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Home , Angelin Preljocaj, Ashley Bouder, Ballet Arizona, Benjamin Millepied, Christine Dakin, Dances at a Gathering

CENTER EDUCATION

OCTOBER 2020

BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Wiseman Art by Ben FALL FOR Your personal guide to the Festival. While we cannot gather at City Center this A NOTE FROM October for our 17th annual Fall for Dance Festival, we remain committed to the tradition of performances live on our stage. And though the STANFORD theater will not be packed with audience members, we are proud to present the Festival directly from TABLE of MAKISHI, our home to yours. While many things may be different, the Festival will be what it has always VICE PRESIDENT been: a celebration of dance and an elevation of CONTENTS OF PROGRAMMING some of today’s greatest artists. With this year’s Festival, it is City Center’s hope to offer some semblance of normalcy within the performing arts landscape. Though digital, the Festival still takes place at the time of year when New Yorkers have come to expect performing arts seasons to begin anew and we typically return to theaters for another year of exciting programming. 2 A Note from Stanford Makishi, VP of Programming This year’s Festival exclusively features artists from our great city, many of whom had their New 3 Meet the Dancers York seasons cancelled due to the pandemic. We have deep and longstanding histories with many of the individuals and companies in this year’s 8 The Essence of Grief: An Exploration of Lamentation Festival, and we are especially proud to honor those relationships this year. 10 An Interview with Jamar Roberts Many of the works in the 2020 Festival form a 12 Ask the Artists response to the issues present in our nation and around the world, while others punctuate the 14 Activity programs with simple moments of joy. Together, these pieces make the Festival a kind of snapshot 15 Write a Review of this moment in time. 16 Reccommended Dance Resources This year’s digital format allows us the unique opportunity to share the Festival with audiences far beyond New York City. Whether Fall for 18 Up Next for City Center Dance is an old favorite or a new discovery, we welcome you to City Center.

