PLEASE JOIN US:
Tuesday, January 6th at
7:30pm (Program B)
Wednesday, January 7th
at 7:30pm (Program B)
Thursday, January 8th at
8pm (Program A)
Friday, January 9th at
8pm (Program A)
RSVP to Michelle Brandon
Tabnick, (646) 765-4773,
michelle@michelletabnickcommunications.com
Parsons Dance
presents the World
Premiere of an all-new,
as-yet-untitled
collaboration with the
lead vocalists of
East Village Opera
Company (EVOC),
featuring the music of
the acclaimed rock opera
band.
Program A
premieres the new
evening-length work with
EVOC's two lead
vocalists live onstage
with Parsons Dance.
Program B will feature
Parsons Dance favorites,
including
Caught and
Nascimento.
?Nearly two years ago, I
had the pleasure of
meeting the members of
East Village Opera
Company. We realized
that a great deal of
artistic synchronicity
existed between our
companies and we began
to discuss the
possibility of creating
a work together.
Peter
Kiesewalter's brilliant
arrangements have proven
to be incredibly
inspirational. Now
we are about to present
this World Premiere in
January, said David
Parsons, artistic
director of Parsons
Dance.
David Parsons'
choreography marries
tradition and renewal in
a way that physically
represents what we try
to evoke as a band.
It's exciting to see our
music take a three
dimensional kinesthetic
shape in his hands,
said Tyley Ross, lead
male vocalist and
co-founder of EVOC.
David Parsons, Tyley
Ross and AnnMarie
Milazzo (lead female
vocalist) have created a
storyline that connects
EVOC's signature
operatic arias with
David Parsons' original
choreography.
EVOC's signature works
re-imagine opera arias
as popular songs,
including pieces by
Verdi, Puccini, Mozart
and Schubert. These
classics collide with
electric sounds from the
golden era of rock and
roll, pop, R&B, and
soul, exploding into a
mosaic of sound in a
triumphant musical
celebration.
They have
received commissions to
pen new works from both
the New York Public
Theatre and New York
City Opera, with whom
they have also performed
at Lincoln Center.
EVOC alternately
headlines in prestigious
classical concert halls
and rock clubs, and
records exclusively for
Decca/Universal records.
They have released three
CD?s, and are currently
on tour supporting their
newest release Olde School.
Parsons Dance creates
American works of
extraordinary artistry
that are engaging and
uplifting to audiences
throughout the world.
It is the goal of
Parsons Dance to make
contemporary dance
accessible to the widest
possible audiences. In
addition to choreography
and performance, Parsons
Dance positively impacts
children, students, and
communities through
student performances,
lecture-demonstrations,
master classes,
post-show discussions
and more. Parsons Dance
has a company of eleven
full-time dancers and
maintains a repertory of
more than 70 works
choreographed by David
Parsons, twenty of which
feature originally
commissioned scores by
leading composers and
musicians, including
Dave Matthews, Michael
Gordon and Milton
Nascimento. Parsons
Dance has collaborated
with many other leading
artists, including Julie
Taymor, William Ivey
Long, Annie Leibovitz,
Donna Karan and Alex
Katz (to name a few).
The New York Times
called David Parsons
one of the great movers
of modern dance.
New York Magazine
referred to him as
one of modern dance's
great living
dance-makers.
Parsons Dance dancers
are Julie Blume, Eric
Bourne, Sarah Braverman,
John Corsa, Kevin
Fitzgerald Ferguson,
Patty Foster, Zac
Hammer, Natalie Lomonte,
Miguel Quinones, Abby
Silva, Billy Smith, and
apprentice Steven
Vaughn.
The two programs follow:
Program A:
Thu 1/8, Fri 1/9 and Sat
1/10 at 8pm; Sun 1/11 at
2pm and 7:30pm; Wed 1/14
at 7:30pm;
Thu 1/15, Fri 1/16 and
Sat 1/17 at 8pm; Sun
1/18 at 7:30pm
as-yet-untitled World
Premiere
Program B:
Tue 1/6 and Wed 1/7 at
7:30pm; Tue 1/13 at
7:30pm; Sat 1/17 and Sun
1/18 at 2pm
Fill the Woods with
Light, Slow Dance, Swing
Shift,
an excerpt from the
as-yet-untitled
World
Premiere collaboration
with East Village Opera
Company,
Caught, and
Nascimento
Parsons Dance
will perform January 6 ?
