The New York Baroque Dance Co.

Thoughts from Sarah Edgar

Sarah Edgar to dance a new interpretation of Venus

“I’ve been dancing my reconstruction of Anthony L’Abbé’s “Passacaglia of Venüs &Adonis” (1725) for three years, and I’ve developed an intimate relationship to the choreography. After performing it many times in a more “authentic” form with the original music played on period instruments, I decided to find out what would happen to the choreography if I took it out of its original musical context. I asked the new music and jazz composer Florian Rynkowski to work with me to create a new composition to accompany the dance. Florian worked closely with the structure of the original music as well as with the emotional landscape that I created for this dance. This is an experiment and an effort to discover more within choreography and to hopefully encourage the audience to look at baroque dance in a new way.”        Link to tickets: http://www.92y.org/Uptown/Event/Baroque-Ball.aspx

Dancers from Hofstra University to appear on Baroque Ball Potpourri in new choreography by Rachel List conceived in the Baroque style to music by Bach and Handel

Description: You are invited to join The New York Baroque Dance Company in a presentation of works the dancers have created in the Baroque style or reconstructed from period dance notation.  This will be an exclusive look at the inner talent of the company, the personalities shaping the future of Baroque dance and the intriguing process of exploration behind our work.

7:30-8:30 Our evening begins with an optional  Baroque Dance instruction for the beginner. We would like to “reconstruct the 18th century audience” by familiarizing our attendees with social dance and etiquette from the European courts of Louis XIV of France and Queen Anne of England. Whether you participate in dancing or watch from a chair, this event will be informative and entertaining as Catherine Turocy takes you from bows to bourrées. Class instruction will be slanted towards the evening’s dances by the general assembly at 9:30pm.

8:30-9:30  The NYBDC is perhaps the only professional dance company where all its members read and use a dance notation system.  Some dancers are more accomplished than others, but all are trained in the notation system and encouraged to do their own reconstructions.  This tool empowers our performers, helps us mount dances quickly and contributes to the spontaneity and discussion crucial to the creation of art.  We are happy to share this process with you as members of the company perform dances being reconstructed for performance. Company member Rachel List will also bring her student dancers from Hofstra University to give a preview of Rachel’s period choreography to be premiered at the university the following week.

9:30-10:30 The performance  will be followed by optional general dancing (a ballroom duet and Contredanse) with members of the NYBDC joining the audience in the pleasure of the dance.  Specific works will be announced on the website with links to the notation for those members of our audience who read the notation.  The 7:30 class instruction will be slanted toward the evening’s dances.

Please join us at the Baroque Ball and tell your friends about this most unusual event!  We anticipate a large crowd so please purchase your tickets in advance .

Tickets: $20 at the door

$15 when purchased in advance

Link to Buying Tickets online  http://www.92y.org/Uptown/Event/Baroque-Ball.aspx

From Dancer Carly Fox speaking of  her work on the Passacaille

“ I am creating a Passacaille for four,  taking my inspiration and much of the footwork from the notated “Passacaille pour un homme et une femme” by Guillaume Louis Pécour, and sprinkling in some solo work from the “Chaconne de Phaeton pour un homme” (also choreographed byPécour).  The challenge and the joy of working with this material is both adapting the choreography to four dancers  and to different music, a beautiful Passacaille composed by Francois Couperin. The music is twice as long as that of the original music for the notated Passacaille, so there is plenty of room for exploration.  Up to now, we have been working entirely on learning the footwork and experimenting with the spatial patterns that I have been imagining. The dancers are patient with me as we try different approaches to the same figure and find out what is possible with four bodies instead of two. Next we will be taking inspiration from paintings, sketches, and figurines to explore the use of our upper bodies, our arm movements, and possibly some props. There is so much to discover, I only wish we had more time!”