—Stanford Makishi, Vice President of Programming

Ballet Hispanico’s Shelby Colona; photo by Rachel Neville Photography CITY CENTER EDUCATION 3 MEET THE DANCERS MEET THE DANCERS (continued) Angelin Preljocaj, Alexei Ratman- Company in 2011 and danced solo roles Dance Festival since 2014. He was re- sky, and Liam Scarlett, among others. in Graham classics such as Diversion of cently profiled in Danchig-Waring has received interna- Angels, Cave of the Heart, Embattled Arts & Leisure section in February tional recognition for performing on Garden, and Appalachian Spring, among 2020. major stages throughout the Americas, others. She has also originated roles Europe, and China. He was a founding for top choreographers Kyle Abraham, member of ’s Lil Buck, Nacho Duato, Liz Gerring, company Morphoses, with which he Bobbi Jene Smith, and Pam Tanowitz. toured from 2005–2008. He is the di- Ms. Diamond-Walker appears as guest rector of the New York Choreographic artist with Annie-B Parson’s Big Dance Institute: an incubator for the develop- Theater and can be seen in myriad TV JOSEPH GORDON was born in was born in Carl- SHELBY COLONA grew up in Hous- ment of new work in the field of classical and film projects. She holds a BFA from Phoenix, Arizona, and began his dance isle, Pennsylvania, and began her ton, Texas where she graduated from and contemporary ballet. The Institute, Fordham University. training at the age of five at The Phoenix training at the age of six at the Central the High School for the Performing and in partnership with New York University Dance Academy. Gordon began study- Pennsylvania Youth Ballet with Marcia Visual Arts with honors in dance. Af- Tisch School of the Arts and The Juil- ing at SAB, the official school of NYCB, Dale Weary. After attending the School ter graduating, she attended The Ailey liard School, is committed to cultivating during the 2006 summer course and was born in of (SAB) for one sum- School’s Certificate Program from 2011 the next generation of diverse choreo- enrolled as a full-time student that fall. South Dakota. He trained at The School mer session and the 1999–2000 school to 2013. In addition to her education, graphic voices of the 21st century. Since In August of 2011, he became an appren- of Ballet Arizona and the year, Bouder joined New York City Bal- Colona has performed works by Rob- 2014, Danchig-Waring has worked with tice with NYCB, and in July of 2012, he Ballet School, before joining American let (NYCB). She was promoted to prin- ert Battle, Billy Bell, Graciela Daniele, NYCB’s Education department and joined the company as a member of the Ballet Theatre (ABT) in 2001. He be- cipal dancer in 2005 and has remained Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Benoit-Swan The Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy corps de ballet. He was promoted to so- came a principal dancer in 2005 and his with the company ever since. Bouder Pouffer, and Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, Center to develop and disseminate a loist in February 2017 and to principal in repertoire includes leading roles in all has danced in ballet galas around the among others and has performed with methodology of movement workshops October 2018. Since joining NYCB, he the major classical . He has per- world and guest starred in companies companies such as Alvin Ailey American for children and young adults with CP. has performed featured roles in ballets formed works by , including the , Rome Dance Theater at City Center, Lunge Danchig-Waring is a director of the DORMESHIA is a two-time Bessie choreographed by George Balanchine, Kurt Jooss, Lar Lubovitch, Mark Mor- Opera Ballet, Bayerisches Staatsbal- Dance Collective, and BHdos prior to Board of the George Balanchine Foun- Award winner (performer and chore- August Bournonville, , Alex- ris, , , Ant- lett, and the . She has joining Ballet Hispánico. This is Colona’s dation. He was a 2017–2018 research ographer), and Princess Grace Statue ei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, and ony Tudor, and more, as well as roles he been awarded the Mae L. Wien Award sixth season with Ballet Hispánico. fellow at the Award and Astaire Award recipient. Her Christopher Wheeldon. Additionally, created in seven of ’s for Outstanding Promise at SAB as a for the Performing Arts, Jerome Rob- Broadway credits include After Midnight, he originated featured roles in Benja- world premieres. He made history in student. As a professional, her awards bins Dance Division and is currently a Black and Blue, and Bring in ‘da Noise, min Millepied’s Neverwhere, Matthew 2011 as the first American to join the include the Janice Levin Honoree from Young Leaders Fellow with the National Bring in ‘da Funk!, including the inter- Neenan’s The Exchange, Alexei Rat- under the title premier NYCB, the Miss Expressivity for 2011 Committee on –China national tour (dance captain, principal, mansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and dancer. Hallberg has been a guest artist and the Miss Virtuosity for 2013 from Relations. lead). Her film credits include TAP with Troy Schumacher’s Common Ground, as with the Mariinsky Ballet, Paris Opera the Dance Open Gala, the 2019 Ben- Gregory Hines, Spike Lee’s Bamboozled well as corps roles in Kim Brandstrup’s Ballet, La Scala, , and ois de la Danse, and the Award for Ar- (assistant choreographer/actress), and Jeux and Justin Peck’s Everywhere We more. His recognitions include the Ben- tistic Excellence from the Borough of The Rise and Fall of Miss Thang, for which Go and Year of the Rabbit. Gordon is ois de la Danse prize, the Princess Grace Manhattan Community College for she received a nomination for Best Lead the recipient of a 2017 Fellowship, The Bell Family Foundation her work in promoting gender equal- Actress. Some of Dormeshia’s choreog- Award for Emerging Artists and was the Emerging Artist Award, and the Chris ity in the ballet world. As the founder raphy credits include ’s 2015–16 Janice Levin Dancer Honoree. Hellman Dance Award and its Statue and artistic director of the arts collab- ADRIAN DANCHIG-WARING is a Rock My World, and The Blues Project While at SAB, he was the recipient of Award. Hallberg is the incoming artistic orative Ashley Bouder Project, Bouder principal dancer with NYCB where he’s (co-choreographer). Dormeshia contin- the Melissa Hayden Dance Scholarship director for , and works to promote gender equality, and collaborated with many of today’s re- ues her artistic journey with the first full- from 2006 through 2011. Gordon has he serves as a board member with City diversity and inclusion in creative lead- nowned choreographers and performed length work And Still You Must : a also performed on stages around the Center and Performa in New York City. ership roles within the dance world. Her an active repertoire of masterworks by celebration of , jazz music, the world including the Théâtre du Châtelet previous choreographic work has been George Balanchine and Jerome Rob- between the two, and their of Paris, Bunkamura Festival Hall of To- presented at the SAB Choreographic bins. He has originated featured roles NATASHA M. DIAMOND- African roots. kyo, Copenhagen Royal Opera House, Workshop, NYCB, Peter Norton Sym- in works by Kim Brandstrup, Eliot Feld, WALKER is from Los Angeles. She Tivoli Gardens Theater, and has been phony Space, Bryant Park Presents, Wayne McGregor, , joined the Dance a guest artist at the Vail International and The Joyce Theater. Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Justin Peck,

