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October 10, 2005

For Immediate Release     

New York University’s Jack H. Skirball Center, in association with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, to co-present the U.S. Premiere of Lubovitch’s Elemental Brubeck and Lubovitch favorite Men’s Stories November 8 - 12

Skirball Center’s new dance series will also feature new works by Bill T. Jones and Rennie Harris

Lar Lubovitch and his renowned Lar Lubovitch Dance Company return to Greenwich Village—having celebrated their 36th anniversary at Washington Square Church last year—for a four-night stand presented by NYU’s Jack H. Skirball Center, in association with the company. They will perform the U.S. premiere of Lubovitch’s Elemental Brubeck and a reprise of their highly acclaimed Men’s Stories. The anticipated performances will take place at 8:00 P.M. on the evenings of November 8, 10, 11, and 12.

Over 37 years leading his company in dances described by theNew York Times as “lushly romantic, passionate, tender” and “shamelessly beautiful,” Lubovitch has drawn on a number of musical styles, from classical (Bach, Stravinsky, Ravel) to standards (Cole Porter, Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein) to rock (The Doors, Tom Waits and Annie Lennox). He was among the first to use the music of new music pioneers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass.

For Elemental Brubeck, Lubovitch brings his poetic, lyrical choreography to a music defined by similar qualities and rarely mined in his choreography to date: jazz. The work, which the San Francisco Ballet premiered in Paris to acclaim this summer, appropriates three pieces from the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s 1963 album Time Changes: “Iberia,” “Theme from Elementals,” and “Elementals.” The choreography combines aspects of bebop and early 20th century American film with a modern, athletic sensibility. Of the San Francisco Ballet’s performance of the work, London’s The Independent raved, “Jazzed-up ballet in other hands can drag behind the beat, but Lubovitch finds a freedom in the form that is genuinely uplifting.” For the U.S. premiere at the Skirball Center, Elemental Brubeck will be performed by members of Lubovitch’s own company for the first time.

The program for the company’s four nights at the Skirball Center also includes Lubovitch’s sexy, critically lauded Men’s Stories, which features an all-male cast of nine dancers. With an audio collage and original score by composer Scott Marshall, based on Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, the work conveys the individual and shared stories of these men without words, relying solely on movement and music. The choreography unfolds as a series of scenarios—rather than through a single, uninterrupted, overall narrative—that ranges from pensive and melancholy to virtuosic and acrobatic, replete with fistfights, duets, and breathtaking solos. In reviews of the original New York run of the piece in 2000, The Village Voice called Men’s Stories “one of Lubovitch’s finest,” and The New York Times described its “joyous, poignant expression of everything that Mr. Lubovitch seems to have had in mind about the personalities, histories and distinctive movement styles of the nine terrific male dancers for whom the piece was created.”

The company's dancers are: Julian Barnett, Griff Braun,Patrick Corbin, Jay Franke, Junichi Fukuda, Roger C. Jeffrey, Tai Jimenez, Gabby Malone, Rebecca Rigert, Scott Rink, Kevin Scarpin, Sean Stewart,Michael Leon Thomas,and Rasta Thomas.  For dancer bio’s Click Here.

The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company performances initiate a series of important dance engagements coming to the Skirball Center in the 2005-2006 season. On February 21, 23 and 25, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company presents a new edition of their Another Evening series, an ever-evolving 90-minute collage interweaving new movement, excerpts from existing repertoire, original and traditional music, and text into a vibrant multi-media work. Musician-composer-violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain will provide live accompaniment and sound design, alongside a live DJ mix. Rennie Harris Puremovement comes to the Skirball Center April 4, 6 & 7 as part of the Center’s Fest Forward: Hip-Hop, a multi-week, multi-arts festival exploring and celebrating hip-hop culture.

Tickets for all of these performances can be purchased in person at the Skirball Center, 566 LaGuardia Place (Washington Square South); online at skirballcenter.nyu.edu; or by calling Ticket Central at 212.279.4200. NYU Students can purchase tickets to all Skirball presentations for $12 per show. Skirball has also launched their new Insider Program—a flexible, significantly discounted advance ticket purchase plan. Skirball “Insiders” who purchase tickets to two shows in advance will receive a 20% discount. A purchase of three or more shows in advance translates to a 30% discount. Benefits include early ordering privileges, prime seat locations, and invitations to special private events.

About Lar Lubovitch Dance Company

One of this country’s most versatile, popular, and widely seen choreographers, Lar Lubovitch founded the award-winning Lar Lubovitch Dance Company 37 years ago and has choreographed more than 100 dances for the company. Based in New York City, the company has performed in virtually all 50 states of this country as well as in more than 30 foreign countries throughout the world. Lubovitch’s musically sophisticated works have also been  included in the repertories of other select companies throughout the world, including the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Netherlands Dance Theater. One of the most impressive new works created by the company in the last few years was the acclaimed evening-length version of Othello – produced by the Lubovitch company in an unprecedented 3-way collaboration with American Ballet Theatre and San Francisco Ballet. TV viewers were treated to Lubovitch’s powerful Othello in an Emmy-nominated installment of the PBS Great Performances series, and Broadway-goers were introduced to Lubovitch via his Tony-nominated choreography for Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. Recently, Lubovitch starred as himself in and provided the choreography for the acclaimed Robert Altman film The Company.

About NYU’s Jack H. Skirball Center

NYU’s Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, located off of Washington Square South at 566 LaGuardia Place, provides a large-scale, professional performance space for university productions and events and live professional performances from around the world.  The 860-seat theater (which opened in October 2003) hosts the only major university-based professional performing arts presenting program in Manhattan.  www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu

The Center presents theater, dance, music, music theater, and opera, solo performance, comedy, video, film, and public affairs events. Its mission is to serve the NYU community while building young audiences (age 18 – 40) for live performance by reaching out to them with a broad range of world-class, forward-thinking work at low ticket prices.

The Skirball Center is located at 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South.

For more information, please contact Blake Zidell or Carla Sacks at
Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000, blake@sacksco.com or carla@sacksco.com.

June 18, 2005

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