Robin Becker Dance to Showcase New Work at CCCA, 12/8

?City College Center for the Arts (CCCA), NYC's newest center celebrating the diverse artistic voice of its community, presents a work in progress showing of Robin Becker Dance's Sharing the Breath as part of their inaugural 2014-2015 Season. Home to Aaron Davis Hall, CCCA audiences will have the opportunity to experience Becker's residency work, which has been created during a CUNY Dance Initiative residency at CCCA, on December 8, 2014.

Sharing the Breath explores the themes of community and isolation, and the elements that contribute to each. In the current societal temperature that is stifled by speed, globalization and technology, the work in progress identifies the ways the lack of human connection contributes to deeper roots of violence and conflict.

"Robin Becker Dance is internationally renowned for its contemplative and stunningly beautiful movement," said Gregory Shanck, Managing Director of The City College Center for the Arts. "We are pleased to have been able to facilitate this work through a residence with the CUNY Dance Initiative, as the choreography speaks with power and immediacy. In our mission to bridge people through arts, this exploration of violence in modern times and the importance of community speaks to the mission of CCCA and the integrity of those on our campus and in our city."

With the aim for the work to be completed next spring, seven dancers have worked closely with Artistic Director Robin Becker to foster a dialogue on a topic that is of great concern to the emotional wealth of society. The work incorporates fabric as part of its set design, transparent and spanning the stage. The use of light through the fabric with dancers on each side explores the power and need for human connection and the barriers that interject.

"I believe the arts offer an integrative voice in our culture," explains Becker. "As artists, we work and express from the silent realm of felt experience, which is where we experience the universal qualities of what every recognize human s and shares. So often our culture deals with material facts, and we start to believe that that is all there is to life, while forgetting about sharing the breath."

The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI) is a new residency program providing rehearsal and performance space to New York City choreographers and dance companies. With lead funding from the New York Community Trust, the CUNY Dance Initiative offers subsidies to participating CUNY colleges to assist with artist fees, rehearsal expenses, and production, marketing, and administrative costs.

TICKETS and VENUE INFORMATION

The performance will take place at the Marian Anderson Theater, located in the Aaron Davis Hall at City College of New York on Monday, December 8, 2014 at 3:30 p.m. General admission seating is available at no cost with an RSVP at https://ccny.secure.force.com/ticket - sections_a0FU0000008xLL3MAM. Doors open an half hour before the beginning of the performance.

Aaron Davis Hall is located on the campus of The City College of New York at 160 Convent Avenue, between West 133rd and 135th Streets. Convent Avenue is one block east of Amsterdam Avenue. The theater is accessible by the 1, A, D, B and C trains.