Livestream Event Will Celebrate 10 Years Of BalletCollective Next Week

BalletCollective will present three works to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their first NYC performance season. This event is the culmination of their most adventurous year yet, during which, despite enormous challenges, they commissioned and produced the first world-premiere ensemble and the first full-length ballet in the US since the start of the pandemic -- Natural History and The Nutcracker at Wethersfield. On November 1st and 2nd, BalletCollective will present a NYC season titled "re-MEMBERING" at Bohemian National Hall, with audiences in the round to highlight the collaborative mission that guides their artistic process.

"It's astonishing to me that it's been ten years since we presented our first performance in NYC," said Artistic Director Troy Schumacher. "BalletCollective began as an experiment in true collaboration between choreographers, composers, and non-performative artists. We became a non-profit not necessarily to start a dance company but in order to present work that represents our own vision. And now, 10 years later, we've commissioned 17 ballet-based works, and have collaborated with over 100 visual artists, designers, writers, choreographers, musicians, dancers, and composers. We are immensely grateful for those who believed in us at the beginning when we were unknown and for those who have joined us along the way."

The limited, intimate two performance engagement will feature the NYC premiere of a revised version of Natural History, with choreography by Artistic Director Troy Schumacher, and a newly commissioned musical score by his longtime collaborator Ellis Ludwig-Leone (San Fermin) based on commissioned poems by Carey McHugh. For the first time ever, the 14 dancers for BalletCollective will be taken from both the ranks of the New York City Ballet and the Martha Graham Dance Company, a rare collaboration between artists from two of the most respected dance organizations in the world. Dancers include Devin Alberda, Daniel Applebaum, Harrison Coll, Jovani Furlan, Emilie Gerrity, Anthony Huxley, Lauren King, Claire Kretzschmar, Ashley Laracey, Megan LeCrone, Marzia Memoli, Mira Nadon, Davide Riccardo, and Leslie Andrea Williams. BalletCollective's commissioned scores will be played live by members of The Knights with special guests.

Natural History commemorates artistic loss and the momentous yet uncertain act of returning to the creative process after experiencing a sea change. Before the pandemic closed museums, the creative team visited the American Museum of Natural History and then met with Scott A. Small M.D., the Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Columbia University for a discussion of the mechanics of memory and on how that affected the memory of their visit to the museum. These experiences, coupled with the early days of the pandemic, resulted in two poems that formed the inspiration for the music and dance. Choreographed during a four-week long quarantine isolation, Natural History was premiered on September 11, 2020, outdoors near Millbrook, N.Y., in front of a live, socially distanced audience.

"re-MEMBERING" will also feature two favorites from BalletCollective's repertoire of 17 works, All That We See, a collaboration between acclaimed painter David Salle, Schumacher and Ludwig-Leone, and the central duet from Faraway, a collaboration between climate artist Zaria Forman, composer Judd Greenstein, and Schumacher. Contributing designers include John Cuff and Karen Young.

With most arts organizations shuttered through the duration of 2020 due to COVID-19, BalletCollective was among the few dance companies able to continue to create substantial new works of dance and music to share with the public. While adhering to strict safety protocols, including self-quarantine and quarantine pods for all artists involved and sometimes many weeks with no interaction with the outside world, the company continued to create art in the face of a worldwide pandemic. Performing at unconventional locations, like a stunning scenic outdoor location on the property of the Mashomack Polo Club and the historic Wethersfield Estate, provided not only a breathtakingly beautiful space for dance, but one that allowed greater safety for audience and dancers alike.

"The moment the pandemic made our previous artistic lives impossible, we began to plan how to safely overcome the barriers presented and find a way to create new work in and of this moment,' says Artistic Director Troy Schumacher. "We are extremely excited to perform again for our NYC audiences."

The November 2nd 7:30 PM performance will be live streamed at balletcollective.com/live

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