Wendy Whelan & Brian Brooks' SOME OF A THOUSAND WORDS Sets New York Debut at The Joyce Theater

The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. will kick off its Spring/Summer 2017 season with the New York City premiere of Some of a Thousand Words, the latest collaboration between former New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan and renowned choreographer Brian Brooks, from February 28 - March 5.

Tickets range in price from $26-$81 and can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street. For more information, visit www.Joyce.org.

Former New York City Ballet legend Wendy Whelan first dipped her toes into the world of contemporary dance in 2013 when she joined forces with four other collaborators to perform in the Joyce-commissioned and co-production of Restless Creature. Now, for the first time since her 2015 sold-out engagement, Ms. Whelan returns to The Joyce Theater in the New York premiere of her latest work, Some of a Thousand Words - her second collaboration with choreographer and dancer Brian Brooks.

Some of a Thousand Words features a program of works performed by Ms. Whelan and Mr. Brooks, including First Fall, the acclaimed duet from Restless Creature - the duos first collaboration. In addition, Some of a Thousand Words features live music performed by the astounding string quartet Brooklyn Rider, including works from composers Philip Glass, John Luther Adams, Tyondai Braxton, and Jacob Cooper, as well as a new composition by Brooklyn Rider's very own Colin Jacobsen.

Performances of The Joyce Theater's presentation of Some of a Thousand Words will take place February 28 - March 5 at The Joyce Theater (175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street) according to the following schedule: Tuesday & Wednesday at 7:30pm; Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 8pm; and Sunday at 2pm. Curtain Chat, a free post-performance talkback with the artists, will take place on Wednesday, March 1. This enlightening discussion is open to all patrons attending that evening's performance. Tickets range in price from $26-$81 and can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street. For more information, visit www.Joyce.org.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

WENDY WHELAN was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. She began taking ballet lessons at the age of three. At age 9, she began intensive training at the Louisville Ballet Academy. In 1981, she auditioned for the School of American Ballet and was accepted to the summer program. A year later, she moved to New York to continue her studies there as a full-time student. In 1984, she was named an apprentice with New York City Ballet and in 1986, she joined the corps de ballet. Wendy went on to spend 30 years at New York City Ballet, 23 of those years as principal dancer. She has danced virtually every major Balanchine role, and worked closely with Jerome Robbins on many of his ballets. She originated leading roles in works by such notable choreographers as William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Jorma Elo, and Wayne McGregor. In 2007, Wendy was nominated for both an Olivier Award and a Critics Circle Award for her performances in London of Christopher Wheeldon's work. Wendy has been a guest artist with The Royal Ballet and the Mariinsky Ballet and has performed on nearly every major stage across the globe. She received the Dance Magazine Award in 2007, and in 2009 was given a Doctorate of Arts, honoris causa, from Bellarmine University. In 2011, she received both The Jerome Robbins Award and a Bessie Award for her Sustained Achievement in Performance. On October 18, 2014, Wendy took the stage for her final performance with New York City Ballet. Immediately following her retirement as a dancer from City Ballet, she joined the faculty of New York City's Ballet Academy East and was appointed Artistic Associate at New York City Center. In 2013, Wendy premiered her inaugural independent project, Restless Creature, co-produced by The Joyce Theater, at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. The project went on to tour London and the U.S though May of 2015. Following Restless Creature, she premiered two more independent projects, Whelan/Watson Other Stories, at London's Royal Opera House and Hagoromo at BAM's Next Wave Festival. She is excited to tour her latest project Some of a Thousand Words, that she developed with choreographer Brian Brooks alongside string quartet Brooklyn Rider.