4 CITY CENTER EDUCATION CITY CENTER EDUCATION 5 MEET THE DANCERS (continued) MEET THE DANCERS (continued)

Dancer and is attached to star in the Christopher Wheeldon, and more. Her Center in 2016. In 2019, he premiered Wheeldon. Royal was nominated for nu- show’s upcoming Broadway produc- standout roles include his next work, Ode, also at City Center. merous awards including the Clive Barnes tion now called Marie. Peck made her (Anita), George Balanchine’s The Nut- Roberts set his work Gemeos on Ailey II. Award, and he was the winner of the Leon- Broadway debut at age 11 in The Music cracker (Sugarplum Fairy, Dewdrop, A graduate of the New World School of ore Annenberg Fellowship grant, and the Man and was seen on Broadway as Ivy Marzipan), , Opus 19: the Arts and The Ailey School, he has July 2020 cover star of Dance Magazine. Smith in the Tony-nominated On The The Dreamer, , Who danced for Alvin Ailey American Dance Royal has been featured in global cam- Town. She has appeared on television Cares?, The Sleeping Beauty, , Theater, Ailey II, and Complexions Con- paigns for Canali, GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, in Ray Donovan, Dancing with the Stars, Rodeo: Four Dance , Concerto temporary Ballet. Roberts won the 2016 Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Target, and the 2012 and 2014 Kennedy Center DSCH, at a Gathering, and In- Bessie Award for Outstanding Perform- starred in the 2019 Pirelli Calendar along- Honors and Live from Lincoln Center’s terplay. Her Broadway credits include er and has performed as a guest artist side Misty Copeland. He was named the of Columbia, South George Balanchine’s and Rodger and Hammerstein’s with The Royal Ballet in London and 2020–2021 artist-in-residence at the Vail LENAI ALEXIS WILKERSON is Carolina, has been a principal dancer Carousel. On film she has starred in Bal- (Louise) in the 2018 revival at the Im- made multiple television performance Dance Festival in Vail, Colorado. from Washington, DC where she at- with NYCB since 2008. She has been a let Now, a Hulu documentary that fol- perial Theatre. Pollack has also appeared appearances. He has been commissioned tended the Baltimore School for the guest artist with the Paul Taylor Dance lows her as she became the first woman on TV and in films like Steven Spielberg’s by The Juilliard School Dance Division Arts. Wilkerson graduated from the Company, Jodi Melnick Dance, and to curate and star in the Los Angeles West Side Story (Mack–release date for both live and virtual works, the March University of Southern California Wang Ramirez. She has also starred in Music Center’s presentation of Ballet- December 2020), Camp, NY Export: on Washington Film Festival to (USC) as a Glorya Kaufman scholar the US premiere of ’s NOW, Ballet 422, A Time for Dancing, Opus Jazz, The David Letterman Show, a dance tribute to the honorable John with a BFA in Dance and a minor in The Red Shoes at City Center and per- and Donnie Darko. She is a recipient of Live from Lincoln Center’s George Bal- Lewis, and as a Works & Process Virtu- Political Science in 2019. She is one of formed the Dances of Isadora Duncan at the Princess Grace Statue Award, the anchine’s The Nutcracker, Great Perfor- al Commissioned Artist where he cre- the seven 2016–2017 dance scholars both Lincoln Center and City Center’s Dance Magazine Award and was named mances: NYCB in Paris. Pollack has also ated the acclaimed short work on film, to be awarded a scholarship from Nigel Fall for Dance Festival. Mearns was also one of Forbes “30 under 30.” This year, appeared in New York City’s Radio City Cooped. Lythgoe’s Dizzy Feet Foundation. At featured in the Fall for Dance Festival Peck added “author” to her already im- Christmas Spectacular (Clara), the cover USC Kaufman, Wilkerson performed in 2013, 2017, 2018, and 2019. She has pressive list of titles by writing her first of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” is- the works of George Balanchine, Aszure worked with world-renowned choreog- children’s book, Katarina Ballerina. She sue and cover of Ballet (Henry Leutwy- DANDARA VEIGA is originally from Barton, William Forsythe, Martha Gra- raphers including Justin Peck and Alex- choreographed the blockbuster hit film ler), an Opening Ceremony , and Brazil where she began her dance train- ham, Jared Grimes, Jiří Kylián, Yanis ei Ratmansky. In 2019, she made her John Wick 3 and developed a daily ballet PUMA model/ambassador. She holds ing at Projeto Social Primeiros Passos, Marshall, and Dwight Rhoden, among City Center Encores! debut in I Mar- class, #TurnItOutWithTiler, that airs on a BS from Fordham University and an before training as a scholarship student others. Additionally, she has trained ried an Angel. Mearns is the winner of her Instagram, @tilerpeck. Tiler is the MBA from Colorado State University. at Escola de dança Ballerina. She also seasonally with Hubbard the 2018 Bessie Award for Outstanding designer of Designs, a studio Pollack performed Christopher Wheel- studied at Studio Margarita Fernandez , Bolshoi Ballet, Miami City Performer and a nominee for both the to streetwear clothing line. don’s Polyphonia with NYCB at City in , Opus Ballet in Italy, and Ballet, and with legendary ballerina Su- Benois de la Danse and Princess Grace Center’s 2011 Fall for Dance Festival. Annarella Academia de Ballet e Dança zanne Farrell. This is Wilkerson’s second Awards. She has partnerships with Cole in Portugal. Veiga continued her train- season with Ballet Hispánico. Haan, Tiger Balm, and SoDanca. CALVIN ROYAL III began his formal ing as a scholarship student at The Ailey dance training at the Pinellas County Cen- School from 2016–2017. She has par- ter for the Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida. ticipated in dance festivals around the He was a finalist at the Youth America world and received scholarships from Grand Prix Competition and was awarded and . the Ethan Stiefel Scholarship to train at She has performed for the Vibe Com- ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School petition, Assemblée Internationale, in 2006. Royal joined ABT II in 2008 and Arts Festival, and the Ailey the main company in April 2011. He was Spirit Gala. Veiga has had the oppor- BRITTANY POLLACK is a soloist promoted to soloist in September 2017 and tunity to work with artists like Robert with NYCB. She has performed prin- JAMAR ROBERTS is the first resi- to principal dancer in September 2020. Battle, Raul Candal, Jean Emille, Mela- cipal roles in ballets choreographed by dent choreographer of the Alvin Ailey Royal has been featured in the company’s nie Futorian, Charla Gen, Caridad Mar- TILER PECK has been a principal George Balanchine, Mauro Bigonzetti, American Dance Theater. A dancer with classical repertoire such as Swan Lake, Ro- tinez, Ray Mercer, and Claudia Zacca- dancer with NYCB since 2009. She August Bournonville, Justin Peck, An- the company since 2002, Roberts’s first meo & Juliet, and , and new works by ri. This is her fourth season with Ballet most recently starred as Marie in The gelin Preljocaj, Alexei Ratmansky, Je- full-length work for the company, Mem- Kyle Abraham, Wayne McGregor, Alexei Hispánico. Kennedy Center’s production of Little rome Robbins, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, bers Don’t Get Weary, premiered at City Ratmansky, Twyla Tharp, and Christopher

