MOVEIUS Contemporary Ballet To Present New Piece At 2019 NYC Climate Week

MOVEIUS Contemporary Ballet (MOVEIUS), creating a path for ballet to speak to political and societal issues, will perform a trio of climate-inspired works to The Ailey Citigroup Theater, September 23-25, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. Climate: Movement for Change is part of the high-profile New York Climate Week which starts with the United Nations Secretary-General's Climate Change Summit 2019. The evening features a trio of pieces that unite art and activism. GLACIER: A Climate Change Ballet, which imagines dancers as melting polar ice caps, Rite of Spring, Crash of Fall, plays off Stravinsky's score to explore the 2008 financial collapse, and a new piece, tentatively titled Ground Control, is inspired by the first pictures taken of Earth from space.

MOVEIUS' work explores the intersection of policy and performance, thanks to the unique background of Artistic Director Diana Movius, who trained under Charlotte Ballet's Patricia McBride, and who has conducted climate policy work for the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Center for Clean Air Policy. The GLACIER broke ground in 2015 as the first ballet about climate change to be choreographed by a climate policy expert, and in 2018, it became the first ballet ever presented as part of an international climate conference last year in San Francisco. Climate Week NYC 2019, aligning with the United Nations Secretary-General's Climate Action Summit, creates the perfect opportunity for a New York premiere of the dynamic work.

In GLACIER: A Climate Change Ballet, dancers ripple, crack and plunge amidst video projections by Robin Bell, (renowned for his witty guerilla #resist projections on DC's Trump Hotel), creating movement that connects the audience-member to the impact of global warming. Set to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring score, Rite of Spring, Crash of Fall employs Stravinsky's storyline-along with pedestrian props drawn from everyday spaces such as corporate offices-as the company of dancers inhabits the stage in an examination of power and accountability. Ground Control (Working Title) is inspired by the early pictures of the earth taken from space during the Apollo missions, and explores the emotional impact of large-scale photos of earth, and how it affects our sense of belonging and of agency.

"Live performance is a powerful medium for confronting some of the most challenging issues of our time. I want the audience to leave with a visceral understanding of why many care deeply about this issue and why more action is needed to protect our environment," says director Diana Movius. "Whether the immediate threat of global warming, or the effects of a financial crisis, ballet provides a unique opportunity to lend emotion to these challenging political and social issues. I want audience members to leave with a desire to take action."

Climate Week NYC 2019 will align with the second United Nations Secretary General Climate Action Summit, and will run the week of September 23, 2019. It is a place for the world to showcase climate action and includes panel discussions, concerts, exhibitions, seminars and more.

Climate: Movement for Change will be held September 23, 24, and 25, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. at The Ailey Citigroup Theater located 405 West 55th St. at 9th Avenue. The venue is accessible via 1, 2, 3, A, C, B, D, N, R, and Q lines.

Tickets will go on sale on August 5, and will be available at moveiusballet.org.

Glacier: A Climate Change Ballet (2015)

Choreography: Diana Movius

Music: Max Richter, David Lang, Andrew Thomas

GLACIER creates an onstage arctic environment where the threat of polar icecap collapse is set to movement by dancers who ripple, crack and plunge amidst live video projections by filmmaker Robin Bell.

Rite of Spring, Crash of Fall (2018)

Choreography: Diana Movius

Composer: Igor Stravinsky

A dance-theater piece underpinned by contemporary ballet technique, Rite of Spring, Crash of Fall borrows its storyline from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, and features Stravinsky's full score to revisit the financial crisis of 2008. As in the traditional Rite of Spring storyline, an ancient tribe chooses a victim-The Chosen One-to sacrifice to the gods. With an eye back to 2008, and with our current political environment in mind, the ballet will prompt audiences to ask the question: who will be The Chosen One in this modern take on a classic story?

Ground Control (Working Title) (2019)

Choreography: Diana Movius

Ground Control (Working Title) is inspired by the early pictures of the earth taken from space during the Apollo missions. Earth is just one of billions of heavenly bodies in the universe, and an individual is just one person out of seven billion people on Earth. How do you find the empowerment to craft the world you want while just being one person?