CONTACT: David R White 508-338-2019 Alison Manning 646-696-1768 Julie Rooney 419-889-8422 FOR IMMEDIATE LISTING and RELEASE July 10, 2018 DOUG ELKINS (FATHER OF “FRAULEIN MARIA”) RETURNS TO THE ISLAND IN “O, ROUND DESIRE” SEEKING TRUTH AND LOVE IN GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ’S “LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA” “Doug Elkins is one of the most musical, witty and inventive choreographers of his generation.” –Roslyn Sulcas, The New York Times Performance will take place: Friday, July 27, 2018 at 7pm Saturday, July 28, 2018 at 7pm Location: The Yard’s Patricia N. Nanon Theater at 1 The Yard, Middle Road, Chilmark, MA 02535 Tickets: $25 adults / $15 seniors, students, and military / $5 children under 12 Member and Behind the Counter discounts apply Guggenheim Creative Arts Fellow and two time Bessie Award winner DOUG ELKINS brings his newest work, “O, round desire” to The Yard. Inspired by Gabriel García Márquez’s novel, “Love in the Time of Cholera,” “O, round desire” suggests the fluidity of an open heart both in friendship and in romance. An intimate and intricate dance, the choreography is complex yet captures the spontaneity of improvisation. Doug Elkins’ long-awaited return to the Vineyard is made possible through The Yard’s Offshore Creation Residency program. ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHER: Doug Elkins is a two-time New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Award- winning choreographer and 2012 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Creative Arts Fellow. He began his dance career as a B-Boy, touring the world with break dance groups New York Dance Express and Magnificent Force, among others. Elkins is a recipient of significant choreographic commissions and awards from the NEA, The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Joyce Theater Foundation, Arnhold Foundation, Dianne & Daniel Vapnek Family Fund, National Performance Network, Jerome Foundation, Choo-San Goh & H. Robert Magee Foundation, and The Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts. He has received a Brandeis University Creative Arts Medal (1994); a Martha Hill Award for Career Achievement (NYC, 2006); and an Elliot Norton Award for Choreography (Boston, 2010). Most recently, Montclair State University’s Office of Arts and Cultural Programming commissioned A Hundred Indecisions, a film conceived and directed by Elkins, and O, round desire, an ensemble piece for five dancers which will premiere this summer at The Yard. Elkins and six company members will return to DANCEworks Santa Barbara in August 2018 for the creation of The Cicada Project (working title). Elkins is a graduate of SUNY/Purchase and received his MFA in Dance from Hollins University/ADF in 2007. “Elkins constantly challenges perceptions with unusual pairings. The resulting collage is a humorous, eclectic combination reflective of popular culture.” –Eve Baker, The Chicago Tribune ABOUT THE COMPANY: doug elkins choreography, etc. was established in 2009 as a way to brand independent dance, theater, and teaching projects for Doug Elkins. The umbrella of performance genre’s has allowed Through the company, Elkins has created award- winning works including Fräulein Maria, a loving deconstruction of The Sound of Music; Mo(or)town/Redux, a movement conversation with Shakespeare’s Othello and José Limon’s seminal The Moor’s Pavane, set to a Motown-inspired score commissioned by DANCEworks Santa Barbara; and Hapless Bizarre, a 2013 National Dance Project selection. The original Doug Elkins Dance Company was founded in 1988 and debuted at Dance Theater Workshop’s 11 O’Clock News series. The company disbanded following 15 years of national and international touring, including multiple critically- acclaimed New York seasons at The Joyce Theater, The New Victory, 92nd Street Y Harkness Center for Dance, and Dance Theater Workshop. SEED. GROW. REAP. REPEAT: THE NATURE OF THE YARD. Mission: The Yard supports diverse, contemporary dance-makers and related artists in their creative processes through paid, creative residency, public performance, long-term education, and artist-driven civic engagement. We serve all ages and cultural populations on Martha´s Vineyard, and work collaboratively with artists, producers, and other cultural organizers within regional, national, and international contexts. ### David R. White Artistic Director & Executive Producer Alison Manning Executive Director & Co-Producer Jesse Keller Jason Director of Island Programs and Education & Co-Producer Chloe Jones and Holly Jones Associate Producers What Makes The Yard Possible: Our many individual members and donors, and: American Express Foundation Anonymous Barr Foundation The Boston Foundation Cronig’s Market Poss Family Foundation Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Farm Neck Foundation Feldman Family Fund Island Source The Jerome Robbins Foundation The Mansion House Hotel Massachusetts Cultural Council Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank Martha’s Vineyard Permanent Endowment Morning Glory Farm National Endowment for the Arts National Performance Network New England Foundation for the Arts Newman Assistance Fund Sica/McMahon Foundation Tower Family Fund, Inc. Vineyard Bottled Waters The Woolner/Nanon Family .