November 2004 2004 Next Wave Festival Kojo GrIflIn, UnliUed, (detalI) 2004 BAM 2004 Next Wave ORE Festival Is sponsored by: Altria 200~ext Wa~e EesfuLaJ_ Brooklyn Academy of Music Alan H. Fishman William I. Campbell Chairman of the Board Vice Chairman of the Board Karen Brooks Hopkins Joseph V. Melillo President Executive Producer presents Near Life Experience Ballet Preljocaj Approximate BAM Howard Gilman Opera House running time: November 3, 2004 at 8pm; Nov 4-6 at 7:30pm 1 hour and 15 Choreography by Angelin Preljocaj minutes, no Music by Air intermission Scenery by Angelin Preljocaj in collaboration with Tom Pye Lighti ng by Patrick Riou Costumes by Gilles Rosier Notator Dany Leveque Rehearsal assistant Karl Burnett Near Life Experience is co-produced by Theatre National de Marseille la Criee, Theatre de la Ville-Paris, Festival Montpellier Danse 2003, Festival d'Avignon, Le Groupe Partouche-Casino municipal Aix/Thermal. BAM 2004 Spring Season is sponsored by Altria Group. Leadership support for BAM French programs is provided by The Florence Gould Foundation. Delta Air Lines is the official airline for BAM Dance with major support from The Harkness Foundation for Dance and The Jerome Robbins Foundation, Inc. Opening night reception support is provided by The Jerome Robbins Foundation, Inc. and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States. Dancers Leonardo Centi Craig Dawson Claudia de Smet Samir EI Yamni Celine Galli Emma Gustafsson Dejalmir Melo Alexandre Nipau Zaratiana Randrianantenaina Nagisa Shirai Yang Wang Production Technical director Eric Valentin credits Production manager/sound Serge Sconamiglio Lighting director Thomas Veyssh!re Stage manager Michel Carbuccia Wardrobe supervisor Sylvie Lefray Co-Commissioner/ Support for Ballet Preljocaj: Region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Ville Producer d'Aix-en-Provence, Departement des Bouches-du-Rhone, DRAC PACA, Communaute du Pays d'Aix, Fondation BNP PARI BAS, AFAA-Association frangaise d'action artistique-Ministere des affaires etrangeres, Le Groupe Pa rtouche-Casino munici pa I Aix/Therma I. Note from the Choreographer Near Life Experience is a quest into different states of the body, states which relate to intermediary sensations. We verge on these states when we near zones which hover on the edge of existence, to which we have access in moments of fainting, during a trance, in the instant of ecstasy, or orgasm. The notion of both rapture and ravishment, of both intensely luminous sensation and the carrying off of the individual, comes close to this experience. The subject is elsewhere, carried off from himself; he is ravished. Near Life Experience evokes all of this, an attempt to remove oneself from space and time. A sort of eclipse of the self, a quest through this imaginary state-a new expression in the space left by the body. -Angelin Preljocaj Angelin Preljocaj/Ballet Preljocaj 2005. With four rehearsal studios and one per­ Angelin Preljocaj (choreographer), born to formance hall with 378 seats, it is a unique Albanian parents, started his career with production center for dance where the artists classical dance before turning to contemporary, can both work on the entire creation process which he studied in France and abroad with and perform the work they have created. It is a Karin Waehner, Zena Rommett, and Merce welcome new venue for the creations of Angelin Cunningham. In 1985, he received the first of Preljocaj and his dancers. At BAM, Ballet a long series of awards that attest to the quality Preljocaj has performed Romeo and Juliet of his work: a prize from the ministry of Culture (1998) and Helikopter and Rite of Spring at the International Concourse of Choreography (2002). of Bagnolet in 1985, a winner of the Villa Medicis "hors les murs" program in 1987, the Air (Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin) SACD Prize (1989), Grand Prix International de began in Versailles in the 1980s, when Video Danse in 1992 and 1999, Grand Prix Dunckel and Godin met in high school, and National de la Danse in 1992, Benols de la with Alex Gopher formed a pop-rock group Danse award in 1995, a Bessie Award in which they called Orange. Despite its populari­ 1997, a Victoires de la Musique award in ty, this group remained at the college band 1997, and more. In 1987, Preljocaj went to level. The duo made a name for itself with Japan to study Noh theater. In 1989, he was three CDs between 1995 and 1996. At the appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre National des time, one was an architecture student and the Arts et des Lettres , and at the same time his other was teach ing math. They both chose to company became Centre choregraphique devote all their time to music when audiences national of the Val-de-Marne department. In in England took notice of their work. As of 1996, Ballet Preljocaj settled in Aix-en-Provence 1998, their first album, Moon