2014-2015 Pittsburgh Dance Council Season Announced

By: Apr. 27, 2014
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

The Pittsburgh Dance Council, a division of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, announces a season of original and eclectic dance from around the world as part of the 2014-2015 season.

"Pittsburgh Dance Council is proud to present an amazing and diverse assemblage of world-class contemporary dance this season," shared Paul Organisak, Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Dance Council and Vice President of Programming for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. "Enthusiastic patronage continues to make it possible to present outstanding contemporary dance from throughout the world."

This season, Pittsburgh audience favorite, the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, returns to dazzle audiences with breathtaking new works by some of the most exciting and innovative choreographers. Music from the eclectic canon of David Bowie is matched to Michael Clark Company's come, been and gone-it's a perfect fit for this company's iconic fusing of classical and punk styles.

The Dance Council will launch 2015 with two exceptional companies based in traditional forms and blended with contemporary dance. Ronald K. Brown/Evidence returns with a new work set to the music of Jason Moran, as well as an original piece that features dancers from the Pittsburgh community. The French Argentinean ensemble Union Tanguera weaves a sultry story with traditional tango rhythms and live music performed by a quartet of Buenos Aires's finest musicians. A rising star on the international dance scene, Pontus Lidberg presents a fresh and fascinating new work using Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring as a point of departure. Dance meets drama in Scottish Ballet's powerful interpretation of Tennessee Williams's masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire, to round out a truly diverse and engaging season.

2014-2015 DANCE COUNCIL SEASON

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet

Saturday | October 11, 2014 | 8PM | Byham Theater

Simply breathtaking. - Chicago Sun Times

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet's bold vision focuses on presenting groundbreaking work from the

world's most exciting, emerging choreographers. Square None, the company's first commission by Norbert De La Cruz III, is an ambitious and expansive piece that explores themes of youth and naiveté. The Aspen Times says, "It felt like a thrill, like a discovery of something new."

Beautiful Mistake, a stunning piece by Spanish choreographer Cayetano Soto, expertly exhibits the gorgeous physicality of this incredible company through dynamic partnering. The newest work, Heart(s)pace by company-favorite Nicolo Fonte, gives audiences a distinctively unique experience as the stage glows with exuberant light and color. Influenced by love and compassion, this abstract piece illuminates the importance of touch.

Michael Clark Company

Saturday | November 1, 2014 | 8PM | Byham Theater

A thunderous electrifying evening of attention-seeking sound, stimulating visuals, and impressive fine-tuned focused dancers. Don't expect to be transported; expect to be jolted out of your seats.

- British Theatre Guide

The rebellious sensibilities of British dance iconoclast Michael Clark have catapulted him to the forefront of innovative contemporary dance. Fusing extreme elements of classical and punk, Michael Clark's technical rigor and unabashed experimentation consistently breaks new ground to provoke and electrify audiences. Michael Clark's critically-acclaimed work come, been and gone features the music of 1970s rock legends David Bowie and Iggy Pop. At once sensual and damaged, Clark's masterpiece Swamp is drenched in exquisitely textured patterns of movement. Program contains partial nudity. Presented in partnership with the British Council.

Ron K. Brown Evidence

Saturday | February 7, 2015 | 8PM | Byham Theater

If there is any company working today whose dancers pack a more sophisticated and vibrant kinetic punch than those of Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, I can't think of it.

- The New York Times

Ronald K. Brown masterfully threads elements of African, modern, ballet and social styles, elevating dance as a medium to communicate the human experience. The Brooklyn-based company Evidence poignantly executes Brown's signature vision of forging contemporary choreography rooted in the beauty of traditional African forms and rhythms. In the extraordinary work The Subtle One, set to the music of jazz musicians Jason Moran and Tarus Mateen, Brown transcends the human struggle and aspirations for connection between spiritual beings and mortals. In On Earth Together, Stevie Wonder's music deepens Brown's exploration of love and compassion and features dancers from the Pittsburgh community working alongside dancers from Evidence.

Union Tanguera

Saturday | March 28, 2015 | 8PM | Byham Theater

Extremely seductive and ravishing. - The Oregonian

French Argentinean ensemble Union Tanguera brings the sensuality and art of tango to life with their original, stimulating interpretation of the social dance style reimagined for the stage. Featuring live music performed by one of Buenos Aires's finest quartets, the French Argentinean ensemble of seven dancers presents savory, stylized dance theater with dramatic flair.

