Brooklyn Peter Jay Sharp Building CommunicationsDepartment Academy 30 Lafayette Avenue Sandy Sawotka r of Brooklyn NY 11217-1486 Fatima Kafele Music Telephone: 718.636.4129 Lucy Walters Fax: 718.857 .2021 Tamara Mccaw Christina Norris [email protected]

News Release BAM 2006 Next Wave Festival presents the New York premiere of underground, a compelling new work from David Dorfman Dance

Inspired by the activities of the 1960's Weather Underground organization, underground asks provocative questions about the nature of political activism

BAM 2006 Next Wave Festival is sponsored by Altria Group, Inc.

underground David Dorfman Dance Conceived and choreographed by David Dorfman Co-direction by Alex Timbers Music by Jonathan Bepler

Scenic design by Cameron Anderson Lighting design by Jane Cox Costume design by Heather McArdle Sound design by Bart Fasbender Video design by Jacob Pinholster

BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St) Nov 14, 16, 17, 18 at 7:30pm Tickets: $20, 30, 40, 45

BAMdialogue with David Dorfman Nov 16, post-show (free for same-day ticket holders)

" ... a choreographer who can lift the spirit with luscious rollicking movement that somehow communicates the great pleasure that might be felt by a dancer ... "-The New York Times

Brooklyn, NY/Oct 5, 2006--BAM 2006 Next Wave Festival presents choreographer David Dorlman and his latest work, underground. The dance uses late 1960s-70s political activist organization Weather Underground as a starting point. Inspired both by the 2005 documentary Weather Underground (by Sam Green and Bill Siegel) and by the choreographer ' s own memories of the tumultuous American period that formed his emotional and artistic core ("my movement roots," says Dorfman), underground addresses complex questions about activism: When can activism become BAM2006 Next WaveFestival OCT 3--0EC 16 Sponsored by Altria Group, Inc. terrorism (or vice versa)? When is endorsed killing- that is, war-ever justified? Dorfman explores the legacy of the audacious Weather Underground 's principles, and also its foibles and regret s. Acclaimed for technically superb dancing and an exuberant , delightfully charming style, David Dorfman Dance has a reputation for making the personal political, and keeping issue driven contemporary dance entertaining and accessible to a wide audience.

Four performances of underground will take place at the BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St.) on Nov 14, 16, 17, 18 at 7:30pm. Tickets , priced at $20, 30, 40, and 45, can be purchased by calling BAM Ticket Services (718.636.4100) or by visiting www.BAM.org.

The evening-length work features company members Heather McArdle, Jennifer Nugent , and Joseph Poulsonwith new additions Lindsay Ashmun , Patrick Ferreri, Molly Poerstel, Karl Rogers, Francis Stansky, Whitney Tucker - and 25 more. Underground will utilize an original score by NY-based composer Jonathan Bepler (Cremaster series for Matthew Barney, Bessie award-winning composer for John Jasperse Company's California-BAM 2004 Next Wave Festival), and a dynamic sound design by bart fasbender (including his own work and the work of various artists ), and is co-directed by Alex Timbers (A Very Merry Unauthorized Children 's Scientology Pageant , Boo zy). The piece had its U.S . premiere at the American Dance Festival in June, 2006.

About the Artists

David Dorfman , a native of Chicago , started David Dorfman Dance in 1985. The company has performed extensively in North and South America , Great Britain , and Europe. Dorfman is the recipient of 2005 Guggenhiem Foundation fellowship. He has been honored with four fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, three New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships, an American Choreographer's Award, the first Paul Taylor Fellowship from The Yard, and a 1996 New York Dance & Performance Award ("Bessie") for his community-based project Familiar Movements (The Family Project). His company has been awarded seven Bessies and noted for its "delightfully oddball" style and dedication to cross-disciplinary collaborations .

Dorfman's choreography has been produced in at venues including The Joyce Theater, The Kitchen, Dance Theater Workshop, The Duke on 42nd Street, Danspace Project/St. Mark's Church , P.S. 122, and Dancing in the Streets . His company appeared previously at BAM in the 2000 Next Wave Festival (with To Lie Tenderly), and he performed as part of BAM's Artists in Action series in 1995. His work has been commissioned widely in the U.S . and in Europe, most recently by Bedlam Dance Company (London), d9 Dance Collective (Seattle), and the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia for the musical Green Violin, for which he won a 2003 Barrymore Award for best choreography. As a performer, Dorfman has toured internationally with Kei Takei's Moving Earth and Susan Marshall & Co. Dorfman holds a BS degree in business administration from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA degree in dance from Connecticut College, where he joined the faculty as Associate Professor in Dance in the fall of 2004. David Dorfman Dance is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary season.

