Friday, April 28, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
MorDance celebrates its tenth anniversary performance season with two groundbreaking world premiere ballets centering themes of activism and humanity. Performances are April 28-29, 2023 at 7:30pm at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College (524 W 59th St., NYC) as part of the CUNY Dance Initiative. Tickets are $30 for adults, and $20 for students and seniors. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://mordance.
The program’s premieres are committed to dancemaking that embodies artistic excellence while promoting civic engagement and social awareness. Choreographer Morgan McEwen joins forces with composer Polina Nazaykinskayato create a new work inspired by Emily Dickinson's poem They Shut Me Up In Prose, with live music by Konstantin Soukhovetski and Jesus Rodolfo. An additional partnership with composer Josh Knowles is influenced by visual artist Chris Jordan's film Albatross. The much-anticipated revival of McEwen's 2018 ballet Stabat Mater will round out this triple bill.
Program
The first ballet will take flight from Chris Jordan's critically acclaimed documentary, Albatross (World Premiere), which depicts a vulnerable albatross population incurring the impact of mass consumption, global industry, and human unconsciousness. “I look to articulate this challenging narrative through choreography of avian movement and breathtaking wingspans,” said choreographer Morgan McEwen. “I collaborated with composer and experimental violinist Josh Knowles on a spacious arrangement that expresses both soaring heights and the ominous weight of dire circumstances. Josh composed and recorded this piece on a single violin looped and layered through multiple distortion pedals.”
Inspired by Emily Dickinson's transcendent and radically outspoken poem of the same title, They Shut Me Up In Prose(World Premiere) evokes a young woman overcoming sexism in an overwhelmingly patriarchal society. The choreography will blend a classical ballet vernacular with contemporary movement. Polina Nazaykinskaya will create a contemporary score to be played on classical instruments. Polina's unique experiences as an internationally renowned female composer will bring extraordinary artistry and meaningful perspective to the themes portrayed.
Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to Mary, which portrays her suffering as Jesus Christ's mother during his crucifixion. This work is set to Arvo Pärts score of the same name and navigates themes of mourning and shared sorrow. With focused lighting and raised structures, the illusion of silhouettes and shadows will create a dramatic vision of dancers while finding moments of rebirth and joy amidst the deep sense of grieving that the music portrays.
MorDance's residency and performances at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College are supported by the CUNY Dance Initiative.
About the Artists
Morgan McEwen (Choreographer), a New York City native, is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer of MorDance, a trailblazing dance company celebrated for creating original collaborative works that push the boundaries of classical ballet. Through her extensive career as a professional ballet dancer at the Richmond Ballet, BalletMet, and the Metropolitan Opera,
McEwen discovered she had limited opportunities to pursue her passion as a female choreographer. Driven to create a positive work environment that champions exploration and opportunity for all, Morgan is committed to empowering a strong roster of female creatives to elevate the experience of ballet for the modern age, both from an artist and audience perspective. McEwen has been heralded by The New York Times as having, "an eye for shaping the arc of a dance as carefully as the transitions and details within it," Morgan has presented works on stages throughout New York City, including Baryshnikov Arts Center, Aaron Davis Hall, and Symphony Space. She received a CUNY Dance Initiative Residency and Kaatsbaan Upstream Residency in 2018. Ms McEwen's work was selected to be performed at Battery Dance Festival in 2021. She has recently been granted a residency on Martha's Vineyard through the Vineyard Arts Project. Additionally, she will be working with BalletX to generate new work during a choreographic incubator in 2023.
The music of award-winning composer Polina Nazaykinskaya has become a staple of orchestral, chamber and solo repertory in the United States, Russia, and Europe. Her first symphonic poem "Winter Bells" is in high demand every season by orchestras such as The Minnesota Orchestra and The Russian National Orchestra among others. Her latest symphonic poem "Fenix", premiered by The Albany Symphony is programmed for multiple performances in the 2021-2022 concert season. This season Polina`s music will be performed by The Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, The Salina Symphony, The Florida Orchestra, Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, The Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and The Portland Youth Philharmonic. In October 2021 Polina`s recent ballet
"Reverse Perspective" was performed at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow and the Jaani Kirik in Saint-Petersburg. In March 2022 San Francisco Ballet premiered a new piece based on Polina`s composition "The Rising", choreographed by Yuri Possokhov. In Spring 2022 MorDance premiered Polina`s new ballet "Encounters" at Symphony Space in New York City. Polina's collaborators include internationally renowned choreographers Pascal Rioult, Jonah Bokaer, and Ulyana Bochernikova. Polina works closely with the world's leading conductors, such as Osmo Vänskä, Teodor Currentzis, Fabio Mastrangelo, Sarah Hicks, Toshiyuki Shimada, Lawrence Loh, and Hannu Lintu. Polina's compositions are actively performed by internationally acclaimed soloists such as trombonist R. Douglas Wright, violinist Elena Korzhenevich, and pianist Anton Nel. Polina earned her Masters' and Artist Diploma in composition at the Yale School of Music with Christopher Theofanidis and Ezra Laderman. Currently, Polina is a Doctorate Candidate at The Graduate Center CUNY under the mentorship of Tania León. Many of Polina's honors and awards include Charles Ives Scholarship from The American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. Polina is an Adjunct Lecturer of Composition at Brooklyn College Conservatory and a Teaching Artist at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven.
Josh Knowles (Composer) is a violinist, singer/songwriter, and composer based in Boston, MA. Formerly educated at Berklee College of Music, he brings an eclectic array of influences to his work. He has trained from the age of four as a classical violinist and is continually striving to fuse his traditional foundation with a myriad of contemporary styles. Knowles is also a musical artist and poet for Cirio Collective and Boston Ballet, with whom he has appeared on stage for historic runs at the Boston Opera House and the Lincoln Center in New York. He first collaborated with the Collective in 2015, and shortly after was asked to arrange the music and perform alongside violist Anna Stromer for Cirio Collective's piece, "Efil Ym Fo Flah", which premiered at the Vineyard Arts Project in the summer of 2016. He currently resides as a Community Luminary at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where he performs regularly. In February of 2018, Knowles released "Spin Without A Sound," his debut album of instrumental solo electric violin pieces. Largely recorded live, each of the original compositions is built on loops and improvisations spawned entirely from sounds created by the violin, manipulated by multiple effect pedals. Riding the line somewhere between contemporary new age and alternative classical, the result is both symphonic and electronic, unique in its combination of melodic foundation and technical prowess.
Creative Credits
- Written by
- Michelle Tabnick
- Image courtesy
- MorDance
- Photography
- Kelsey Campbell
