GESTURES DANCE ENSEMBLE
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF NURTURING & TRAINING
TALENTED TEENS FOR PROFESSIONAL DANCE CAREERS
GALA performance, Monday, June 15, 2009 @ 6:30 pm
Additional Performances: June 19th, June 20th @ 7:30 pm
CHOREOGRAPHY BY TROY POWELL, DARRELL MOULTRIE, AMY HALL,
MAXINE MONTILLUS, CHELLAMAR BERNARD, NINA KLYVERT-LAWSON
El Barrio/East Harlem – Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts is proud to announce that 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the GESTURES Dance Ensemble, its resident pre-professional student dance company established by Nina Klyvert-Lawson. To mark this momentous achievement, GESTURES will be presenting three evenings of performance at the Ailey Citigroup Theater on June 15th, 19th and 20th. The Ailey Citigroup Theater is located at 405 West 55th Street and 9th Avenue at The Joan Weill Center for Dance.
A GALA performance followed by a reception is scheduled for Monday, June 15. The performance begins at 6:30 and admission to the performance and reception is .00. For more information, please call Nina Olson at 212/427-2244 ext. 577. Additional performances are scheduled for Friday, June 19th and Saturday, June 20th at 7:30 pm. Tickets are .00. For Additional Information please call 212-427-2244 ext. 553. Or visit us on-line at www.harborconservatory.org
The program will feature four new premieres by choreographers Troy Powell, GESTURES alumni, Maxiene Montillus, GESTURES alumni, Chellamar Bernard, and Latin Dance Champions Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin. Works from the company’s repertoire will also be included in the performance series and they are: “In the Rain” by faculty member Amy Hall, “Heighten” and “Reach” by alum and faculty member Darrell Moultrie, and artistic Director Nina Klyvert-Lawson’s “Holy Joyful”. The company, working with Sue Bernard of the José Limón Institute will also perform an excerpt from the Limon work, “There is a Time.”
Over the years the ensemble has worked with Sarita Allen, Ronald K. Brown, Dyane Harvey, Pedro Ruiz, Max Luna, Jennifer Muller, Steven Rooks, Ken Robertson, H.T. Chen, Darrell Moultrie, Troy Powell and others. The selection of professional choreographers working in very distinct styles has enabled the members of GESTURES to think about dance as “creating.” As one former student remembers by age 13 he knew what “post modern” meant, and was familiar with Contact Improvisation, long before his counterparts in the specialized performing arts high school he later attended. For young dancers, exposure to artists from different parts of the world, working in different dance idioms, combined with their own experiences performing in diverse venues (from the grounds of Wave Hill, to SummerStage to the Ailey Theater), their sense of creative possibilities is endless.
In designing the 20th Anniversary season at the Ailey Theater, Artistic Director Nina Klyvert- Lawson hopes to demonstrate the tremendous growth of the company and its continual success at preparing young dancers from an underserved community to excel and become resourceful dancers, able to hold their own amongst their peers. Former students now marvel at the level of sophistication, professionalism and quality that Klyvert-Lawson brought to their small school in East Harlem that rivals programs serving wealthier communities.
Venue:
Alvin Ailey Theater
405 W. 55th Street (at 9th Avenue) New York, NY 10019
Venue URL