6 CITY CENTER EDUCATION CITY CENTER EDUCATION 7 Janet Eilber, artistic director of the Martha Graham the ballet and how the audience receives it. It’s not point- Dance Company, says of the work: “In 1930, [Graham] ing to one particular thing, which gives the audience the struggled to isolate one basic universal thing and to rep- opportunity to get lost in what’s happening. I think in its resent it in movement. She succeeded with Lamentation abstraction it remains relevant. [which] is stripped down to the essence of human feeling, THE ESSENCE so much so that we do not even see the dancer’s arms As the oldest dance company in the US, Martha Gra- and legs. Martha has invented and chosen a collection of ham Dance Company has almost 100 years of archival shapes and movements that are reliant on self-contain- material on its premises. It’s such a rich resource and as OF GRIEF: ment and isolation, and that speak to self-containment dancers in the company, it’s our responsibility to go into and isolation.” the archives, watch past performances, and be sensitive to how the pieces have changed. I’ve watched Lamenta- In this year’s Fall for Dance Festival, Lamentation will be tion performed by Christine Dakin, Janet Eilber, Martha An Exploration performed by Martha Graham Dance Company member Graham, Peggy Lyman—so many wonderful, powerful Natasha M. Diamond-Walker. Diamond-Walker shared women have performed the work. Lamentation is a living some thoughts about what it means to perform the piece story. It has been told many times before via different of Lamentation in this moment and why it continues to resonate with au- artists that have performed it, and the fact that I fit into diences 90 years after its premiere: that lineage of people is incredible. Furthermore, I am the first woman of African American descent to perform this “Lamentation remains so relevant, so poignant. I remem- solo here in America as a member of the Martha Graham ber reading something very simple about Martha Gra- Dance Company. This opportunity could not have come ham in Lamentation where she said that when she was at a better moment in time. I’m so grateful to be able to performing the piece, she wasn’t thinking of herself as carry on the legacy of performing Lamentation—such a being a sorrowful person performing a movement. She classic and powerful piece. really wanted to embody grief itself as a feeling, a con- cept, an energy. That is so powerful, especially right now, The recurring theme of all this is singularity, but also in- when we’re in a time of such global sorrow, heaviness, terconnectedness of individuals. The struggle that is go- pain, and confusion. I really think this ballet embodies ing on in different parts of the country and the world is all those things. My goal in performing the piece for Fall essentially the same. We’re all connected through it. And for Dance, and always, is to remove myself as much as that’s so powerful. Even if it’s just to acknowledge that possible and take on the collective feeling of sorrow. It this is a sad and hard time, the collective embracing of transcends my own personal experiences with sadness that can be just as powerful as something associated with and becomes a global, interconnected feeling and energy joy, happiness, and success. In the end, we all need each to me. other. Even just thinking about the way it will be per- formed at City Center with no one in the audience. It’s It’s a minimalistic ballet to its core. You have fabric, a multi-layered—what the piece means and what this piece bench, the , and a singular person. It’s so power- means for this moment in time. It seems so perfect, so ful because you’re able to tap into yourself as this entity, poignant. At this year’s Fall for Dance, I feel like I’m rep- this one thing. It’s an incredible piece and every time I resenting the whole company, but also humanity at the rehearse or perform it, I feel different depths and lay- same time. And it’ll probably never happen again. It’s a ers. Maybe I’ll move a second later and it’ll be a different testament to the resiliency of the dance community as Lamentation premiered on January 8, 1930 in New York to stretch inside your own skin, to witness and test the part of the music and my body will be in a different space well, and I’m so proud to be a part of it.” City, at Maxine Elliott’s Theater. Set to the music of perimeters and boundaries of grief, which is honorable than it was the last time. In my rehearsals, I have been Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály, the piece features a and universal.” Bound by the fabric, the dancer’s contor- finding shapes with the fabric that are very abstract. The seated dancer enveloped in a tube of purple jersey. Gra- tions create a kind of living sculpture that speaks to the shapes ring true to being strange or confused, abstracted ham said of the costume, “I wear a long tube of material “essence of grief.” so one can place their own interpretation on what each to indicate the tragedy that obsesses the body, the ability movement is. There’s no coded right or wrong, in both

