Annenberg Center Live And NextMove Dance Announce Co-Presenting Partnership

Annenberg Center Live and NextMove Dance have announced a new co-presenting partnership that will consolidate contemporary dance productions under one roof at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Pennsylvania. In the 2018-19 season, Annenberg Center Live and NextMove Dance will present 11 dance ensembles for Philadelphia audiences: Circa, Spectrum Dance Theater, Jessica Lang Dance, Caleb Teicher & Company, Martha Graham Dance Company, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dance Heginbotham, Union Tanguera + Kate Weare Company, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, BODYTRAFFIC, and Parsons Dance. Subscriptions to the 2018-19 season dance series are on sale now at AnnenbergCenter.org or 215.898.3900. Single tickets will go on sale in July.

"Our new co-presenting partnership combines Philadelphia's two major dance presenters under one roof, integrating them into the Annenberg Center's broad range of innovative programming, and ensuring a healthy future for contemporary dance in our city," says Annenberg Center Executive and Artistic Director Christopher A. Gruits. "We look forward to welcoming NextMove Dance back home to the Annenberg Center and to bringing a full and exciting season of the finest dance ensembles to our Philadelphia audiences."

"NextMove Dance is thrilled to return to the Annenberg Center where new leadership has made a major commitment to support and sustain a full season of dance next year and for years to come," explains Randy Swartz, Artistic Director, NextMove Dance.

The 2018-19 Season Dance Series:

Circa, Humans, September 28-29. Australia's bold, contemporary circus troupe, Circa, returns to the Annenberg Center with the U.S. premiere of Humans, a tour de force about the power in physical and emotional strength. Circa is co-presented with FringeArts.

Spectrum Dance Theater, A Rap on Race, October 12-13. Nearly 50 years ago, two towering public figures, African-American author James Baldwin and white anthropologist Margaret Mead, sat together and recorded an epic and intimate seven-and-a-half-hour conversation about race in America. Now, choreographer Donald Byrd and playwright Anna Deavere Smith re-imagine that conversation in the present in A Rap on Race.

Jessica Lang Dance, November 30-December 1. Lang's ballet-based yet contemporary-driven works are rich with stunning movement, compelling musicality and beautiful cinematic composition. In a program of critically acclaimed Philadelphia premieres, this company will transform how you experience dance.

Caleb Teicher & Company, December 14-15. Tap, jazz and swing combine in the radiant choreography of Caleb Teicher, a founding member of Dorrance Dance and the 2016 Dance Magazine "Best Emerging Choreographer." Teicher's signature style of musicality, humor and warmth will shine in the Philadelphia debut of Caleb Teicher & Company.

Martha Graham Dance Company, The EVE Project, January 25-26. In the EVE Project, this iconic troupe stays true to Graham's tradition of social activism with a program by all female choreographers commemorating the upcoming centennial of the 19th Amendment. Featuring the powerful Philadelphia premiere of Chronicle by Graham, as well as the first preview performance of a new work by contemporary superstars Maxine Doyle and Bobbi Jene Smith, this amazing company continues to inspire and impress the generations worldwide.

Dance Theatre of Harlem, March 1-2. This company of exceptionally-trained dancers breathes new life into classical ballet with masterful repertoire performed across the globe. This unparalleled force in dance performs a program including aworld premiere by Philadelphia native and resident choreographer, Robert Garland as well as other works not previously performed in Philadelphia.

Dance Heginbotham, March 15-16. New York-based contemporary troupe Dance Heginbotham makes its Philadelphia debut. Founded in 2012 by former Mark Morris Dance Group dancer and 2018 Guggenheim Fellow John Heginbotham, this company quickly established itself with works of vibrant athleticism, humor and adventurous theatricality.

Union Tanguera + Kate Weare Company, Sin Salida, April 5-6. Contemporary dance meets Argentine tango in Sin Salida, a full­length work by award­winning choreographer Kate Weare and Esteban Moreno of the French/Argentinean tango troupe, Union Tanguera.

Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, April 12-13. Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers' artistry is a hybrid of Asian philosophies and Western culture infused with a fearless physicality that resonates with the soul.

BODYTRAFFIC, April 26-27. Blending contemporary, hip hop, jazz and ballet, this troupe will perform a program of Philadelphia premieres including A Million Voices, a work set to Peggy Lee classics by Pennsylvania Ballet resident choreographer and BalletX co­founder, Matthew Neenan.

Parsons Dance, May 10-11. Known for remarkable athleticism and impressive ensemble work, this celebrated troupe delivers bold, exuberant and joyous contemporary dance. This audience favorite returns to Philadelphia for new works alongside the beloved stroboscopic masterpiece, Caught.

The presentations of Spectrum Dance Theater and Union Tanguera + Kate Weare Company are made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts serves as a major cultural destination and crossroads connecting Penn and the greater Philadelphia region through innovative human expression in theatre, music, dance, and film, serving an annual audience of almost 50,000. The Annenberg Center also serves as a key resource for the arts at Penn, connecting master artists with Penn students in support of and as an enhancement to the arts curriculum. Student performing arts groups are also key users of the Annenberg Center's multiple performance and rehearsal spaces, while also staffing many operational roles throughout the academic year. In reflection of Penn's core values as a world-respected academic institution, the Annenberg Center emphasizes artistic and intellectual excellence, diversity, and rigor in its presentations; prioritizes broad inclusiveness in the artists, audiences, and groups it serves; manages outstanding performance, conference, and meeting facilities; and stresses comprehensive event planning, production support, and customer service. The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a major provider of performing arts access for school children and actively engages a broad range of primary, secondary, and post-secondary student audiences and inclusive constituencies from the campus, community, and greater Philadelphia region. Visit www.AnnenbergCenter.org.

NextMove Dance Artistic Director Randy Swartz created the first annual dance series in Philadelphia at the Walnut Street Theatre in 1970. In 1983, he launched the Dance Celebration series at the Annenberg Center for a 32-year run and initiated a new annual series at the Prince Theater in October 2015. Dance Affiliates, renamed NextMove Dance, is recognized as one of the nation's finest dance presenters. Known internationally for award-winning presentations for almost four decades, NextMove Dance provides a wealth of opportunities for the Delaware Valley community to interact with the artists through talk-backs, master classes, artistic collaborations, workshops, children's programs and much more. Visit www.nextmovedance.org.

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