Set in a nameless nightclub at the end of a traditional tango show, Nuit Blanche illuminates the wanderings, desires, and fears that surface during one sleepless night-unveiling a seductive, late night world where dancers express themselves through intimate, uninhibited dance.

Pontus Lidberg

Saturday | April 18, 2015 | 8PM | Byham Theater

Pontus Lidberg is an exquisite dancer. Lidberg explores movement qualities and relations in a form that is easy to embrace. Something vulnerable, innocent and at the same time volatile...

- Svenska Dagbladet, Sweden

Movement-wise, the freely flowing combinations of recurrent falls, slides and lifts give a feeling of weightlessness.

- Västerbottens-Kuriren, Sweden

A rising star on the international dance scene, Swedish choreographer, dancer, and filmmaker Pontus Lidberg has created more than 35 works for major dance companies such as Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, SemperOper Ballet Dresden, Morphoses, and his own company, Pontus Lidberg Dance. His brand-new work, Snow, is a turbulent choreographic composition set in a ceaseless snowfall. The choreography presents a poetic look at the fragile human reality of existence, in contrast to the relentless power of nature. Four world-class dancers, including Lidberg himself, will take the stage together with a lifelike, highly expressive Japanese-style Bunraku puppet to tell a dynamic and poetic story of human experience.

Scottish Ballet

Tuesday | May 19, 2015 | 8PM | Byham Theater

Crackles with Southern heat and sexual tension. - The Independent

The result is everything you could hope for- florid, poetic, poisonously beautiful.

- London Evening Standard

Scotland's national dance company presents a bold interpretation of the Tennessee Williams's masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire. Dance meets drama in this powerful collaboration between award-winning theater/film director Nancy Meckler and internationally-acclaimed choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. The iconic, heartbreaking tale of human frailty is set to a saucy, jazz-inspired score and aptly dressed in striking vintage-styled costumes. The retelling of Streetcar is exemplary of Scottish Ballet's niche for re-imagining classic stories with fresh relevance for contemporary audiences.

SPECIAL PERFORMANCES

Special Recommended Performance: Royal Ballet of Cambodia

Friday | November 7, 2014 | 8PM | Byham Theater

Sweet and seductive. - The Dance Insider

Renowned for its graceful hand gestures and stunning costumes, the Royal Ballet of Cambodia has been closely associated with the Khmer court for more than 1,000 years. The traditional style celebrates graceful, subtle movement that is absolutely spellbinding.

*This performance is not part of the subscription season. Subscribers receive priority access and a $5 discount on tickets to this Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents presentation.

Special Event: Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host

Saturday | February 28, 2015 | 8PM | Byham Theater

Out of this unexpected union of dance and radio comes a show that, like the work of its collaborators, blends moments of delight and hilarity with glimpses of the soft underbelly of human experience. It's magic. - Santa Barbara Independent

"This, I'll be completely sincere, is one of my favorite things I have ever been a part of," says This American Life host Ira Glass of his collaboration with dancers Monica Bill Barnes and Anna Bass. The show includes radio interviews restaged as dance pieces, plus stories from the lives of each of the three performers. Don't miss this fun, quirky event where radio meets dance in an unlikely, wonderful evening that gives the feeling of an amazing dance performance and a heartfelt This American Life episode.

*This performance is not part of the subscription season. Subscribers receive priority access for tickets to this special event.

TICKETS

Subscription packages are available for: $64-$240. Subscriptions can be purchased in packages of 4 shows or 6 shows. To subscribe, call 412-456-1390. Groups of 10 or more tickets, please call 412-471-6930. Single tickets for Pittsburgh Dance Council performances will go on sale to the general public mid-August. For information, call (412) 456-6666, or visit online at TrustArts.org/dance.

All performances will take place at the Byham Theater located at 101 6th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

About the Pittsburgh Dance Council

The Pittsburgh Dance Council joined Pittsburgh Cultural Trust as a programming division 2002. The mission of Pittsburgh Dance Council is to bring the best contemporary dance companies from around the world to the Cultural District. Each season, Pittsburgh Dance Council presents diverse, world-class contemporary works, including U.S. and world premieres.

About the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh's most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country's largest land masses "curated" by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh's quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Cultural Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts.

Follow us on Twitter @CulturalTrust, and like us on Facebook.



Videos