Natasha M. Diamond Walker; photo by Christopher Duggan Photography 8 CITY CENTER EDUCATION CITY CENTER EDUCATION 9 SHARON COUNTS: How did you come to be a dancer and perform on, I feel that the expectation for my work to have the choreographer? effect that it had pre-pandemic is the same. Though this feeling AN may not be true, as I can’t really know what anyone is expecting JAMAR ROBERTS: I started dancing when I was 10 years old. of dance at this time, for me it creates a type of anxiety around As a young kid, I was quiet and shy, with a huge imagination. A dance and dance making. An anxiety that reminds me of the natural mover with a love for music. In short, I guess you can reality TV show . “Who can create the most INTERVIEW say that I became both a dancer and a choreographer simply by beautiful garment using a shoestring and a cardboard box?” following my bliss! I was fortunate enough to have had wonderful guidance from teachers and mentors along the way, that not only taught me dance technique, but they also taught me that dance SC: What keeps you inspired as an artist? WITH was a form of communication and self-expression. Eventually, I was able to turn the ideas of my imagination and the feelings that JR:I am inspired by the work of other non-dance artists, both past I felt about those ideas into dance for myself and others. and present. Mainly writers, musicians, and visual artists.

JAMAR SC: Once you have been commissioned to create a piece, where SC: What advice do you have for aspiring dancers and do you begin? choreographers?

JR: Typically, once commissioned to make a piece, I usually begin JR:The best advice I can give to aspiring dancers and ROBERTS with thinking of the person or company that asked me to make choreographers is to do it for the love. It’s your love for the art the work. Then I begin to ask myself lots of questions. One of form that will keep you in the game when everything else fails and the earliest questions being, “How can I be of service to them everyone else tells you that you’re not good enough or doesn’t (“them” being the company that asked me to make the piece), like what you’re making. I would also say to them, stay curious, while being of service to myself and my community as well?” and never stop working on your craft. There is always more to From this point, the process becomes more rigorous and involves learn. more investigation, writing, research, and collecting information on the topic that I have finally chosen to make a piece about. All other theatrical elements come much later.

