RIOULT Dance NY to Return to The Joyce Theater Featuring Kathleen Turner as Narrator

RIOULT Dance NY, a leading American modern dance company with a classic sensibility, returns to The Joyce Theater from June 21-26, 2016 with eight performances featuring World and New York City Premieres. Tickets start at $10 and are on sale now at www.joyce.org.

An established name in modern dance with a reputation for performing sensual, articulate, and exquisitely musical works, RIOULT Dance NY performs two programs. WOMEN ON THE EDGE...Unsung Heroines of the Trojan War examines the role of women in times of conflict and features the World Premiere of Cassandra's Curse, set to live music. The second program is distinguished by the New York City premiere of Polymorphous, a piece exploring the subjectivity of perception through movement and technology; Duets, a suite of magnificent duets drawn from some of Pascal Rioult's finest dances; and two repertory works. Kathleen Turner joins the company as narrator for performances on June 21, June 23 and the evening of June 25.

"Kathleen Turner has followed my work for a while now and I was looking forward to the day I could collaborate with her. She is a tremendous talent," said Pascal Rioult, artistic director of RIOULT Dance NY. "She is perfect for this project. An experienced stage actress who will bring great weight to the role of narrator in these pieces inspired by Greek tragedies, she is a powerful women herself and is an exemplary model of strength and resilience - the general theme of the triptych."

Special events during the company's Joyce Theater engagement include a Family Matinee on Saturday, June 25 with $10 tickets available for children aged 6-14; a Curtain Chat following the Thursday, June 23 performance with members of the company, as well as a gala immediately following the performance on June 22 at Studio 450, 450 W. 31st Street, NYC. Call 212-398-5901 for gala tickets.

RIOULT Dance NY Season at The Joyce Theater - June 21-26, 2016

PROGRAM A: WOMEN ON THE EDGE...Unsung Heroines of the Trojan War

Tuesday, June 21 at 7:30pm; Thursday, June 23* & Saturday, June 25 at 8pm; Sunday, June 26 at 7:30pm

*Stay with us for a post-performance Curtain Chat after the curtain goes down on Thursday, June 23.

Iphigenia (2013)

Iphigenia is a dance drama chronicling a young woman's transfiguration from innocent child to transcendental heroine. Based on Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis, it focuses on King Agamemnon's decision to sacrifice his daughter - much to the horror of his wife, Clytemnestra, and his daughter's betrothed, Achilles - and Iphigenia's ultimate acceptance of her fate. Through dramatic dance scenes woven together with a recurring ensemble-the Greek chorus, the part-narrative, part-abstract piece unfolds, reintroducing audiences to this beautifully tragic story.

On Distant Shores (2011)

On Distant Shores...A Redemption Fantasy evokes the ancient myth of Helen of Troy. "I always thought Helen got a bad rap," says Pascal Rioult. In this work he sets out to redeem her, imagining she is brought to Troy against her will, where she encounters four god-like warriors.

Cassandra's Curse (World Premiere)

The world premiere of Pascal's new work, Cassandra's Curse, is set to a commissioned score by acclaimed composer Richard Danielpour and will premiere with live music. Loosely based on Euripides' The Trojan Women, this dance reveals the character of Cassandra, whose gift of prophecy allows her to foresee the unfortunate fate of Troy, though not a soul believes her. Her curse is a metaphor for a society's tendencies to ignore the voice of reason and to repeat its history of war and violence.

Cassandra's Curse is co-commissioned by ADF with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Dance and created in part with the support from the Made in Wickenburg Residency program with funding from the R. H. Johnson Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, WESTAF, and the Wellik Foundation.

Program B

Wednesday, June 22 at 7pm*; Friday, June 24 at 8pm; Saturday, June 25 & Sunday, June 26 at 2pm

*Gala immediately following this performance at Studio 450.

Dream Suite (2014)

Dream Suite is a contemporary take on romanticism. The contrasting mood of Tchaikovsky's "Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C Major" is juxtaposed with more aggressive, rhythmic and athletic movement. With a palette inspired by the paintings of Marc Chagall, this thoroughly contemporary work delves into the surreal as it evolves.

Polymorphous (2015) - NYC Premiere

Set to selections from J.S. Bach's "The Well Tempered Clavier," Polymorphous explores the subjectivity of perception through movement and technology. The work takes on the very idea of polymorphism, referring to the act of something that assumes or occurs in various forms.