Additional comments will be posted on this blog by the other dancers presenting : Matthew Buffalo, Sarah Edgar, Carly Fox Horton, Olsi Gjeci, Rachel List, Alexis Silver, Ani Udovicki, Gregory Youdan

David Grogan as Pluto with Ingrates: Glenda Norcross, Alexis Silver, Catherine Turocy and Valerie Shelton Tabor

Review: New York Baroque Dance Company | Dallas Bach Society | Caruth Auditorium from http://www.theaterjones.com/

Having a Ball, The New York Baroque Dance Company turns contrast into drama with the Dallas Bach Society.

by Margaret Putnam

published Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Dallas — When the music is sublime and the poetry achingly beautiful, should not the ballet shimmer forth on gilded slippers? You would think so. But when The Dallas Bach Society teamed with The New York Baroque Dance Company to perform Monteverdi’s “Il Ballo delle Ingrate,” the composer had something difference in mind; namely, that contrast makes for better drama.

The show was all Claudio Monteverdi, and what a range of mood and style his Madrigals — Book VIII offered. The music was intense, delicate, touching and agitated, much of it inspired by the poetry of Petrarch, Rinuccini and Torquato Tasso.

The program Friday night at Caruth Auditorium focused on four of the 22 sections of Book VIII, the first three dealing with war, and the last (Il Ballo delle Ingrate) with love.

War gets the first shot. “Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda” reveals a fierce warrior maiden (Clorinda), defending the forces of Islam against the Crusaders. Her antagonist is Tancredi, who has no idea she is a woman, much less that he has long been in love with her. The two square off at a distance, circle, size each other up, and then go at it again and again. Clorinda (Alexis Silver) is tiny, in blue helmet and plume and gold tunic; Tancredi (Matthew Buffalo) towers over her in huge black helmet and plume and black and red tunic. At one point, he kneels in prayer, as though to seek advice, while she stands motionless far away.

The movement is slow and stylized, something like that of Japanese kabuki, where every gesture is enlarged and repeated. Eventually, the sword must come down on one of them, and it is on Clorinda. Tancredi slowly removes his helmet, and cradling the dying Clorinda, removes her helmet to discover to his dismay her real identity. They look into each other’s eyes; she forgives him, and in one last embrace, dies in his arms.

Fatal Blow: Fabiana Gonzalez, Matthew Buffalo and Alexis Silver

Their plight is sung with anguished and sometimes plaintive fervor by Fabiana Gonzalez (Clorinda), Nicolas Garza (Tancredi) and Patrick Gnage (Testo), giving the dance even more poignancy.

Although “Il Ballo delle Ingrate” falls into the category of love in the last section of Monteverdi’s Book VIII, anti-love would be more like it. The work was first performed as part of the wedding celebrations for Margaret of Savoy and Francesco Gonzaga, son of Monteverdi’s patron the Duke Vincenzo of Mantua. If your notion of baroque dance calls for grace embellished with ornate hand gestures and tilting heads, you are in for a surprise. “Il Ballo” is everything but graceful, for it depicts four women who had scorned love and marriage, and pay for it later when Venus and Cupid complain of them to Pluto, King of the Underworld. They are brought back from the Underworld to teach a lesson to the audience.

Catherine Turocy, dancer/choreographer as Ingrate

The four ingrates (Glenda Norcross, Valerie Shelton-Tabor, Ms. Silver and Catherine Turocy), with their bizarre headpieces and masks, clad in tight bodices and frayed black and red long skirts, stumble and lurch out of the darkness into sunlight. Timid and bewildered, they first hold hands for support. Soon, however, they are slapping, pushing and grabbing, only to give in to grief and dismay.

Supplying yet more drama, the singers representing Amore (Rebecca Beasley), Venus (Ms. Gonzalez) and Pluto (David Grogan) move in and around the miserable lot. At the end, Pluto envelops the cowed women with his huge cape as though to escort them back to the underworld. This short and disturbing tale only needed gloomy red flames and perhaps a lightning bolt to deepen its sense of unease.

