Hammer Theatre Postpones New Ballet's FAST FORWARD To June 7

Due to theaters closing to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Hammer Theatre Center has postponed New Ballet's Fast Forward, an exhilarating evening of contemporary ballet highlighting the innovative works of rising local and national choreographers originally scheduled for March 28.

Subjects from aliens to opera will be explored through dance in this dynamic performance, in which New Ballet's gifted dance artists bring each choreographer's creative vision to life in a lively and fast-paced evening. Fast Forward will feature new works by Ben Needham-Wood, Laura Burton, Mads Eriksen, Naomi Sailors, Heather Cooper, and founder Dalia Rawson. Rawson's piece is set to a live performance by acclaimed mezzo-soprano Betany Coffland and pianist Veronika Agranov-Dafoe. Sailors' work was inspired by the idea of encountering an alien species and incorporates a brief presentation by guest speaker Doug Vakoch from METI International on dance as an ideal medium for communicating with potential alien species, and his work with New Ballet motion-capturing dance for this purpose.

New Ballet's Fast Forward will now be presented 2:00pm, Sunday, June 7 at the Hammer Theatre Center, 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose. For more information and tickets ($10-$40), the public may visit www.hammertheatre.com or call (408) 924-8501.

To keep connected and offer the community an artistic outlet, New Ballet is also offering free streamed classes for a variety of ages and stages including adult complete beginners. The schedule of classes is available at newballet.com/live.

Fast Forward is a program launched by New Ballet to provide the opportunity for emerging choreographers to experiment, and for dancers to debut works that have been created specifically for them. Offering dancers the opportunity to be part of the creative process, Fast Forward creates an energetic environment of empowerment for all the artists, as well as adventuresome audiences.

New Ballet, founded in March 2016 by local dancer, teacher, and choreographer Dalia Rawson, filled a void in downtown San Jose for a professional ballet school. Offering an additional focus on dancer health and child development, the organization provides ballet instruction as well as performances. With a certified teaching staff, New Ballet is one of only five schools designated as an American Ballet Theatre Certified School nationwide.