BRIAN BROOKS has recently been appointed as the inaugural Choreographer in Residence at Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance. This innovative three-year fellowship supports several commissions for Brooks each season with the first year featuring Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Miami City Ballet, as well as his own New York-based group. Brooks is the recipient of a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship. Other recent awards include a NY City Center Fellowship and The Joyce Theater's Artist Residency. His work has toured nationally and internationally since 2002 with recent presentations by The Joyce Theater, Jacob's Pillow, American Dance Festival, and BAM as part of their 2013 Next Wave Festival. The American Dance Institute, where Brooks is a member of the Artist Advisory Board, has presented his company three times and supported him with two Incubator Production Residencies. Brooks has been commissioned by Damian Woetzel at the Vail International Dance Festival to create three new works featuring dancers from New York City Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet, including First Fall, in which Brooks dances with former New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Wendy Whelan. Theatre for a New Audience has invited Brooks to choreograph two Off-Broadway Shakespeare productions - A Midsummer Night's Dream (2013), directed by Julie Taymor, and Pericles (2016), directed by Trevor Nunn. Brooks has created new dances at schools including The Juilliard School, The Boston Conservatory, The School at Jacob's Pillow, and Harvard University. He dedicated 12 years as a Teaching Artist of Dance at the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education and has been on the part-time faculties of both Rutgers University and Princeton University. Hailed as "the future of chamber music" (Strings Magazine ), Brooklyn Rider offers eclectic repertoire in gripping performances that continue to attract legions of fans and draw rave reviews from classical, world, and rock critics alike. Last season, Brooklyn Rider toured with composer/singer/multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Kahane with music from their 2016 acclaimed collaborative album The Fiction Issue, as well as works from the groundbreaking multi-disciplinary project Brooklyn Rider Almanac. This season Brooklyn Rider releases So Many Things with mezzo soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, an album of contemporary music featuring pieces by Colin Jacobsen, Caroline Shaw, John Adams, Nico Muhly, Björk, Sting, and Elvis Costello, among others. Together they embark on a worldwide tour, including stops at Carnegie Hall and the Opernhaus Zurich. Continuing to blur the lines of artistic mediums, the group teams up with choreographer Brian Brooks and former New York City Ballet prima ballerina Wendy Whelan for Some of a Thousand Words. Using music from composers John Luther Adams, Tyondai Braxton, Philip Glass, Evan Ziporyn, and Colin Jacobsen, the intimate series of duets and solos featuring Brooks and Whelan foregrounds the live onstage music of Brooklyn Rider as a dynamic and central creative Component. Other recent recording projects include 2014's Brooklyn Rider Almanac, 2013's A Walking Fire, and The Impostor with Béla Fleck, plus 2011's much-praised Brooklyn Rider Plays Philip Glass on the composer's Orange Mountain Music label. Violinist Johnny Gandelsman launched In A Circle Records in 2008 with the release of Brooklyn Rider's eclectic debut recording, Passport, followed by Dominant Curve in 2010, and Seven Steps in 2012. A long-standing relationship between Brooklyn Rider and Iranian kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor resulted in the critically acclaimed 2008 recording, Silent City.

BROOKLYN RIDER, hailed as "the future of chamber music" (Strings), offers eclectic repertoire in gripping performances that continue to attract legions of fans and draw rave reviews from classical, world, and rock critics alike. Last season, Brooklyn Rider toured with composer/singer/multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Kahane with music from their 2016 acclaimed collaborative album The Fiction Issue, as well as works from the groundbreaking multi-disciplinary project Brooklyn Rider Almanac. This season Brooklyn Rider released So Many Things with mezzo soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, an album of c ontemporary music featuring pieces by Colin Jacobsen, Caroline Shaw, John Adams, Nico Muhly, Björk, Sting, and Elvis Costello, among others. Together they embark on a worldwide tour, including stops at Carnegie Hall and the Opernhaus Zurich. Continuing to blur the lines of artistic mediums, the group teams up with choreographer Brian Brooks and former New York City Ballet prima ballerina Wendy Whelan for Some of a Thousand Words. Using music from composers John Luther Adams, Tyondai Braxton, Philip Glass, Evan Ziporyn and Colin Jacobsen, the intimate series of duets and solos featuring Brooks and Whelan foregrounds the live onstage music of Brooklyn Rider as a dynamic and central creative Component. Other recent recording projects include 2014's Brooklyn Rider Almanac, 2013's A Walking Fire and The Impostor with Béla Fleck, plus 2011's much-praised Brooklyn Rider Plays Philip Glass on the composer's Orange Mountain Music label. Violinist Johnny Gandelsman launched In A Circle Records in 2008 with the release of Brooklyn Rider's eclectic debut recording, Passport, followed by Dominant Curve in 2010, and Seven Steps in 2012. A long-standing relationship between Brooklyn Rider and Iranian kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor resulted in the critically acclaimed 2008 recording, Silent City.

The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a nonprofit organization, has proudly served the dance community for over three decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and The Joyce renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also presented dance at Lincoln Center since 2012, and launched Joyce Unleashed in 2014 to feature emerging and experimental artists. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K-12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce's annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 150,000.

Joyce Theater Productions (JTP) is a producing partnership of The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. and Sunny Artist Management, Inc. (SAM). It was formed to create and tour works by some of today's most exciting dancers and choreographers. Through the partnership, JTP supports new productions created outside of a traditional dance company model, such as Daniil Simkin's INTENSIO and Wendy Whelan and Brian Brooks' Some of a Thousand Words; as well as the work of existing troupes through its Associate Company program, which currently includes Malpaso Dance Company from Cuba and L.A. Dance Project.