Jacob's Pillow Presents Australian Contemporary Company Lucy Guerin Inc., 8/21-22

Australian choreographer Lucy Guerin explores a life-altering event through contemporary dance in Structure and Sadness, an evening-length work being performed at Jacob's Pillow, America's premier dance festival, August 18-22. Guerin has created a unique movement vocabulary inspired by basic engineering principles which she uses to reference the 1970 collapse of Melbourne's West Gate Bridge. Lighting and set designers Ben Cobham and Andrew Livingston have collaborated with visual artist Michaela French to create an onstage environment that is both arresting and interactive. The dancers of Lucy Guerin Inc move through the intricately constructed architecture of their surroundings to an original electronic score by Gerald Mair.

Called "an artfully constructed and sensitive study of fragility and memory" by Grace Edwards of Trespass Magazine (UK), Structure and Sadness premiered in 2006 and the following year was the recipient of multiple awards, including an Australian Green Room Award for Best Choreography and a Helpmann Award for Best Dance Work. Guerin, whose choreographic style is defined by abstract movement, intelligent themes, and inventive staging, identifies the work as a creative response to a devastating accident. The dancers interact with the set, not only using common materials such as cardboard to erect a structure, but also dancing with wooden planks and twine, a study on the way human beings contend with their inanimate surroundings. "The rebuilding is inevitable," comments Guerin, "it is human nature; we are amazing creatures in that way."

Born in Adelaide, Australia, Lucy Guerin performed with Danceworks, Russell Dumas' Dance Exchange, the Bebe Miller Company, and Chunky Move before forming Lucy Guerin Inc in 2002 to focus on her own choreography. Her work has been performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project and her honors include the Prix d'auteur from the Rencontres Choregraphiques Internationales de Bagnolet (France) and a New York Foundation for the Arts Choreographic Fellowship. Jack Anderson of The New York Times says that Guerin "commands attention with her forcefulness as both a dancer and a choreographer."

Guerin and Gideon Obarzanek, Artistic Director of Chunky Move, collaborated in 2003 to create the Bessie Award-winning work Tense Dave. An evening-length work set on a constantly revolving floor and defying the typical expectations of a dancer, Tense Dave was performed by Chunky Move in the Doris Duke Theatre in 2005 to critical acclaim.

On Thursday August 19, Guerin will join Scholar-in-Residence Maura Keefe for a PillowTalk titled Responding Creatively to Tragedy at 5pm in Blake's Barn. While at Jacob's Pillow, artistic personnel from Lucy Guerin Inc will lead a Master Class on Sunday, August 22, 10-11:30am. Sunday Master Classes are open to intermediate/advanced dancers and pre-registration is required (call 413.243.9919 x5). Master Classes are $15 per class or $8 for dance instructors with proper identification. Observation is free and open to the public.

On Wednesday, August 18, Jacob's Pillow will host "Gallery Night," a free gallery mixer following the opening of Lucy Guerin Inc. Visual and performing artists and the public are welcome to gather and mingle in Blake's Barn where the exhibits are devoted to the photography of Lois Greenfield and the drawings and watercolors of Jules Feiffer. Refreshments will be provided.

Performance and Ticket Information
Wednesday, August 18 - Saturday, August 21, 8:15pm
Saturday, August 21 & Sunday, August 22, 2:15pm

Free Pre-Show Talks with Jacob's Pillow Scholars-in-Residence are offered on the porch of the Doris Duke Theatre 30 minutes before every performance.
Tickets range from $30-36. $20 Young Audience tickets (35 or younger) are available. Must show ID to pick up tickets.

Tickets on sale now online at www.jacobspillow.org, via phone at 413.243.0745, or in person at Jacob's Pillow.

Jacob's Pillow is located at 358 George Carter Road in Becket, MA, 01223 (10 minutes east on Route 20 from Mass Pike Exit 2). The Jacob's Pillow campus and theaters are handicapped-accessible.

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