Jeanette Stoner and Dancers Present the Premiere of INTO at the Stoner Loft

Choreographer Jeanette Stoner, known for her very individual style of dance/theater, will present the world premiere of "Into," and repertory works, performed by an ensemble of veteran artists who have worked with the choreographer over the years. Four performances, April 29-May 2 (Saturday through Tuesday) in the friendly Stoner Loft, 83 Leonard Street., 5th floor.

In describing Stoner's work, Rachel Straus wrote: "Like many choreographers who have preserved, Stoner has bore witness to many U.S. dance movements: the high drama of Martha Graham, the abstraction of Alwin Nikolais (in whose company she danced), the anti-virtuosity of Yvonne Rainer, the minimalism of Lucinda Childs, the fusion dancing of Twyla Tharp, and the formalism of Balanchine and Cunningham. Stoner's work incorporates aspects of each of these movements, but she doesn't appear to be a direct descendent of any of them. There is something to be said for being on the outside of the concert dance machine, which grinds many a choreographer up....She is choreographing with a broader stroke and with the maturity of an artist who has witnessed much dance history." (Musical America, March 2014).

"Into" is the season's premiere. Set to music by Gabriel Faure, the trio is an abstract dance piece.

The company will repeat "Dormant,' which premiered last year. Set to a music collage, the dance presents two figures under a landscape of dark fabric, enacting an archaic ritual to enliven a third figure.

"Stairs" (2015) is one of Stoner's fascinating studies that centers around a woman suspended in a net that hangs from the ceiling. Four men, enacting a rite, climb up and down the stairs, building into a wild energy that gradually rouse her from a dormant state. "Stairs" is set to an electro-acoustic score by composer Svetlana Bukvich.

"Masks," set to music by Evren Celimli, finds a woman who falls into a place in herself where she is able to unmask what she finds there.
"Duet," for Chase Booth and Kingsley Nwaogu, is a reworking of an old duet in which a man is struggling with and pursued by his shadow.

www.jeanettestoneranddancers.com