RIOULT Dance NY Announces 2017 Season At Joyce Theater, 5/31-6/4

Pascal Rioult's renowned dance company, RIOULT Dance NY, the American modern dance company with a European sensibility, announces its 2017 season at The Joyce Theater, May 31 - June 4. This year, Rioult unveils two groundbreaking dances: the world premiere of Fire in the Sky and a re-staging of the classic Te Deum.

"The new work [Fire in the Sky], my first rock and roll piece, is set to the music of Deep Purple. This is the music that I danced to in the 70s in clubs, music that I really loved. The journey to becoming a professional dancer and choreographer and artistic director really started in those clubs." - Pascal Rioult on Fire in the Sky. Watch full video here.

Fire in the Sky is a life's work in dance. A nostalgic homage to the whimsy of youth, Fire in the Skyrecalls a life lived in constant motion. Set to Deep Purple's dynamic songs "Smoke on the Water" (1973), "Child in Time," (1970), "Lazy," (1972), and "Highway Star" (1972), the new performancecaptures the spirit of an artist fully realizing his craft.

Shortly after the premiere of Te Deum in 1996, Rioult told the Los Angeles Times, "It's a piece I feel in a way I'll be working on my whole life." Now, one of his most acclaimed pieces is performed for the first time by a dancer other than Rioult himself. Set to Arvo Pärt's score of the same name, Te Deumis resurrected in a new re-staging, elegiacally evoking forms from the Crucifixion in a mysterious, spiritually charged performance. Richly saturated with the religious atmosphere of Rioult's home city Caen, Te Deum was originally choreographed in 1995 when Rioult was transitioning from dancer to choreographer. Now, he revisits the piece through the lens of a more mature artist.

Ticket Information

Tickets start at $10

Call 212-242-0800

All other tickets can be purchased at www.joyce.org

About Pascal Rioult

Born in Caen, France, Mr. Rioult came to the United States on a fellowship from the French Ministry of Culture to study modern dance in 1981. After performing with the companies of May O'Donnell and Paul Sanasardo he was invited to join the Martha Graham Dance Company. He interpreted many of the most prestigious roles in the Graham repertory as a principal dancer, and in 1990, Ms. Graham created the central role (Death Figure) in her ballet Eye of the Goddess for him. Mr. Rioult performed opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov and Joyce Herring in El Penitente and was featured in two television specials: "Martha Graham in Japan" and "Five Dances by Martha Graham," filmed at the Paris Opera.

Since starting his own company, RIOULT Dance NY in 1994, Mr. Rioult has dedicated his energies to developing his own choreographic style and nurturing a robust ensemble of dancers. Of his work, Black Diamond, Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times wrote, "...he has met the challenge of comparison with George Balanchine."

Mr. Rioult's works have been commissioned by the American Dance Festival; Cal Performances Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA; the Ballet du Nord in Roubaix, France; the Geneva Ballet, Switzerland; The Orchestra of St. Luke's; the Gordon & Harriet Greenfield Foundation; the Grand Marnier Foundation; the Théâtre de Saint Quentin en Yvelines France; Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA; and Marymount Manhattan College; among others. He is a two-time recipient of the Choo-San Goh Award for Choreography.

About RIOULT Dance NY

Founded in 1994, RIOULT Dance NY fast became an established name in modern dance with a reputation for presenting the sensual, articulate, and exquisitely musical works of Pascal Rioult. The New York City-based dance company presents an annual New York season, tours nationally and internationally, conducts extensive in-school arts education and community outreach programs, and offers dance training to the public through classes, workshops, and intensives.

Extraordinary for an organization its size, RIOULT Dance NY is highly committed to its dancers, providing steady employment and year-round health insurance. Each dancer's creative development is fostered through training classes, teaching opportunities, and challenging repertory while maintaining comprehensive rehearsal and performance schedules. The company is fortunate to have welcomed new dancers over the years and retained many, some of whom have danced with the company for over a decade.

RIOULT Dance NY has performed in theaters and festivals throughout North America including New York City Center Fall for Dance (New York, NY), Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors (New York, NY), American Dance Festival (Raleigh NC), the Annenberg Center (Philadelphia, PA), the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (West Palm Beach, FL), and Zellerbach Hall (Berkeley, CA), among others. Widespread international touring has brought the company to Pascal Rioult's homeland of France for the Cannes International Festival, Danse à Aix, Festival du Val du Marne, Temps le Danse Festival, Paris Opera Bastille, and La Maison de la Danse, as well as to the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts (Bermuda), the Tamaulipas International Festival (Mexico), Le Grand Théâtre De Québec (Canada), and the stages of Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and others worldwide.

(Photo Credit: Nina Wurtzel)