The New York Baroque Dance Co.

Dancing the Jig is the solution, not a tighter corset!

The Jig is energetic and was popular in balls of the 18th century.  It may be the secret behind the phrase, “Fit as a Fiddle” … The fiddle was the instrument most associated with the jig or gigue -French , or giga, Italian- it was also a medieval name for a bowed instrument-geige- which is where the German word for violin is derived.

Meggi Sweeney Smith will teach the jig and Bach’s gigue on Saturday, December 3rd, from 3-4:30pm, accompanied by live music.  Class fee is only $14. The location is the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn at 3 Lafayette Avenue.  http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/contact/directions

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Saturday, November 5: Dance of the Month, the Sarabande 

For the Dance of the Month, November 5th, Meggi Sweeney Smith will teach the sarabande and demonstrate her interpretation of the sarabande from Bach’s unaccompanied cello suite # 3 in C Major.

We are very excited that Christine Gummere will be joining us for the class and playing her cello for the demonstration.

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This Saturday, October 1, from 3-4:30 pm

Dance of the Month with Guest Teacher Carlos Fittante in a Baroque dance and Balinese mask workshop

All Hallow’s Eve/All Saints Day, El Dia de los Muertos, holidays built upon a universal human need to embrace the mystery of the life-death and rebirth cycle, as well as to honor ancestors and departed loved ones. Carlos Fittante, former company member with the New York Baroque Dance Company and artistic director of BALAM Dance Theatre, a contemporary dance company inspired by Balinese theatre, will conduct a movement class combining Baroque dance with Balinese mask work. Class participants will be lead through a fun and imaginative movement exploration in expressing archetypal patterns. No previous background in these skills required.

Where: Mark Morris Dance Center at 3 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn, NY (corner of Flatbush Ave).  http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/contact/directions

Cost: $14 per class

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Saturday September 17 from 3-5 pm

Master Class: “Find Your Baroque Body “

Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn

http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/contact/directions

Beatrice Massin and Catherine Turocy will teach a masterclass “Find Your Baroque Body.”  This class is open to the professional dance community of performers, teachers and students.  Separately, Massin and Turocy have developed their own methods involving improvisation and spatial concepts which gives a 21st century dancer a window looking into the complexities of motion and expression from the Baroque period.  Beatrice will teach for 50 minutes and Catherine will teach during the second half of the class.  This will be followed by a 20 minute discussion.  Dancers from Beatrice’s company, Fetes Galantes, and from the NYBDC will also be in attendance. Tuition is $20.

Sunday September 18 at 7:30pm

BAROQUE DANCES, THEN AND NOW: PART I

http://carnegieroom.org/index.php/directions

Featuring Anthony Newman, New York Baroque Dance Company

Carnegie Room Concerts presents world renowned Baroque musician, Anthony Newman, in three concerts featuring both new and old dances composed in the Baroque style. Each concert will include appearances by dancers from the NY Baroque Dance Company, who will demonstrate various Baroque Dances while sharing the social customs that go with it. Performers: Danielle Farina, viola; Anthony Newman, piano and Featuring NY Baroque Dancers: Alexis Silver and Joy Havens.

Saturday September 24,  two performances at 7:00pm  and 9:30pm

French Opera-Ballet Project

92nd Street Y, Buttenweiser Hall, New York City

http://www.92y.org/Uptown/Event/The-French-Opera-Ballet.aspx

Live music played on period instruments by Concert Royal directed by James Richman on harpsichord with Cynthia Roberts, Baroque violin; Sandra Miller, Baroque flute and Brent Wissick, viola da gamba. Dancers: Carly Fox, Rachel List, Meggi Sweeney Smith, Alexis Silver, Justin Coates, Olsi Gjeci and Gregory Youdan.

Join us for an hour of French opera-ballet in concert followed by an hour of social dance from the 18th century where the audience is invited to join the dancers of the company in learning Le Menuet de la Reine, a contredanse from 1706. This evening promises to be a pleasure not to be missed with music by Lully, Rameau and Clérambault played on period instruments featuring 7 dancers in Baroque costume and soprano Lianne Coble,

The program will be offered twice: 7pm and again at 9:30pm

Coffee and cookies will be served during the social dance hour when you are dancing or just staying to chat and watch the fun!

