“Brown has always paired movement with lucid structures which, taken together, create dance that takes your breath away.”—Dance Magazine
New York, NY—Trisha Brown Dance Company will present a 2008 season at The Joyce Theater from February 5 through February 10 with a program of acclaimed new works and long-awaited revivals that range over the last 17 years. Often referred to as the grande dame of postmodern dance, Trisha Brown has carved a unique place on the international dance scene with her gravity-bending, fluid, yet unpredictable geometric style. Her revolutionary approach to movement with total disregard for assumptions has forever changed the way we look at dance. The Joyce Theater’s program, which illustrates the breadth of Ms. Brown’s unique movement vocabulary, will feature the revival of the popular Foray Forêt, the last of a series of four repertory works created in collaboration with visual art titan Robert Rauschenberg in the 80s; the New York premiere of the acclaimed I love my robots., her 2007 collaboration with Japanese visual artist and architect Kenjiro Okazaki; and the mysterious solo, If you couldn’t see me.
One of the highlights of The Joyce Theater season is Foray Forêt, Trisha Brown’s most requested work, which originally premiered in 1990 at Lyon Biennale de la Danse in France and has not been seen since 1994. This collaboration with Rauschenberg marks the beginning of the choreographer’s elegant and mysterious Back to Zero cycle in which she pulls back from external virtuosity to investigate simpler forms. Through the activation of gesture set off before the mind is engaged, Foray Forêt builds on a vocabulary of subconscious moves described by Ms. Brown as “delicate aberrations.” The piece’s most notable features include an original visual design and costumes (gold and silver) by Rauschenberg as well as a live marching band performing John Philip Sousa music. The band will parade inside the lobby, and possibly outside, playing with the audience’s perception of time and space.
I love my robots., which premiered in January 2007 at Montclair State University in New Jersey, is a clever and humorous meditation on the world of robots, in which Ms. Brown examines the relationship between human and abstract objects. Building on the choreographer’s long tradition of working with fellow artists, the work features a set design by acclaimed Japanese artist Kenjiro Okazaki, an original score by Laurie Anderson, and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. Okazaki’s set--two robots made up of a light cardboard tube and fastened to a small platform operated from off-stage--highlights the interplay between the living and the inert, blurring the lines between the two and exploring their ebbs and flows.
The Joyce Theater run will also include the solo dance, If you couldn’t see me, performed by Leah Morrison. Originally premiered at the Joyce Theater in 1994, the piece was hailed by The New York Times as “a vision of elegant lucidity.” If you couldn’t see me features costume design and a sound score of electronic music by Rauschenberg, with lighting by Spencer Brown, all contributing to the piece’s seductive beauty.
Trisha Brown Dance Company’s dancers are Sandra Grinberg, Hyun-Jin Jung, Todd McQuade, Leah Morrison, Melinda Myers, Tony Orrico, Tamara Riewe, Judith Sanchez Ruiz, and Todd Lawrence Stone.
Trisha Brown Dance Company will be performing from February 5-10, 2008 on the following schedule: Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30pm, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8:00pm, and Sunday at 2:00pm and 7:30pm. Following the performance on Wednesday, there will be a free post-performance conversation with Trisha Brown.
All tickets are $35 ($26 for Joyce Members) and are available by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 or via the internet at http://www.joyce.org/smith06.html. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street.
Foray Forêt was commissioned by the Lyon Biennale de la Danse in association with the Centre National de Danse Contemporaine d’Angers, the Wexner Center for Visual Arts, the Walker Art Center, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and Cal Performances, University of California at Berkeley. Additional support was received from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
I love my robots. was commissioned by The Office of Arts & Cultural Programming, Montclair State University and Montpellier Danse Festival through the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. Additional funding was provided by the Japan Foundation, the Asian Cultural Council, the Charles Engelhard Foundation and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. Laurie Anderson’s music was commissioned by the Trisha Brown Dance Company.
If you couldn’t see me was made possible with funds by Dance Ink, Inc., the Charles Engelhard Foundation, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation. Generous Individual support was given by Mr. William Forsythe, and Mr. S.A. Spencer.
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