Michelle Dorrance News

The curtain is raising on one of the world's finest dance festivals of its kind: The Vancouver International Tap Festival being held from today, August 28 to 31.

The Martha Graham Dance Company's Shape&Design theme explores Graham's defining influence as an American modernist with programs that feature the sculptural and architectural aspects of choreography by Graham and others. The Company's two-week season at The Joyce Theater in New York City, February 10–22, 2015, will offer Graham classics, new commissions, and premieres by guest choreographers in three varied programs. The Company's expansive 2014-15 season also includes a twenty-city U.S. tour, and several projects related to Shape&Design, including partnerships with the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology and the international art gallery Hauser & Wirth.

REDCAT, CalArts' Downtown Center for Contemporary Arts, located in the Walt Disney Concert Hall Complex is renowned for its innovative visual, performing and multimedia arts programming. In the Fall of 2014 REDCAT begins its second decade presenting the most influential artists from around the world, as well as Los Angeles' own creative voices.

The curtain is raising on one of the world's finest dance festivals of its kind: The Vancouver International Tap Festival being held from August 28 to 31.

Daniel Ulbricht/BALLET 2014 offers an exclusive opportunity for audiences to experience some of today's most remarkable ballet dancers in the intimate Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, July 16-20. New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Daniel Ulbricht directs and performs with a select ensemble of top stars including Tyler Angle, Craig Hall, Robert Fairchild, Russell Janzen, Emily Kikta, Rebecca Krohn, Tiler Peck, Georgina Pazcoguin, and Teresa Reichlen. The program is equally impressive, including Christopher Wheeldon's Liturgy, danced to Arvo Pärt's ”Fratres;” Two Hearts, a collaboration between Benjamin Millepied and composer Nico Muhly; Furiant, created by NYCB Soloist Justin Peck; Sunshine, a solo for Ulbricht by Larry Keigwin; the world premiere of Opus 19. Andante, a duet by critically acclaimed young choreographer Emery LeCrone; and the classic Fancy Free, the first ballet created by Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein in 1944, which subsequently inspired the full-length musical On the Town. Cast subject to change.

The New Victory Theater, New York's premier performing arts venue for kids and families, announces Victory Dance, a pilot initiative to provide FREE dance performances to New York City kids this summer. A three-week series serving New York City day camps and school programs from today, July 16 to August 1, 2014, Victory Dance will feature a cross-section of New York choreographers and companies in more than a dozen pieces specifically curated for young audiences. Through Victory Dance, New York City kids will have the opportunity to meet with choreographers and dancers, as well as see these incredible artists and companies present their very best work.

Daniel Ulbricht/BALLET 2014 offers an exclusive opportunity for audiences to experience some of today's most remarkable ballet dancers in the intimate Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, July 16-20. New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Daniel Ulbricht directs and performs with a select ensemble of top stars including Tyler Angle, Craig Hall, Robert Fairchild, Russell Janzen, Emily Kikta, Rebecca Krohn, Tiler Peck, Georgina Pazcoguin, and Teresa Reichlen. The program is equally impressive, including Christopher Wheeldon's Liturgy, danced to Arvo Pärt's ”Fratres;” Two Hearts, a collaboration between Benjamin Millepied and composer Nico Muhly; Furiant, created by NYCB Soloist Justin Peck; Sunshine, a solo for Ulbricht by Larry Keigwin; the world premiere of Opus 19. Andante, a duet by critically acclaimed young choreographer Emery LeCrone; and the classic Fancy Free, the first ballet created by Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein in 1944, which subsequently inspired the full-length musical On the Town. Cast subject to change.

From Italy, the innovative dance-theatre group Compagnia TPO travels to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival to present Bleu!, a wondrous interactive production that will delight children, parents, and the young at heart. Directed by David Venturini and Francesco Gandi, TPO invites audiences to a journey under the sea with this spectacle of light, animation, and movement. Through immersive technology and imaginative set design, Bleu! brings viewers into a mythical world of sea creatures and ancient legends. Audiences of all ages are welcomed onstage to engage with the dancers and the responsive set, or they can choose to sit back and enjoy the adventure. Bleu! is presented in an expanded ten-show engagement in the Doris Duke Theatre from July 2-6, with $10 youth ticket pricing available for all performances.

Popular contemporary company Hubbard Street Dance Chicago returns to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival for the first time since 2010, bringing a sensational mixed-bill program. Directed by Glenn Edgerton, the 18-member company performs the dramatic Mediterranean-inspired Gnawa, choreographed by Nacho Duato, and Ji?í Kylián's vivid Falling Angels, a stark all-female work danced to “Drumming” by contemporary composer Steve Reich. The company's performance of Falling Angels earlier this year was called “a gorgeous combination of energetic and hypnotic, a celebration of what the body can do” by Lauren Whalen of Chicago Theater Beat. Hubbard Street Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo's latest work for the company, The Impossible, is a bold and theatrical work centered around themes of memory, mortality, and the human spirit.