Co-director Alex Timbersis the Artistic Director of theater company Les Freres Corbusier. He received OBIE and Garland Awards for conceiving and directing the New York and Los Angles productions of A Very Merry Unauthorized Children 's Scientology Pageant. His play, Boozy, was named one of the "Ten Best of 2005" by the New York Daily News and Time Out. Other recent credits include Bloody Bloody at Williamstown Theatre Festival and Heddatron for Les .,. Freres.Currenly, Alex is directingHell House, wluch will be in perlonnanceat St. Ann's Warehouse throughout October.

About the Next Wave Festival

BAM's Next Wave Festival, which enters its 24th season in 2006, has permanently changed the landscape of the performing arts through breakout performances, landmark productions, risky experiments, and once-in-a-lifetime moments. The Festival originated as a fall series entitled ''The Next Wave/New Masters." In November 1981, Philip Glass' new opera, Satyagraha, was presented as one of four productions under the Next Wave moniker . A slightly more ambitious series followed, including a two-evening performance work in February 1983-United States: Parts I-IV-by Laurie Anderson.

From the seeds of these initial years grew an idea for something bolder and riskier. The Next Wave Festival, dedicated to exciting new works and cross-disciplinary collaborations by promising young artists, was launched in October 1983. Pieces that previously had been presented in downtown lofts and small "black box" theaters were staged in the exquisite 2,100-seat BAM Opera House (later renamed the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House), a renovated 1,000-seat playhouse (the Helen Carey Playhouse, now home to BAM Rose Cinemas), and a flexible 300-seat performance ·venue (the BAM Lepercq Space). In 1987, BAM opened another mainstage-the 874-seat Majestic Theater-since renamed the BAM Harvey Theater in honor of Harvey Lichtenstein (who stepped down in 1999 after a 32-year tenure as president and executive producer). Lichtenstein was succeeded by Karen Brooks Hopkins as president and Joseph V. Melillo as executive producer . The Next Wave Festival is curated by Joseph V. Melillo. .

For press information contact Lucy Walters at 718.636.4129 x2 or [email protected].

Credits BAM 2006 Next Wave Festival is sponsored by Altria Group, Inc. Programming in the BAM Harvey Theater is endowed by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Leadership support for underground is provided by The Jerome Robbins Foundation, Inc.

BAM Dance receives major support from The Harkness Foundation for Dance and Mertz Gilmore Foundation, with additional support from Mary L. Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation.

BAM thanks its many donors and sponsors, including: New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; The New York City Council; Brooklyn Delegation of the New York City Council; Brooklyn Delegation of the U.S. House of Representatives; Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; New York State Council on the Arts; National Endowment for the Arts; New York State Assembly Brooklyn Delegation; The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; Estate of Richard B. Fisher; New York State Music Fund; The Starr Foundation; JPMorgan Chase; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ford Foundation; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; Time Warner Inc.; The Kovner Foundation; The Florence Gould Foundation; The Howard Gilman Foundation ; The SHS Foundation; Skirball Foundation ; and The Isak and Rose Weinman Foundation, Inc. New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge is the official hotel for the Next Wave Festival. Yamaha is the official piano for BAM. RIGA is the sponsor for BAM .org.

General Information

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, BAMcafe, and Shakespeare & Co. BAMshop are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places) . BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn's only movie • I

house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafe , operated by Great Performances , is open for dining two hours prior to all Howard Gilii:ianOpera House and, every Friday and Saturdayfrom 5pm-closing.BAMcafe also featuresan eclecticmix of spokenword and live musicon Friday and Saturday nights. A $26 three-course dinner at BAMcafe is available Fri-Sat for BAM Rose Cinemas ticket holders (day of screening only) . (Note: BAMcafe is closed until October 3.)

Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B to Atlantic Avenue; D, M , N, R to Pacific Street ; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette A venue Train: Long Island Railroad to Flatbush A venue Bus: B25, B26, B41 , B45, B52 , B63, B67 all stop within three blocks of BAM Car: Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM

For ticket and BAMbus information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit www.BAM.org

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