The Hartt School to Perform at the Joyce Theater, 3/14

The Martha Graham Dance Company has invited The Hartt School, along with just six other collegiate dance programs, to perform at the Joyce Theater in New York as part of the Company's 86^thAnniversary season.  

The Company has chosen Inner Landscape as the focus for its 2012 season and will present a diverse range of performances, partnerships, and educational activities that explore the psychological aspects of dance. 

The special student Inner Landscape program takes place on March 14, at 7:30 PM. The Joyce Theater, one of the premiere theaters for dance in New York City, is located at 175 8^th Ave.  

Students from The Hartt School Dance Division will be performing "Dark Meadow Suite: They Who Dance Together," reconstructed by Peggy Lyman-Hayes, former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Company and founding director of The Hartt School's Dance Division, and Miki Orihara, current principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company.  

Stephen Pier, Director of Hartt's Dance Division, said, "The Hartt School is proud of its long history and deep association with the work of Martha Graham.  The opportunity to create this new rendition of Dark Meadow, allowing our aspiring artists the chance to learn from some of the great artists who worked closely with Martha, has been inspiring beyond words.  We believe this new piece, like all of Martha's work, speaks for itself in a language of dance and that it will provide yet another avenue for the appreciation of her genius." 

Dance students from six different national training programs will come to New York City to perform Inner Landscape classics.  In addition to The Hartt School, other invited performance programs include the Graham Center's Second Company, Graham II, the University of Arizona, Point Park University (PA), Skidmore University (NY), the New World School of the Arts (FL), and the Interlochen Arts Academy (MI).  Among the dances performed will be six masterworks by Martha Graham seminal to her revolution in modern dance.  The University of Arizona will perform a work by another important pioneer of American dance, Charles Weidman. 

"We are very proud of our student productions of Graham dances and have partnered with schools all over the world since 2003," says Janet Eilber, artistic director of the Martha Graham Center.  "This is the first time we've organized a gathering of this year's top student productions.  It's going to be a logistical challenge to have over 100 students on the stage in the course of the evening, but the energy will be tremendous.  And I know it will be very moving to see the next generation of dancers take on these masterpieces of American dance." 

The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a leader in the development of contemporary dance since its founding in 1926.  Today, the company is embracing a new programming vision that showcases masterpieces by Graham, her contemporaries, and their successors, alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists.  With programs that unite the work of choreographers and directors within a rich thematic narrative, the company is actively working to create new platforms for contemporary dance and multiple points of access for audiences. 

Since its inception, the Martha Graham Dance Company has received international acclaim from audiences in over 50 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.  The Company has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, the Paris Opera House, Covent Garden, and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as at the base of the Great Pyramids of Egypt and in the ancient Herod Atticus Theatre on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.  In addition, the Company has also produced several award-winning films broadcast on PBS and around the world.  More information can be found at www.marthagraham.org.

The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts school of the University of Hartford that offers innovative degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920, Hartt has been an integral part of the University of Hartford since its charter merged the then Hartt School of Music, the Hartford Art School, and Hillyer College to create the University in 1957.  2010 markEd Hartt's 90^th year of providing world class performing arts education to students in Greater-Hartford and around the world.  With more than 400 concerts, recitals, plays, master classes, dance performances, and musical theatre productions a year, performance is central to Hartt's curriculum.  For more information about The Hartt School, visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.