RIOULT Dance NY Presents its 2019 Spring Season

RIOULT Dance NY's 2019 Spring Season will present two evenings of modern dance inspired by the poetry of T.S. Eliot, the "living master of short stories" Joyce Carol Oates, and the film work of Andrei Tarkovsky.

"I like to constantly challenge myself to create something new and different each season," said Artistic Director/Choreographer Pascal Rioult. Rioult typically employs his entire company of dancers in larger-scale productions. "Short Stories" will be more intimate, using smaller groupings of dancers in a collection of short dances. While each story will stand on its own, collectively, the piece will read like an anthology.

Reflecting the intimacy of Rioult's world premiere, the season will run for two performances only at the Ailey Citigroup Theater on May 17-18 at 7:30 pm.

"The Violet Hour" (2012)

RIOULT's "The Violet Hour" first made its debut seven years ago. Influenced by T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" and "The Hollow Men," the piece is presented as one in two almost seamless scenes, respectful of each poem's distinctive mood and visual imagery. Set to Tres Lent, and a commissioned score, Catching A Wave, both by Grammy-Winning composer Joan Tower, the production takes its "dance" name from the time of day when the sun sets and the sky fades to violet.

Elaborates Rioult: "In the poetry of "The Waste Land,' the desert hearth with its bareness and drought is always waiting to bring life. The shimmering, the rustling, the smells and colors is the metaphor for the 'wasteland' of human nature; the de-humanization of the world as we understand it at short range and our extreme fragility. It is also the inspiration for the atmosphere and style of the choreographic work - Impressionistic; poetic and non-narrative with human undertones."

"Short Stories" - 2019 World Premiere

All of the "Short Stories" performed will take their inspiration from Joyce Carol Oates, a critically recognized American master of short fiction drawing comparisons to Anton Chekov and Henry James. Rioult, whose work is largely abstract, will stick closely to the plot lines in his danced interpretations of Oates' stories. These are domestic dramas in rural settings; a slice of life, eerily familiar with some stories based on real life incidents.

"Nostalghia" (2018)

With a commissioned score by Polina Nazaykinskaya, "Nostalghia" takes its name from Andrei Tarkovsky's melancholy film of the same name, his first made outside his Russian homeland of which he had been exiled.

In his autobiography, Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky wrote: "In a certain sense the past is far more real, or at any rate more stable, more resilient than the present. The present slips and vanishes like sand between the fingers, acquiring material weight, only in its recollection."

Upon seeing the premiere, Jerry Hochman of CriticalDance remarked... "'Nostalghia' is more than a memory or a collection of them; it's an ache to be bathed in; to take shelter in; to be ratified or measured by..."

The Company

RIOULT Dance NY is led by husband-and-wife team, Artistic Director/Choreographer Pascal Rioult and Associate Artistic Director Joyce Herring.

Dancers: Chaney Briggs, Christopher Bursley, Catherine Cooch, Alexander Druzbanski, Brian Flynn, Charis Haines, Jere Hunt, Corinna Lee Nicholson, Katharine Rygiel, Sara Seger, Michael Spencer Phillips, Sabatino A. Verlezza.

Tickets can be purchased at Ticket Central's Box Office: (212) 279-4200, https://bit.ly/2TiicEV Prices for performances: $35 for adults and $15 for students. A 20% discount for groups of 10 or more is available by contacting Ticket Central by May10. All sales are final. The Ailey Citigroup Theater is located at 405 W. 55th at 9th Avenue in midtown Manhattan and within walking distance from Columbus Circle Station (accessible via 1, 2, 3, A, C, B, D lines) and 57th and 7th Ave. Station (accessible via N, R, & Q lines). Convenient buses include the M30, M31, M57 & M11.