18, 2009 at The Joyce
Theater, with
performances Tuesday,
Wednesday and Sunday at
7:30pm; Thursday, Friday
and Saturday at 8pm; and
Saturday and Sunday at
2pm. There is a Family
matinee performance on
Saturday, January 10 at
2pm. The Joyce
Theater
is located at 175 Eighth Avenue
(at 19th Street),
NYC. Tickets are $59,
$35, and $19 (Joyce
Members $44, $26) and
are available by phone
at 212-242-0800 or
joyce.org.
Parsons Dance
is committed to building
new audiences for
contemporary dance by
creating American works
of extraordinary
artistry that are
engaging and uplifting
to audiences throughout
the world. The company
tours regionally,
nationally and
internationally. Since
1985, Parsons Dance has
toured an average of 32
weeks per year, to a
total more than 235
cities, 30 countries,
six continents and
millions of audience
members. Many others
have seen Parsons Dance
on PBS, Bravo, A&E
Network, and the
Discovery Channel.
Millions watched Parsons
Dance perform live in
Times Square
as part of the
internationally
broadcast, 24-hour
Millennium New Year's
Eve celebration. In New York City, Parsons Dance has been featured at
The Joyce Theater, City Center, New
Victory Theater, Central
Park Summerstage, Guggenheim Museum,
Metropolitan Museum of
Art and The World Trade
Center.
David Parsons
(Artistic
Director/Founder) has
enjoyed a remarkable
career as a performer,
choreographer, teacher,
director and producer of
dance. Mr. Parsons was
born in
Chicago and raised
in Kansas City. He was a
leading dancer with The
Paul Taylor Dance
Company, where Mr.
Taylor created many
roles for him in works
such as
Arden Court,
Last Look and
Roses. He is
a recipient of the 2000
Dance Magazine Award, as
well as the 2001
American Choreography
Award, for his work as a
co-producer of
AEROS, a
production featuring the
Romanian Gymnastic
Federation that was
featured on Bravo. Mr.
Parsons has created more
than 70 works for
Parsons Dance. He has
received commissions
over the years from The
American Ballet Theatre,
New York City Ballet,
Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater, the
American Dance Festival,
Jacob's Pillow, the
Spoleto Festival and Het
Muziektheater in
Amsterdam, to name a
few. His work has been
performed by Paris Opera
Ballet, Joffrey Ballet,
Nederlands Danse
Theatre, National Ballet
of Canada, Hubbard
Street Dance and
BatSheva Dance Company
of Israel,
among many others. In
June 2007, Mr. Parsons
was honored to be the
very first contemporary
choreographer ever to
stage work at the
centuries-old Arena di
Verona, in
Verona Italy, where he
choreographed Verdi's
Aida. The
Arena is one of Italy's
most respected operatic
venues. In September
2007, he directed and
choreographed Gotham
Chamber Opera's
production of
Marķa de Buenos Aires,
which made its world
premiere at a sold-out
engagement in New York, at NYU's Skirball Center for the
Arts.
East Village Opera
Company
was formed in New York City's East Village in 2004
by Canadians Peter
Kiesewalter and Tyley
Ross. The East Village
Opera Company turned the
heads of New York's
music community with a
series of electric genre
defying shows at Joe's
Pub, the intimate venue
housed by the Public
Theatre. Initially
meant as a one-off
project, they were
quickly signed to
Decca/Universal records
and met with universal
praise from both
classical and rock
critics and fans.
The Washington Post
proclaimed that Opera
crossover acts are
becoming a veritable
cottage industry, but
the East Village Opera
Co. is markedly
different. They have
toured the world with a
unique live show,
combining a seemingly
incongruous classical
string section with a
powerhouse rock band.
Time Out New York
stated that the
group electrifies the
classics for a new
generation.The
Associated Press
mused the band was
dramatic and mesmerizing
while the
Wall Street Journal
agreed,
noting The band rocks
hard, and deranges the
opera stuff with savvy
skill. In a rare feat
not many artists can
claim, EVOC headlines
around the world in both
eclectic rock clubs as
well as some of the most
prestigious classical
concert halls. The
band's appeal is evident
in both cases.
The Chicago Tribune
raved Nobody puts a
fresher, friskier
contemporary spin on
opera's greatest hits
than the East Village
Opera Company. The band
has also performed at
esteemed events such as
the Sundance Film
Festival, the Miss USA
pageant (nationally
televised on NBC), and
the world-premiere of
"The Da Vinci Code" in Hong Kong. EVOC has also
been celebrated at the
2006 Emmy Awards with an
award for their PBS
Special, EVOC LIVE.