From Italy, the innovative dance-theatre group Compagnia TPO travels to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival to present Bleu!, a wondrous interactive production that will delight children, parents, and the young at heart. Directed by David Venturini and Francesco Gandi, TPO invites audiences to a journey under the sea with this spectacle of light, animation, and movement. Through immersive technology and imaginative set design, Bleu! brings viewers into a mythical world of sea creatures and ancient legends. Audiences of all ages are welcomed onstage to engage with the dancers and the responsive set, or they can choose to sit back and enjoy the adventure. Bleu! is presented in an expanded ten-show engagement in the Doris Duke Theatre from July 2-6, with $10 youth ticket pricing available for all performances.

This year's Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, a coveted honor carrying a $25,000 cash prize, will be presented to choreographer John Heginbotham in recognition of his talent and outstanding contributions to the dance field. Heginbotham, an alumnus of The School at Jacob's Pillow, has garnered critical and popular acclaim for his contemporary works, eclectic and rich with “movement that exhibits sharpness, energy, formality and, yes, oddity” (Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times). His company, Dance Heginbotham, will perform the evening-length world premiere of Chalk and Soot in the Doris Duke Theatre July 30-August 3. In Chalk and Soot, Heginbotham joins forces with composer Colin Jacobsen to create a work featuring imaginative, theatrical choreography, live music performed by superstar string quartet Brooklyn Rider, the vocal stylings of Shara Worden (lead singer of My Brightest Diamond), and singer/songwriter Gabriel Kahane on harmonium.

Following the record-breaking attendance of Festival 2013, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival announces the full 2014 Festival free and ticketed event schedule. Jacob's Pillow is a National Historic Landmark, home to America's longest-running dance festival, and a recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Noted dance writer Jennifer Dunning has called the Pillow "the dance center of the nation, possibly the world."

The New Victory Theater, New York's premier performing arts venue for kids and families, announces Victory Dance, a pilot initiative to provide FREE dance performances to New York City kids this summer. A three-week series serving New York City day camps and school programs from July 16 to August 1, 2014, Victory Dance will feature a cross-section of New York choreographers and companies in more than a dozen pieces specifically curated for young audiences.

Spoleto Festival USA today announced a number of season updates, including a special savings opportunity for locals this Sunday, May 11; a first-time partnership with the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry for Kids' Night Out: Spoleto Edition on Friday, May 30; and details regarding the third annual Beer Garden at Middleton Place for the Wells Fargo Festival Finale on Sunday, June 8.

In its inaugural effort, The American Tap Dance Foundation's new lecture-demonstration series fulfills its promise to educate and to honor the dance form through discussions, anecdotes and videos.

Following the record-breaking attendance of Festival 2013, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival announces the 2014 Festival schedule. Jacob's Pillow is a National Historic Landmark, home to America's longest-running dance festival, and a recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Noted dance writer Jennifer Dunning has called the Pillow "the dance center of the nation, possibly the world."

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) is proud to announce that Cicely Tyson will accept the Prince Rainier III Award and filmmaker and New Arts Axis Director, Wendy Levy, and New York City Ballet Principal Dancer, Tiler Peck, will receive Princess Grace Statue Awards at the 2013 Princess Grace Awards Gala tonight, October 30, 2013, at Cipriani 42(nd) Street in New York City.

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) is proud to announce that Cicely Tyson will accept the Prince Rainier III Award and filmmaker and New Arts Axis Director, Wendy Levy, and New York City Ballet Principal Dancer, Tiler Peck, will receive Princess Grace Statue Awards at the 2013 Princess Grace Awards Gala on October 30, 2013, at Cipriani 42(nd) Street in New York City.

A 2012 Princess Grace Award Winner, Tap Choreographer, Michelle Dorrance will open the 2013 Princes Grace Awards Gala with a special performance on October 30th at Cipriani 42nd Street. The evening, hosted by Paula Zahn, will honor 24 artists and will continue the legacy of Princess Grace (Kelly) of Monaco who helped emerging artists pursue their artistic goals during her lifetime. In total, the Foundation awards more than $1 million to artists in theater, dance performance, choreography and film.

New York City Center is celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Fall for Dance Festival with a very special season, beginning with two free evenings of dance at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, hosted by The Public Theater, on September 16 and 17 (rain date, September 18). The Festival will continue at City Center from September 25 - October 5 with performances by 20 acclaimed dance companies and artists from around the world, including three new works from today's most exciting young choreographers, commissioned by New York City Center in celebration of the tenth anniversary.