◊ Margaret Putnam has been writing about dance since 1980, with works published by D Magazine, The Dallas Observer, The Dallas Times Herald, The Dallas Morning News, The New York Times, Playbill, Stagebill, Pointe Magazine and Dance Magazine.

Come to our performances with the Dallas Bach Society on September 14 in Dallas or September 17 in Alexandria, Louisiana.  Go to DBS website: http://dallasbach.org/

Marie-Madeleine Guimard

Dear Friends,

As the hot summer days of July slowly pass, we are looking at next year’s Dance of the Month. Responding to the feedback from students, The Dance of the Month will be a workshop of exploration into different aspects of 18th century dance. Subjects for study include contredanse notation, period gesture for dancers and actors and danceability in Bach French suites aimed towards musicians with questions of tempi and phrasing… to name just a few.

Teachers include Caroline Copeland, Meggi Sweeney Smith, Catherine Turocy, Ani Udovicki and Seth Williams. These teachers are not only dancers in our company but they hold (or will hold) advanced degrees from Sarah Lawrence, Columbia University and Barnard College. In the past we have had guest teachers Beatrice Massin, Thomas Baird and Carlos Fittante. We hope to continue with inviting guests this year.

Information is forthcoming on our website. We have kept the tuition down to only $15 per class and the time slot will remain 3-4:30pm.

I am very excited about the evolution of the Dance of the Month. Classes will continue to be open. It is vital to any form that a mixture of people participate. Professional performing artists and teachers from all fields are welcome as well as the passionate amateur dancer. Writers, visual artists, critics and social dancers from any era are encouraged to attend.

Ages 10 to 100 can take the class. If your movement capabilities are limited, please watch and enrich us by participating in the discussion.

Looking forward to seeing you on my dance card!

Catherine Turocy, Artistic Director

CAROLINE COPELAND TEACHES SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH DANCE OF THE MONTH

La Chaine, a most beautiful contredanse, is the perfect metaphor for our workshops. Be a link in the chain of our cultural history and click this link to the Early Dance Network:

http://www.early-dance.de/en/content/6456-la-chaine

Ballo dell Ingrate with stage direction and choreography by Catherine Turocy. Commissioned by Ars Lyrica. Photo by Amitiva Sarkar

For the First time in the history of Baroque Dance one company has given simultaneous performances on the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and at the Palace of Frederick the Great in Sanssouci. All performances were within hours of each other (depending on your time zone) on June 8/9 with continued performances on the 10th. Congratulations to The New York Baroque Dance Company Dancers (20 dancers) who weathered the outdoor elements in Germany and Virginia and who went to Hell and back in Houston!

See this behind the scenes video  for our performances with Ars Lyrica Houston:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7Iy7KYRoA4s

I would like to thank Caroline Copeland for leading our dancers in Operation Sail 2012 and Sarah Edgar for managing the premier of Pygmalion and His Statue at Sanssouci.  They not only managed the two tours on location, but danced as well.

Our part time administrator, Lorna Omessi, helped to organize the complicated itineraries.  Rehearsals began in April at Ohio State University(Sarah and I are alums) where they donated space and video.  We are also grateful to Contemporary Ballet Dallas for donating rehearsal space at the end of May and June.  Shakespeare Dallas helped us with period costumes when we found ourselves in a panic.  Thank you Brian McDonald for your assistance!  Dancer Meggi Sweeney Smith was with us in spirit… she is recovering from an injury … and her understudy, Natalie Young came with us to Houston. Amanda Salituro (just graduated from Hofstra Universitywhere Rachel List is the Director of Dance) and Marisa Clementi (Sarah Lawrence) are also new to the company and did a beautiful job.