Tyley Ross
(Male Vocalist / EVOC
co-founder)
A native of Ottawa Canada, Tyley started
performing
professionally in his
early teens while still
a student at Canterbury's school of the
Arts. In the years
since then, has been a
street busker, a cartoon
and voice artist, acted
for the small and large
screen, written and
recorded two solo albums
(his composition
You Take My Breath Away
was featured in the film
Woman Wanted directed by
Kiefer Sutherland and
starring Holly Hunter),
and he has performed as
a guest soloist with
orchestras across Canada
and in the USA. After
being discovered by Pete
Townshend of The Who in
1994, Tyley was cast in
the title role of the
Canadian premiere of the
Who's Tommy. For his
work in that show, he
was honored with the
Dora Award for
Outstanding Performance
in a Musical.
He spent the next ten
years on musical stages
across
North America,
including starring roles
at the Shaw and
Stratford Festivals, and
on Broadway.
In 2001, Tyley was
introduced to Peter
Kiesewalter and they
began experimenting with
recording opera arias in
a variety of modern
contexts. This project
led to the release of
the CD
La Donna and
the unveiling of the
East Village Opera
Company in 2004 with a
series of acclaimed
performances at
New York's Joe's
Pub. Within a year the
band had signed a
multi-record deal with
Decca/Universal, and has
since released two CD's:
East Village Opera
Company
(2005) and
Olde School
(2008).
Tyley has his master's
degree in voice studies
from London's
Central School of Speech
and Drama.
AnnMarie Milazzo
(Female
Vocalist) is a singer,
arranger, composer and
lyricist living in NYC.
She has done the vocal
arrangements for
Spring Awakening,
the Broadway musical at
the Eugene O'Neill
Theater;
Next To Normal,
which premiered Off
Broadway at Second Stage
Theatre;
Bright Lights, Big City at New York Theatre Workshop; and the
Paramount feature film The Marc Pease
Experience, starring Ben
Stiller. Some of her
most recent work
includes a new musical
Pretty Dead Girl,
which
premiered at The
Sundance Film Festival
and is now being
produced by the Araca
Group in New
York City,
book by David Henry
Wang. Also currently in
progress is the musical
Sea Change
based on the Lois Gould
novel, book by Karen
Hartman. AnnMarie is
the lyricist for Franco
Dragone's
Carmen, which
premiered at The Jolla
Playhouse and will open
in Madrid, 2009. She is
currently writing lyrics
for Cirque du Soleil's,
Le Reve, at
the Wynn
Hotel in Las Vegas.
AnnMarie's singing
credits include working
with artists such as
Angelique Kidjo on her
Black Ivory Soul Tour
also singing with Carlos
Santana. She also toured
with Jonathan Brooke and
performed on her DVD
Back In The Circus,
shot live in NYC.
The Joyce Theater
Foundation, Inc.,
a non-profit
organization, has
proudly served the dance
community and its
audiences since 1982.
The founders, Cora Cahan
and Eliot Feld, acquired
and renovated the Elgin
Theater in Chelsea, which opened as
The Joyce Theater in
1982. The Joyce is named
in honor of Joyce Mertz,
beloved daughter of
LuEsther T. Mertz. It
was LuEsther?s clear,
undaunted vision and
abundant generosity that
made it imaginable and
ultimately possible to
establish the theater.
One of the only theaters
built by dancers for
dance, The Joyce Theater
has provided an intimate
and elegant New York
home for more than 290
domestic and
international
companies. The Joyce
has also commissioned
more than 130 new dances
since 1992. In 1996,
The Joyce created Joyce
SoHo, a dance center
providing highly
subsidized rehearsal and
performance space to
hundreds of dance
artists.
New York City
public school students
and teachers annually
benefit from The Joyce?s
Dance Education Program,
and adult audiences get
closer to dance through
pre-engagement Dance
Talks and
post-performance
Humanities discussions.
The Joyce
Theater
now features an annual
season of approximately
48 weeks with over 340
performances for
audiences in excess of
135,000. Additionally,
for the last five years
The Joyce has
co-produced Evening
Stars as part of the
River To River Festival
in Battery Park.
The World Premiere
production is made
possible by lead
commissioning support
from The Ellsworth Kelly
Foundation; and Dr. and
Mrs. Edward Prostic, in
honor and memory of
their daughter Elizabeth
Anne Prostic.
For more information,
visit
parsonsdance.org and
eastvillageoperacompany.com.
PARSONS DANCE
The
Joyce
Theater,
175 Eighth Avenue
(at
19th Street),
NYC
January 6-18, 2009
Tue, Wed and Sun at
7:30pm; Thu, Fri and Sat
at 8pm; and Sat and Sun
at 2pm Family matinee
performance on Saturday,
January 10 at 2pm.
Tickets: $59, $35, $19
(Joyce Members $44, $26)
JoyceCharge:
212-242-0800
joyce.org