Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet Takes Movement to the Movies and to UConn 11/12

Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet attracts cutting-edge choreographers because of its risky, edgy, explosive physicality. A director of a major feature film opening next spring and starring Emily Blunt and Matt Damon wanted a dance company with the same qualities and searched no more.

The ultra-hip, New York-based dance company, under the artistic direction of Benoit-Swan Pouffer, will shake up the Jorgensen stage in its first Connecticut appearance Friday, November 12, at 8 p.m. as part of a 13-city tour. The performance by the 15-member company will include a new work choreographed by Alexander Ekman and entitled "Hubbub." Ekman describes Cedar Lake dancers as "very strong technically, very physical."

Other works on the program include "Sunday Again," choreographed by Jo Stromgren and set to music by Bach, and "Unit in Reaction," by Jacopo Godani, with music by Ülrich Müller and Siegfried Rössert of 48Nord.

Founded in 2003 by Nancy Laurie, a Wal-mart heiress, the company has earned its reputation as a body conversant in the basics of ballet but willing to turn traditional movement on its head. The company is known for splicing music, movement and multimedia to stage works by progressive world choreographers, such as Angelin Preljocaj, Crystal Pite and Ohad Naharin. The New York Times calls what they do "dancing that pulls viewers right out of their seats."

Film director George Nolfi is featuring Cedar Lake in his science-fiction thriller "The Adjustment Bureau," with over-the-top dance sequences. Pouffer based the dance scenes on movement from his original work, "Glassy Essence," the piece that persuadEd Nolfi to collaborate with Cedar Lake. And, rather than cast a dancer in the lead spot, Nolfi entrusted actress Blunt, untrained as a dancer, to Pouffer's expertise.

Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts is located at 2132 Hillside Road on the UConn campus in Storrs. Regular tickets are $25, $27 and $30, with some discounts available. For tickets and information, call the Box Office at 860.486.4226, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., or order online at jorgensen.uconn.edu. Convenient free parking is available across the street in the North Garage.

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