist Raman Ramakrishnan. The program also includes RIOULT's Firebird (2003) and Celestial Tides, which captivated audiences at its premiere at The Joyce Theater in 2011.

The family matinee features Firebird and Small Steps, Tiny Revolutions (2008), which actively involves more than a dozen children from the community performing with RIOULT's professional dancers on stage.  This program is part of the two-year Five-Borough Arts-in-Education Tour, a partnership between RIOULT and City University of New York Performing Arts Centers (CUNY PAC) that began in fall 2011.

Known for his daring and imaginative explorations of classical scores, Pascal Rioult continues to develop new work through the Dance to Contemporary Composer Series, in which RIOULT commissions music from living American composers, press notes state. The first piece in the series, On Distant Shores (2011), was a collaboration with Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis. The upcoming 2012 World Premiere engages Joan Tower who is widely regarded as one of the most important American composers living today. 

"As I develop this new piece," says Pascal Rioult, "I intend to abandon the structured approach I typically use when creating a dance. Instead of letting the music drive the process, I have asked the dancers to improvise in silence, responding to images and poetic references I have selected from T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. While this is a stark departure for me it is a thrilling journey for the company. To inform the score I have shared the same images and references with Joan Tower, a composer whom I¹ve long admired."

Joan Tower comments, "Working with a choreographer is both exciting and intimidating because the creation of the dance and the music is happening simultaneously. Pascal happens to be one of those choreographers who loves music (and I happen to love dance), so connecting with him on a new score inspired by a great author creates an alluring trifecta and I look forward to seeing it all come together live."

The recently renovated 595-seat Gerald W. Lynch Theater is the setting for RIOULT¹s 2012 Season.

 

GALA ­ Thursday, May 10, 2012

RIOULT¹s Gala Dinner will be held at The Robert, a restaurant located at Columbus Circle atop the Museum of Arts and Design. The venue offers dramatic views of Columbus Circle, Central Park, and Broadway. The Gala follows the NY season opening night performance at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College. For more information email: gala@rioult.org. 

 

TICKETS and PERFORMANCE TIMES

Tickets can be purchased at Ticket Central¹s Box Office: (212) 279-4200, www.ticketcentral.com. Prices for performances range from $10 - $49. Tickets for the family matinee are $10 for children and $20 for adults. A select number of rush tickets will be sold to students and professional dancers 30 minutes before show time ­ subject to availability. A 20% discount for groups of 10 or more is available for the evening performances only by contacting jenny@rioult.org. All sales are final. The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College is conveniently located two blocks from Columbus Circle at 524 West 59^th Street, between 10^th and 11^th Avenues. The venue is accessible by the 1/A/B/C/D Subway lines to Columbus Circle.

Opening Night Gala ­ Thursday, May 10 ­ 7:00 p.m.

Friday and Saturday, May 11-12 ­ 8:00 p.m.

Family Matinee ­ Sunday, May 13 ­ 3:00 p.m.

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION: 2012 NY Season RIOULT

May 10, 7 p.m.; May 11-12, 8 p.m.; Family Matinee‹May 13, 3:00 p.m.

Run Time: 90 minutes (including intermission) 

RIOULT¹s 2012 NY Season features three dynamic works: the World Premiere, inspired by T.S. Eliot¹s ³The Waste Land² with an original score by Grammy-Winning composer Joan Tower, and performed with live music; Firebird (2003); and Celestial Tides (2011). The family matinee features Firebird and Small Steps, Tiny Revolutions (2008) where more than a dozen children from the community join RIOULT¹s professional dancers on stage.

 

REPERTORY 

World Premiere
Music: Joan Tower

Length: 16 minutes 

The not yet titled World Premiere, featuring live music and an original score by Grammy-Winning composer Joan Tower, is inspired by images drawn from T.S. Eliot¹s ³The Waste Land.² Pascal Rioult is taking a decidedly different approach to developing this piece working first in silence to build the movement vocabulary and then shaping the movement vocabulary to the music. The finished work will feature costume design by Pilar Limosner and lighting design by Clifton Taylor.

 

Firebird (2003)
Music: Igor Stravinsky, "Firebird"

Length: 30 minutes

For RIOULT¹s version, set to Stravinsky¹s 1947 suite with a constructivist-inspired set, a new narrative of redemption and reawaking is posited. "In Russian folktale as in Navajo legend the gift of the feather from the golden bird brings power to man to overcome evil and be reborn. This universal theme is the basis of the piece." ­ Pascal Rioult

 

Celestial Tides (2011)
Music: J.S. Bach, "Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major"

Length: 22 minutes

Celestial Tides is a full-company piece set to J.S. Bach¹s Brandenburg concerto # 6.  Described by Rioult as ³pure dance,² it is influenced by the notion of ³Music of the Spheres² an ancient philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies as a form of music. Bach¹s contrapuntal music lent itself well to the concept of bodies (celestial or human) creating a mysterious balance as they move in time and space.

 

Small Steps, Tiny Revolutions (2008)
Music: Steven Sametz

Length: 23 minutes

Small Steps, Tiny Revolutions is based on a poem about a young boy and his distanced father who disapproves of his son¹s love of dance. The audience witnesses the transformative power of love as the father journeys into the boy¹s imaginary world in an attempt to understand him and try to rescue their relationship. The whimsical costumes and sets used in this production set the tone for this magical and touching journey.