Jamar Roberts, the first resident SC: What was your inspiration for this particular commission? choreographer of the Alvin Ailey JR: My inspiration for this particular work comes from observing American Dance Theater, is no the moment that we’re in right now in our country, as a Black man. And thinking about how in this moment and every moment stranger to City Center, having of Black life there’s always a type of duality at play, in terms of how Black people have to move through the world depending on performed on the stage countless the politics of the moment, time, or space. Having to be hard yet times. He is the choreographer of one vulnerable, angry yet loving, a warrior and a God or Goddess. of four world premieres in the 2020 SC: What has your relationship to dance been like during Fall for Dance Festival. Sharon Counts, such a tumultuous year?

Director of Education and Community JR: My relationship to dance this year has been quite frustrating. Though I have been fortunate enough to be supported and invited Engagement, spoke with Roberts about to make work during this time, my entire process and the ways in which I have made work (specifically my more “successful” work) returning to City Center and the stage has been completely disrupted. And this is scary because even after many months in quarantine. though we are in this moment where there is barely a stage to Jamar Roberts; photo by Christopher Duggan Photography

Jamar Roberts; photo by Nina Robinson 10 CITY CENTER EDUCATION CITY CENTER EDUCATION 11 This year’s festival feels both precious and WHY DO YOU THINK DANCE precarious. Working with Lar, dancing with my IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IN partner, Adrian, and just being back in the stu- THIS YEAR’S dio is so incredibly healing. It’s like I have finally THIS MOMENT? found land after spending months lost at sea. This pandemic has forced us all to reconsider Dance in this moment in New York and the FALL FOR DANCE FESTIVAL our most basic human instincts, all of which are world is so important because it keeps dreams embedded within dance. By dancing we give alive, it keeps the promise of a better future hope that one day we can still touch, feel joy, alive. It brings hope and beauty to what has and attain grace and beauty. been such a dark time. It allows people to take IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER. a breath and forget for a moment the darkness —joseph gordon, we’ve all endured. It has always been the safe This Fall for Dance Festival is bittersweet, as I’ve space for me. It’s always been what’s healed my been a part of so many in the past and will be heart and my soul so I hope it can do the same my last as a dancer. As well, this is my one and for others right now. only opportunity to dance with an artist that —sara mearns, new york city ballet For many of the WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO I’ve wanted to dance with my entire career, Sara BE A PART OF THIS YEAR’S FALL Mearns. Sara and I love and respect each other’s Right now, dance couldn’t be more important. Dance is unifying, dance is transformative, and dancers featured in FOR DANCE FESTIVAL? work and are dear friends, and to have Chris create on us makes the triangle of collabora- dance is necessary. Even though we are apart the Festival, it will right now, we can join in our love of movement Fall for Dance always feels like a true celebration of tion complete. I’ve danced a couple of Chris’s to music together. We may only be able to dance in New York. I love sharing the stage with so works in the past, but this creation comes at be their first time watch it through a screen right now, but it still many talented and diverse artists, and although we a moment in my career where it will be one of feels good to connect to our favorite dancers. performing on stage cannot be in the wings cheering each other on like the last times I am created on as a dancer. I’m We need to keep our love alive and this is the we usually are, I am honored to be dancing alongside so grateful for his creative mind, Sara’s aura as a best way for me. in many months. We them digitally this year. dancer, and City Center for giving us the plat- —ashley bouder, new york city ballet reached out to this —tiler peck, new york city ballet form. —david hallberg, One of the reasons I love theater is because it’s Returning to the stage for this year’s Fall for Dance year’s performers to an escape. When I’m performing as a dancer Festival is an opportunity to contribute meaningful- The fact that the Fall for Dance is happening, or actor, my mind is only focused on that mo- share their thoughts ly—for the first time in months—to our city’s dance and I get to be a part of it makes me feel whole. ment in time on stage. Nothing else exists in culture. To be back at City Center, the original home It makes me feel like I have a purpose. It makes on returning to the the world. When I’m watching a performance as of New York City Ballet and one of my most beloved me hopeful that live dance and live theater are an audience member, my mind is only focused dance theaters, is to feel connected to all those that around the corner. Just the thought of stepping stage and why dance on interpreting and connecting with what I’m came before and to, hopefully, open this space up for out onto a stage with my co-workers and recon- seeing. Nothing else exists in the world. I think is especially important all those yet to grace this stage. necting after six months fills me with so much people need theater right now as a way to es- —adrian danchig-waring, new york city ballet peace. Dance is what I know best. Performing in this moment. is what I do best. Without it, I feel a bit lost. cape, for a few hours, from the struggles and I’m so grateful that with Ballet Hispánico, Fall pressures our nation is currently facing. for Dance will be able to give me that guidance —brittany pollack, new york city ballet back from where I left off. —shelby colona, ballet hispánico