Sunday September 25 at 7:30pm

Baroque Dances, Then And Now, Part II

http://carnegieroom.org/index.php/directions

Featuring Anthony Newman, New York Baroque Dance Company

Carnegie Room Concerts presents world renowned Baroque musician, Anthony Newman, in three concerts featuring both new and old dances composed in the Baroque style. Each concert will include appearances by dancers from the NY Baroque Dance Company, who will demonstrate various Baroque Dances while sharing the social customs that go with it.  Performers: Neos Quartet, Anthony Newman, piano and Featuring NY Baroque Dancers: Carly Fox and Justin Coates.

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Thanks to David Tayler and his camera for capturing our bow with Nicholas McGegan, conductor, and the cast of Teseo.

Dear Friends,

Returning from our success with Handel’s Teseo at the International Handel Festival in Goettingen, Germany, we are energized to begin the 2011-12 season!  Our website has been revised and is more interactive.  Have fun surfing the new menu and reading about new programs we are offering.  Listed below are our performances and classes for September.  Hope to see you at the 92nd Street Y for the inaugural performance of the French Opera-Ballet Project!

Warmest regards,

Catherine

The French Opera-Ballet Project

• Saturday Evening, September 24, 2011
• Performances at 7pm and 9:30pm
• 92^ndStreet Y  at Lexington Avenue, Buttenwieser Hall, 395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY

Featuring dance excerpts from Les Fêtes de Ramire by Rameau, Thesée by Lully, and a staged cantata, Orphée, by Clérambault.

Come and experience an hour of French opera-ballet in concert  followed by an hour of social dance from the 18th century where the audience is invited to join dancers of the company in learning Le Menuet de la Reine, a contredanse from 1706.  Coffee & cookies will be served during the social dance hour.

Artists include NYBDC dancers: Justin Coates, Carly Fox, Olsi Gjeci, Rachel List, Meggi Sweeney Smith, Alexis Silver and Gregory Youdon;  Concert Royal director James Richman, harpsichord; Associate Director Sandra Miller, Baroque flute; Cynthia Roberts, Baroque violin, and Brent Wissick, viola da gamba, from UNC Chapel Hill, and Guest artist Lianne Coble, soprano.

These performances are made possible in part with funding by NYSCA, NEA and support from the 92nd Street Y.

Tickets are $40 and available online at the 92nd Street Y website www.92y.org. Or by phone at 212-415-5500 from the hours of 9am to 5pm using Visa, MasterCard or American Express. Or in person at the Box Office on Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street.

For further information call The New York Baroque Dance Company at 212-662-8829.

(Please note the office is closed from August 18-20 and 23-26, but the company will still be reachable by email at nybaroquedance@yahoo.com.)

The goal of the French Opera-Ballet Project which is funded by The National Endowment for the Arts is the promotion of early French ballet in the upstate New York region, NYC and the North Texas region.  Partners participating with The New York Baroque Dance Company in this national project include Concert Royal and the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Cornell University and the Dallas Bach Society.   More posts forthcoming on this exciting project!

Dance of the Month Alert!

Please note that because of the Labor Day Weekend our class schedule has changed for September.  Caroline Copeland will be teaching a Baroque Dance Class on the Open House Day at Mark Morris Dance Center on September 10th. On September 17th, Catherine Turocy will teach a class on ” The Dancing Body as an Original Instrument in Period Movement.”   Both classes begin at 3pm.   See our Calendar or Dance of the Month page for more details.

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Carly Fox Dancing at Hillwood

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A leading force in the revival of 18th century ballet, challenging aesthetic conventions and bringing forgotten masterpieces to new audiences in what The Guardian has called “a whirlwind of desperately needed fresh air.”

Thank you to our dancers from over the years appearing in this collage: Thomas Baird, Michael Barriskill, Patricia Beaman, Brynt Beitman, Deda Christina Colonna, Justin Coates, Caroline Copeland, Seth Davis, Letizia Dradi, Sarah Edgar, Karen Eliot, Carly Fox Horton, Carlos Fittante, Jorge Fuentes, Junichi Fukuda, Stephanie Grover, Olsi Gjeci, Joy Havens, Timothy Kasper, Rachel List, Jason Melms, Hugh Murphy, Glenda Norcross, Valerie Shelton Tabor, Alexis Silver, Matthew Ting, Andrew Trego, Meggi Sweeney Smith, Catherine Turocy, Ani Udovicki, Seth Williams, Timothy Wilson, Gregory Youdan

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