Born in Caen, France, Mr. Rioult came to the United States on a fellowship from the French Ministry of Culture to study modern dance in 1981. After performing with the companies of May O'Donnell and Paul Sanasardo he was invited to join the Martha Graham Dance Company. He interpreted many of the most prestigious roles in the Graham repertory as a principal dancer, and in 1990, Ms. Graham created the central role (Death Figure) in her ballet "Eyes of the Goddess" for him. Mr. Rioult performed opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov and Joyce Herring in "El Penitente," and was featured in two television specials: "Martha Graham in Japan" and "Five Dances by Martha Graham" filmed at the Paris Opera.

Since starting his own company, RIOULT Dance NY in 1994, Mr. Rioult has dedicated his energies to developing his own choreographic style and nurturing a robust ensemble of dancers. Of his work, "Black Diamond," Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times wrote, "...he has met the challenge of comparison with George Balanchine."

Mr. Rioult's works have been commissioned by the American Dance Festival; Cal Performances Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA; the Ballet du Nord in Roubaix, France; the Geneva Ballet, Switzerland; The Orchestra of St. Luke's; the Gordon & Harriet Greenfield Foundation; the Grand Marnier Foundation; the Theatre de Saint Quentin en Yvelines France; Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA; and Marymount Manhattan College; among others. He is a two-time recipient of the Choo-San Goh Award for Choreography.

Founded in 1994, RIOULT Dance NY fast became an established name in modern dance with a reputation for presenting the sensual, articulate, and exquisitely musical works of Pascal Rioult. The New York City-based dance company presents an annual New York season, tours nationally and internationally, conducts extensive in-school arts education and community outreach programs, and offers dance training to the public through classes, workshops, and intensives.

Extraordinary for an organization its size, RIOULT Dance NY is highly committed to its dancers, providing steady employment and year-round health insurance. Each dancer's creative development is fostered through training classes, teaching opportunities, and challenging repertory while maintaining comprehensive rehearsal and performance schedules. The company is fortunate to have welcomed new dancers over the years and retained many, some of whom have danced with the company for over a decade.

RIOULT Dance NY has performed in theaters and festivals throughout North America including New York City Center Fall for Dance (New York, NY), Lincoln Center Out-of- Doors (New York, NY), American Dance Festival (Raleigh NC), the Annenberg Center (Philadelphia, PA), the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (West Palm Beach, FL), and Zellerbach Hall (Berkeley, CA), among others. Widespread international touring has brought the company to Pascal Rioult's homeland of France for the Cannes International Festival, Danse a Aix, Festival du Val du Marne, Temps le Danse Festival, Paris Opera Bastille, and La Maison de la Danse, as well as to the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts (Bermuda), the Tamaulipas International Festival (Mexico), Le Grand Theatre De Quebec (Canada), and the stages of Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and others worldwide.

RIOULT Dance NY is dedicated to the creation and performance of the exquisitely musical works of Pascal Rioult. The New York City-based dance company presents an annual New York season, tours internationally, conducts extensive in-school arts education and community outreach programs, and offers dance training to the public through classes, workshops, and intensives. Education and community outreach have been integral to RIOULT Dance NY since its inception. RIOULT's arts education program, DanceREACH, offers an interactive approach to introducing students to the world of modern dance. It has impacted thousands of students and community members at home, in the U.S., and abroad. Ongoing relationships with schools in New York City and the metropolitan area allow the Company to continually inspire new generations of dancers and audiences.

In October 2018, RIOULT opened the RIOULT Dance Center in Astoria's Kaufman Arts District. The beautiful new Steinway Street facility features four fully equipped rehearsal studios-the largest will convert into a state-of-the-art performance space with seating for over 100 audience members. At the Center, people of all ages and abilities - from the novice to the professional - can participate in over 60 weekly classes in dance and dance-related fitness disciplines ranging from ballet and modern to hip hop and capoeira. The Center also offers much-needed rental space for dancers, choreographers, other performing artists and community groups. The RIOULT Dance Center provides a gateway into the dance community and a place where everyone who wants to experience the joy of dance can have that opportunity. https://www.rioult.org/rioult-dance-company-about

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