Duets

A series of duets drawn from Pascal Rioult's extensive repertory captures his knack for distinctive partnering.

Bolero (2002)

Bolero, one of Rioult's most popular works, is a bold and unique interpretation of Ravel's famous musical score. Its perpetual motion and ever-changing patterns build to an inevitable climax, creating a riveting tour de force.

Musicians

Henry Wang, violin

Jesse MacDonald, violin

Ann Kim, violin

Marina Kifferstein, violin (May 21 & 23)

Monica Davis, violin (May 25 & 26)

Mujan Hosseinzadeh, viola

Midori Witkoski, viola

Grace Ho, Cello

Vivian Chang, Cello

Kathleen Turner (Narrator, Guest Artist) has garnered critical acclaim for her performances in films including Body Heat (Golden Globe nomination); Romancing the Stone and Prizzi's Honor (Golden Globe Award for each); Peggy Sue Got Married (Academy and Golden Globe nominations); and The War of the Roses (Golden Globe nomination). Additional film credits include The Man with Two Brains, The Jewel of the Nile, The Accidental Tourist, V.I. Warshawski, Serial Mom, Naked in New York, Moonlight and Valentino, The Real Blonde and The Virgin Suicides.Her Broadway credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Tony nomination); Indiscretions; The Graduate; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Tony nomination); and High (also national tour). In recent years, she had a starring role in the 2011 film The Perfect Family, a recurring role on Showtime's Californication, and starred in Mother Courage and Her Children and Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins (both Arena Stage).

Richard Danielpour's (Composer, Cassandra's Curse) commissions include Yo-Yo Ma; Jessye Norman; Dawn Upshaw; Emanuel Ax; Gil Shaham; Frederica von Stade; Thomas Hampson; Gary Graffman; the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio; the Guarneri and Emerson String Quartets; the New York City and Pacific Northwest Ballets; the New York Philharmonic; Philadelphia, Stuttgart Radio, and Vienna Chamber Orchestras; Orchestre National de France; Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival; and many more. He has received the American Academy of Arts & Letters Charles Ives Fellowship, a Guggenheim Award, Bearns Prize, and grants and residencies from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Copland House, and the American Academies in Berlin and Rome. He is on faculty at Manhattan School of Music and Curtis Institute.

Kyle Ritenauer (Conductor) obtained his Masters' Degree in Conducting in the Contemporary Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music where he served as Assistant Conductor under Jeffrey Milarsky and David Gilbert for the Percussion Ensemble and Student Composers Orchestra. Collaborating with young composers throughout NYC, he has conducted premieres of over 40 pieces of music and worked with some of NYC's most up-and-coming new music ensembles, such as Nouveau Classical Project, where he lead a performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire and in December 2013, he led the filming of a new opera, Cities of Salt, by Syrian composer Zaid Jabri. An active freelance percussionist in NYC, he also serves as Principal Percussionist of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic in Poughkeepsie, NY and is a teaching artist for The Learning Arts, in Adirondack State Park. In October 2013, he commissioned and premiered Paolo Marchettini's Brotherhood's Journey performed with his two brothers, also percussionists in NYC.

Uptown Philharmonic is a new democratically-structured group run by musicians, created to provide a highly adaptable blank canvas for creation amongst musicians, composers, and other artistic organizations in New York City. Comprised of NYC's up-and-coming musicians, Uptown Philharmonic displays the exceptional versatility of the 21st century musician.

RIOULT Dance NY, founded in 1994, fast became an established name in modern dance with a reputation for bringing the sensual, articulate, and musical dance works of Pascal Rioult to audiences worldwide. The ten-dancer company, based in New York City, is led by husband-and-wife team Pascal Rioult and Joyce Herring - both former Martha Graham Dance Company principal dancers. With an established repertoire of over 40 dances that expands each year, RIOULT Dance NY presents an annual New York Season and tours nationally and abroad. In addition, in-school arts education and community outreach have been integral to the company since its inception, introducing students and families to the art of modern dance. www.rioult.org

RIOULT Dance NY's 2016 NY Season is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding provided by: Fund for New Works, a Kenneth French Legacy; The Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation; Harkness Foundation for Dance; Howard Gilman Foundation; The O'Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; and The West Survivors Trust Fund.