Pygmalion (Justin Coates) and His Statue (Sarah Edgar) at the Potsdam Music Festival in Sanssouci, photo by Stefan Gloede

A big thank you to Linda Tomko who was able to arrange a performing schedule with the Berkeley Festival that allowed Ken Pierce and Olsi Gjecito join us in OpSail.  Ken danced regularly with our company in the 1980’s before starting his own company in Boston.  Olsi joined us last fall and also works closely with Carlos Fittante and Caroline in their period choreography.

In the world of dance our company is perhaps the only professional dance company where all its members read and use a dance notation system.  Some dancers are more accomplished than others, but all are trained in the notation system and encouraged to do their own reconstructions.  This tool empowers our performers, helps us mount dances quickly and contributes to the spontaneity and discussion crucial to the creation of art.  I am grateful to the dancers for learning this system, being stimulated to do their own research and contributing to the artistic wealth of the company.

Thank you to the sponsors at each venue with whom we worked very closely to create an environment where everyone could do their best work.  And a heartfelt thank you to the conductors, instrumentalists and singers who inspired us with their art.

Performing in Houston this week, see article:

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/greater_houston/entertainment/heaven-and-hell-a-baroque-break-in-the-dating-scene/article_fc9f3e90-572b-5491-b056-f48a74b0be60.html

June 2: New York and Dance of the Month

Painter Ambroise Dubois, Tancredi e Clorinda
June 8 and 10: Houston, performing  Monteverdi with Ars Lyrica   Link to Ars Lyrica Website:http://www.arslyricahouston.org/concert_5_12.htm

Catherine Turocy has been commissioned to create stage direction and choreography for Combattimento di Tancredi et Clorinda and the sung ballet,Ballo delle Ingrate  by  Claudio Monteverdi.  Joined by five dancers of the New York Baroque Dance Company in this collaboration with Ars Lyrica conducted by Artistic Director, Matthew Dirst, these works take us from heaven to hell and back again, with musical imagery that still surprises, even after four hundred years!

June 8, 9 and 10: Norfolk with a Salute to 1812

Link to Op/Sail 2012 : http://www.opsail2012virginia.com/events-schedule/norfolk

NYBDC will be performing as part of the festivities celebrating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.  Social and Comic dances of the era reconstructed by Caroline Copeland and Catherine Turocy as well as Ken Pierce, Ani Udovicki, Rachel List and creative contributions from Olsi Gjeci promise to make this an entertainment for the whole family. Come see the Tall Ships, learn about the War of 1812 and experience our heritage in music and dance.

Barbarina
June 9: Sanssouci and Happy Birthday Frederick the Great!

Link to Festival :http://www.musikfestspiele-potsdam.de/mps/12/programm/4.php?lang=EN

Commissioned especially for Frederick the Great’s 300th birthday at Sanssouci in Potsdam, Germany, Catherine Turocy has created a comic pantomime to the music of Carl Heinrich Graun’s  

“Pygmalion and his statue” from Adriano in Siria (Berlin, 1745). Sarah Edgar dances the role of Barbarina Campanini who played the Statue and Justin Coates, dances the role of Pygmalion.  L’ARTE DEL MONDO conducted by Werner Erhardt will be the musicians for this unique concert to be followed by fireworks!

 

June 29 through July 1st: Santa Barbara Historical Dance Weekend

Link to description, class schedule :https://nybaroquedance.org/santa-barbara-historical-dance-weekend/

There is still time to register for this workshop.  The university is holding more dorm rooms for us until May 27th. Please visit the link above to learn more about the multi-era workshop, tribute to Richard Powers and rare ballet repertoire.

 

 

Click here for the latest information on the Santa Barbara Historical Dance Weekend:

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=wsynpkcab&v=001RTSvD7iYYABA2B4-OOfd3EBffjkS7fs4hxkiYlaPYDQlbqEV9UFgARdsyX-fa2OGR3KLc9cSwzfoDjDIGo5SCaMEAzk1zffXJet1-cl0VtBMd75uNSAJGw%3D%3D