12 CITY CENTER EDUCATION CITY CENTER EDUCATION 13 ACTIVITY WRITE A REVIEW The 2020 Fall for Dance Festival will include four world premiere City Center Commissions. A commission is an original piece created specifically for an organization, in this case, City Center. The pieces that City Center commissioned will be City Center Education encourages you to continue the conversation and seen by an audience for the very first time at this year’s Festival. Read Jamar Robert’s interview onpage 10 to learn more write your own review. Use the questions below to help discuss or write about his process as an artist. Roberts’ speaks of “observing the moment” as part of the inspiration for his commission. In about a performance in the festival! this activity, participants will create their own original dance pieces, inspired by this moment in their lives. OBJECTIVES • What was your overall reaction to the Festival? • How would you describe the music? Set? Lighting? • Describe the moment that stuck out most in your Costumes? Props? • Through original composition, students will develop their artistry and experiment with their personal voice in dance. mind. Why? • Describe the pace and tempo of the performance. (e.g., slow, fast, varied) for teaching and learning • What message do you think the dance was trying BLUEPRINT BENCHMARKS in dance, grades prek-12 to communicate? • If you were the choreographer, what creative changes • Students will vary movement phrases by changing rhythm, tempo, dynamics and use of space. • Did the dance remind you of ? If so, what? or additions would you make to the show? • Students will clearly express the intent or theme of the dance. • How did you feel watching the performance? What emotions did you observe the performers experiencing? REFLECT: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE LIFE IN THIS MOMENT? • What spatial characteristics or shapes of the movement Create your own commission! Answer the questions below to determine what your City Center commission did you observe? (e.g., angular, curved, staccato, legato, light, heavy, symmetrical, asymmetrical, low level, high would be for this year’s festival. level, etc.)

Your answer can focus on your personal life and/or current events and you can choose any format for your description (a list, picture, playlist, poem, etc). Review your response a few times.

• As you look at your response, what emotions are revealed? Are any of them surprising to you? Can you imagine where some of those emotions live in your body? • Are there any images that come to mind? • Is there a specific song or style of music that captures the tone of your description? • Drawing inspiration from these reflections, how might you explore them physically? • Consider different styles of dance- are there any that seem to best match the mood of your response?

Choose a song that matches the tone, listen to it a few times. ACTIVATE After a few listens, move around the space and begin to improvise a bit. • As you respond to the music, experiment with speed (fast vs. • Is there a natural beginning, middle and end that arises? slow), levels (high vs. low) and quality of movement (light vs. heavy or • As you explore, it may be helpful to record yourself so you can loose vs. angular). experience the as both a dancer and • Allow your location to influence you as well, feel free to make audience member. use of what your space has to offer. Even if your space is small or crowded, how does that affect your movement?

SHARE Premiere your City Center commission! If you’d like to share your piece with us, film a 60-second or less video and share it on either Twitter or Instagram by using #FFDStudentCommission. *By sharing your video to a public account using the hashtag, you will allow City Center to use the video.*

14 CITY CENTER EDUCATION CITY CENTER EDUCATION 15 RECOMMENDED DANCE BOOKS ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

DANCE WEBSITES DANCE COMPANIES (A Selection) • New York City Center | NYCityCenter.org • Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater | alvinailey.org • Arts Education Partnership | aep-arts.org • Martha Graham Dance Company | marthagraham.org • DanceArt.com | danceart.com • Paul Taylor Dance Company | ptamd.org • Dance/NYC | dancenyc.org • Festival | flamencofestival.org/en/ • Dance/USA | danceusa.org • World Music Institute | worldmusicinstitute.org • Dance Magazine | dancemagazine.com • New York City Ballet | nycballet.com/ Revelations: The Ballet and Modern It’s Your Move: Creative Teaching the Three R’s Alvin Ailey by Andrea Autobiography of Alvin Dance by Susan Au Movement Activities Through Movement Davis Pinkney and Brian • Dance Teacher Magazine | dance-teacher.com • Lar Lubovitch Dance Company | lubovitch.org/ Ailey by Alvin Ailey for the Language Arts Experiences by Anne Pinkney Curriculum by Gloria Blatt Green Gilbert • Ballet Hispánico | ballethispanico.org/ and Jean Cunningham • American Ballet Theatre | abt.org/