Safari, with the and became Centre choregraphique national de hits "Sexy Boy" and "Kelly Watch the Stars" la region Provence-AI pes-C6te-d'Azu r, de la ville brought immediate recognition from the public d'Aix-en-Provence et du departement des and the media, especially in England, Japan, Bouches-du-Rh6ne. The company is composed the U.S., and Germany. Their second album, of 24 dancers and Preljocaj has created 30 called 10,000 Hz Legend, was released in choregraphic works to date, six of which are May 2001. This album included the involve­ currently in the company's repertoire. The ment of Beck. Their new album, Talkie Walkie, creation and touring of the repertoire are the composed of ten pop songs, was released last Ballet's priorities, resulting in about 100 January. Between albums, Dunckel and Godin performances a year, half of them international. turn to other artistic horizons and collabora­ Angelin Preljocaj's works are adapted for the tions. In 2000, they composed the soundtrack greatest Ballets worldwide: New York City for the first film by Sofia Coppola, The Virgin Ballet, the Staats Oper in Berlin, Gulbenkian Suicides, which they released under their own Ballet in Lisbon, La Scala of Milan, and the label, Record Makers. In the fall of 2003, they London Royal Ballet. Together with his choreo­ worked with Italian author Alessandro Baricco graphic work, Preljocaj produces videos and to set the short stories from his novel City to short films. As a Centre choregraphique national, music. This collaboration was originally intended the Ballet Preljocaj organizes a festival named for on-stage performance, was finally recorded, Corps aCCEur in May, and also conducts a producing the record Air / Baricco: City variety of actions designed to raise public Reading (Tre Storie Western). This same quest awareness: performances and discussions in for diversity led them to Angelin Preljocaj, schools, public rehearsals, lectures in which a composing the music for Near Life Experience. dancer comments on video excerpts of perform­ Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin are ances, classes, training courses, master class­ passionate about instruments (guitars, pianos, es, and choreographic practice workgroups. old synthesizers), and are distinguished by Today, a building for dance is going up in Aix­ their unique way of integrating electronic en-Provence. It is a purpose-built choreograph­ instruments in traditional compositions. ic center and is scheduled to open in spring Air-discography (selected) working with the choreographer Fran<;ois Verret. 2004 Talkie Walkie (studio album) He discovered a passion for dance, working 2003 City Reading (Tre Storie Western) with great lighting designers such as Remy (studio collaboration with Alessandro Baricco) Nicolas, Jacques Chatelet, and Pierre 2001 10,000 Hz. Legend (studio album) Colomere. These experiences enabled him to 2000 The Virgin Suicides (film soundtrack) work in the highly diverse choreographic worlds 1999 Premier Symptomes of Joseph Nadj, Fran<;ois Raffinot, Karine (compilation of singles) Saporta, Kubila'f Khan Investigation, Catherine 1998 Moon Safari (studio album) Berbessous, Philippe Genty, and Angelin Preljocaj, for whom designed lighting for Gilles Rosier (costumes) was offered an Personne n'epouse les meduses, Portraits in internship with Pierre Balmain as soon as he Corpore, Helikopter, and MC 14/22. finished at the "Chambr\Syndicale de la Couture," a professional school. For two years Dany Leveque (notator), a specialist of choreo­ he had the responsibilities of assistant designer. graphic notation, was a student of Solanges Christian Dior then hired him as designer for Golovine after earning a degree in dance both the pret-a-porter collection and the haute (Associates of Arts) at the Sorbonne in Paris. couture collection. He worked for two years She then went on to be awarded the Benesh with Marc Bohan. Sensitive to the evolution in Institut in London's diploma in choreographic fashion-the new movement of avant-garde notation. In the same year she was able to put creators-he left haute couture in order to work her studies into practice with the notation of with designers focusing on current trends, such Appassionata by the choreographer Herve as Guy Paulin and Jean-Paul Gaultier, where Robbe. As a result of assisting Jean-Christophe he worked for five years as the assistant Maillot in organizing the parade for the arrival principal and studio head. He thus participated of the Olympic Flame Bearer in Paris in in the development of Gaultier's brand, and December 1991, she was presented with Villa threw himself into the Men's and Women's Medicis prize Hors les Murs for her study on collections. He worked with Jean-Paul Gaultier the relationship between video and notation. in Italy where he adapted products to the She has, since 1992, been Angelin Preljocaj's demands of the Italian market.