360° Dance Company presents WHAT WAS STILL IS 6/2-4

360° Dance Company presents an evening of six works including the New York Premiere of What Was Still Is, choreographed by artistic director Martin Løfsnes, from June 2 - 4, 2011 at Dance Theater Workshop, 219 W. 19th Street, NYC. Performances: Thursday - Saturday at 7:30pm; Saturday matinee at 2pm. Tickets are $20 for all performances ($18 for members, $17 for students and seniors) and are available at www.dancetheaterworkshop.org or by phone at (212) 924-0077. Opening Night Gala tickets for June 2 begin at $100, which includes an after-party at Elmo, 156 Seventh Avenue, NYC.

360° Dance Company returns to Dance Theater Workshop with a program featuring classic modern dance masterpieces and exciting contemporary commissions. The dynamic fusion of the old and new creates a program combining the dramatic integrity of the great modern dance choreographers with the fearless innovation of today's dance makers. The works in this international program, which includes pieces by choreographers from Mexico, Norway, Italy, Japan and the US, are unified by their examination of human relationships.

The evening will include the New York Premiere of What Was Still Is, a piece for six dancers that explores identity and self discovery. Set to an eclectic mix of Middle Eastern, Mexican, Spanish and American music, the piece asks the question: do we change, or do we simply uncover what was always there? Other works include renownEd Graham artist Yuriko's signature piece Cry, a female solo of sorrow, and Jane Dudley's 1944 solo Cante Flamenco, which demonstrates female power and political conviction through the character of La Passionara, a heroine of the Spanish Civil War. Ricardo Flores' work Que Color Tiene El Amor?(What is the color of love?) is a duet in which two people long for their soul mates, who may be each other in the end. The dancers struggle to break habitual patterns and shed masks of insecurity. Jane Dudley's 1932 solo Time is Money depicts images of the devastation experienced in America in the early 1930's. This piece was last performed by 360º Dance Company with a female dancer, but will now be explored with alternating male dancers performing the solo. Alessandra Prosperi's Satsang (2010) is an exploration of the notion that humans cannot thrive alone, and that the need for each other is greater than we often come to realize.

In 2007, Martin Løfsnes founded 360º Dance Company, a New York-based company comprised primarily of former principal dancers from the Martha Graham Dance Company. The company's mission is to combine the great classics of modern dance with new contemporary commissions in order to simultaneously preserve and develop the modern dance lineage. It seeks to challenge the traditional roots of modern dance and yet maintain their artistic vision and dramatic integrity. 360º presented its premiere performances during a weeklong run at Bærum Cultural Center in Oslo, Norway. The season featured an opening night Gala to raise funds for the creation of the Inger-Lise Løfsnes Medical Center (ILLMC), a center dedicated to improving the quality of life for people in Zambia living with HIV/AIDS. Since then, the company has been featured in the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Sitelines Festival, and the Reverb, American Dance Guild and Colorado Summer Dance Festivals. 360º has also performed at The Overture Center (Madison, WI), Sam Houston University (Huntsville, TX), SUNY Purchase, Hofstra University, Merce Cunningham Studio, Ailey Citigroup Theater, and spent summer residencies at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center and Perry Mansfield Performing Arts Camp. In June 2010, 360º presented its premiere New York City season at DTW.

Martin Løfsnes (artistic director) was born in East Germany and grew up in Norway. He studied at London Contemporary Dance School/The Place, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, and the Martha Graham School. In 1993, he joined the Martha Graham Dance Company, attaining the rank of Principal Dancer in 1996, performing and touring extensively until 2006. He also appeared in Matthew Bourne/AMP's Broadway production of Swan Lake, and performed with Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Pearl Lang Dance Theater, Donald Byrd/Group, Dankmeyer Dance Company, Sasha Spielvogel/Labyrinth Dance Theater and Errol Grimes Dance Group. Mr. Løfsnes is on the faculty of the Ailey School and his teaching credits also include Martha Graham School, Purchase College SUNY, Marymount Manhattan College, Centro Nacional de Danza Contemporanea (Queretaro, Mexico), State College of the Arts (Oslo, Norway).

360º Dance Companyis produced by Full Circle Productions, Inc.

360º Dance Company's season at Dance Theater Workshop is made possible through Dance Theater Workshop's Guest Artist Series. The Guest Artist Series is a comprehensive rental program benefiting a diverse group of dance and theater companies and producing organizations interested in self-producing their work at Dance Theater Workshop.

For more information, visit http://www.360fullcircle.net.