DANCE VIDEOS DANCE SCHOOLS • Dance Horizons | dancehorizons.com • The Ailey School | alvinailey.org • Facets | facets.org • | ballethispanico.org • PBS | .org/wnet/gperf • Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana | flamenco-vivo.org • Mark Morris Dance Center | markmorrisdancegroup.org • Peridance | peridance.com No Fixed Points: Private Domain The Passionate Teacher: Designing Group Work Looking Together at Dance in the Twentieth by Paul Taylor A Practical Guide Second Edition Student Work: by Tina DANCE COLLECTION • School of American Ballet | sab.org Century by Nancy Reynolds by Robert L. Fried by Elizabeth G. Cohen Blythe, David Allen, and and Malcolm McCormick Barbara Schieffelin Powell • New York Public Library for the • Steps | stepsnyc.com Performing Arts | nypl.org/research • The Taylor School | ptamd.org/#school • Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture | nypl.org/locations/schomburg

GENERAL ARTS • National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov • New York Foundation for the Arts | nyfa.org • VSA arts (formerly Very Special Arts) | Understanding by No More Secondhand Learning to See: Alvin Ailey: An Design, Expanded Art: Awakening the Assessment through American Visionary kennedy-center.org/education/vsa/ Second Edition by Grant Artist Within Observation by Muriel Topaz Wiggins and Jay McTighe by Peter London by Mary Jane Drummond

16 CITY CENTER EDUCATION CITY CENTER EDUCATION 17 UP NEXT for CITY CENTER NEW YORK CITY CENTER EDUCATION

ENJOY ALL-NEW DIGITAL CONTENT WITH DANCE AND MUSICAL THEATER PROGRAMS YOU’LL LOVE—FOR FREE!

VISION STATEMENT ENCORES! INSIDE The mission of New York City Center Education is to ignite an appreciation of the performing arts, cultivate the creative mind, THE REVIVAL and create a culture of inquiry and exploration. Committed to STARTING NOV 18 AT 2PM drawing inspiration from works on the mainstage, New York City

Go behind the scenes with this new digital five-part mini documentary ENCORES! Center Education strives to provide innovative, accessible arts series that takes you inside the next chapter of the beloved Tony-honored INSIDE THE REVIVAL education to schools and communities across New York City. Encores! where the unique creative process of musical theater productions in development is led by Encores! Artistic Director Lear deBessonet and newly announced Producing Creative Director Clint Ramos. Enjoy live performances and hear one-on-one conversations with directors and artists like , Kenny Leon, and Ashley Park who are invested in bringing these productions to you as soon as it is safe to do so. Learn More.

ABOUT NEW YORK CITY CENTER EDUCATION

Each year City Center reaches over 11,000 students from NYC public and private schools, AYODELE CASEL’S kindergarten to grade 12, through dance and musical theater performances and in-school workshops. In-depth residencies engage young people in building technical and expressive skills, DIARY OF A TAP DANCER personal voice, and collaborative spirit. Innovative workshops are crafted for families, seniors, and other special groups that express an interest in collaborating with City Center.

V.6: US Through the Introduction to Performing Arts program, students have the opportunity to view live performing arts at City Center. At the Workshop level, students receive two in-school ON VIEW NOW workshops in addition to attending a live performance. Residencies provide in-depth multi- week study around one of the productions presented during the season. During the 2019-2020 Internationally acclaimed tap artist Ayodele Casel and frequent collaborator Season, City Center Education offers students the opportunity to study dance and musical Torya Beard conceived and curated this City Center-commissioned video theater productions from City Center’s mainstage. series to bring you a mesmerizing mix of rhythm and movement and share the stories that shape the artistry of a multigenerational and multicultural group of tap trailblazers from around the world. Watch all seven episodes on demand on our website or YouTube channel now, and click here to learn more.

18 CITY CENTER EDUCATION