Festival Ballet Providence Presents GAME CHANGERS

Festival Ballet Providence (FBP) presents a bold, contemporary program titled Game Changers at The Vets in Providence, February 7-9, 2020. The mixed bill program, featuring three choreographers at the top of their game, includes contemporary works by Tony Award winner Christopher Wheeldon, former Boston Ballet principal dancer Yury Yanowsky, and former Alvin Ailey Dance Theater member Christopher Huggins. Two of the works will be World Premieres, rounding out this innovative, singular program.

"Game Changers shows three choreographers whose work has truly made an impact on the world of dance. I'm thrilled to bring such world class talent to Providence," FBP Artistic Director Mihailo "Misha" Djuric said, adding, "I'm particularly proud that our company is so strong that we can present such a wide ranging and artistically challenging program."

FBP remains one of only two companies in New England given the privilege of presenting the work of Tony Award winner and former Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet (NYCB) soloist Christopher Wheeldon. Game Changers will include Wheeldon's Morphoses, an ensemble originally created in 2002 for former NYCB Principal dancer Wendy Whelan, hailed by the New York Times as "America's greatest contemporary ballerina." The arresting work for four dancers hits the extremes of human athleticism and artistry, with intricate partnering yielding extraordinary shapes and structures.

The work of contemporary choreographer Yury Yanowsky has become a familiar treat for FBP audiences, with the debut of his breathtaking piece Smoke & Mirrors at The Vets last season. In Game Changers, Yanowsky's electrifying new work, Same, will have its premiere. This piece is a collaboration with Boston-based singer/songwriter and violinist Josh Knowles with Knowles performing live along with the Company. His technique of live performance and remixing creates a sound that is richly layered and unique to each performance, which will add an emotional underpinning for Yanowsky's powerful and innovative choreography that will shift and evolve with each show. The music, comprised of an anthology of songs from Knowles' forthcoming album How Deep in the Dark, provides an exciting accompaniment for Yanovsky's use of a large ensemble of dancers.

Former Alvin Ailey Dance Theater dancer Christopher Huggins makes his New England choreographic debut with a dynamic work that offers a perspective and commentary on society's ills and the structures that restrict and oppress. This impressive World Premiere includes the entire company of Festival Ballet Providence-more than two dozen dancers-and incorporates powerful moments of rigid and repetitive uniformity with defiant self-expression.

Huggins is the 2002 and 2008 recipient of the Alvin Ailey Award for Best Choreography from the Black Theater Alliance in Chicago. His works have been performed by major companies around the world and this piece is his first time his work has ever been performed in New England.

Game Changers performed at The Vets, February 7-9, 2020. Tickets at 401-421-ARTS or TheVetsRI.com.