The New York Baroque Dance Co.

Everywhere and Forever, Mahler’s Song of the Earth is a documentary film by Jason Starr.  Winner of the 2016 Whitehead International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievement, this film is continuing its Festival tour.

Video Trailer

Catherine Turocy of  The New York Baroque Dance Company was the movement director and production designer for the dramatized sequences portraying poetic episodes of the film referring to the Tang Dynasty.  For more information and to buy the DVD lease visit the Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Everywhere-and-Forever-Mahlers-Song-of-the-Earth-367381030113746/

 April 12, 2016 Associate Director Caroline Copeland at Alice Tully Hall with Juilliard

Caroline as Terpsichore, Potsdam

Joining Juilliard415 will be our Associate Director, Caroline Copeland,  with former NYBDC member Carlos Fittante and current NYBDC members Alexis Silver, and Andrew Trego, in period choreography reconstructed by Caroline Copeland and Carlos Fittante, and students from Juilliard Dance. Tickets are $20 and now only available at the box office.

April 15, 2016  Artistic Director Catherine Turocy at Temple

Catherine Turocy will be lecturing for the theater, dance and opera students at Temple University in Philadelphia and conducting a master class. Here is an example of  one her lectures:

April 15,  Associate Director Sarah Edgar at Haymarket Gala in Chicago

Join our Associate Director, Sarah Edgar at the Haymarket Opera Musical Feast: http://www.haymarketopera.org/musical-feast/

and in May, see Sarah’s stage direction for Cavalli’s La Calisto!

 

Early Handel Mini-Opera

Prince Ruspoli

Please join us for this rare opportunity to hear George Frederick Handel’s work as a young composer of 23 years of age on February 12, 2016 at 8pm, FREE ADMISSION with suggested $10 donation to the church organ fund, Saint Michael’s Second Presbyterian Church, West 96th Street at Central Park West in NYC.

The Stony Brook Opera Workshop joins with the Stony Brook Baroque Players to present a staged production of Handel’s little-known jewel O Come Chiare e Belle with stage direction by Catherine Turocy for three singers and small Baroque orchestra. This hour long serenata depicts Rome’s return to glory. Arthur Haas conducts the Stony Brook Opera cast and Stony Brook Baroque Players.

Repeat Performance: February 14 2016, 3:00 PM Recital Hall | Staller Center for the ArtsTickets: $10/$5
Click Here to Purchase Tickets  .

From the liner notes of Hyperion Records: “O come chiare e belle is an ‘occasional’ piece directly connected with Ruspoli’s involvement in the War of the Spanish Succession. Pope Clement XI had accepted the Bourbon claimant, Philip V, as King of Spain, thereby rejecting the claim of the Habsburg Archduke Charles and drawing upon himself the wrath of Charles’s brother, the Emperor Joseph I of Austria. In June 1707 Imperial troops secured the kingdom of Naples for the Habsburg cause and, as Milan was already under Austrian rule, the Pope was put into a highly vulnerable position. In May 1708 Imperial troops occupied the Papal town of Comacchio on the Adriatic coast, threatening the annexation of nearby Ferrara and other Papal territories. The Pope protested without effect. By August he was left with no choice but to raise his own troops to defend Ferrara and, if possible, regain Comacchio. The ambitious Ruspoli promptly offered assistance by forming a regiment of 1200 men. Ferrara was duly defended (though Comacchio remained occupied until the end of the war) and Ruspoli received his hoped-for reward by gaining the title of Prince of Cerveteri in February 1709.

Handel’s cantata was performed on 9 September 1708 and celebrates the moment when Ruspoli offered to come to the Pope’s aid. There are three characters. The shepherd Olinto (soprano) represents Ruspoli himself (Olinto was his ‘Arcadian’ pseudonym); the river Tiber (alto) represents Rome, and the allegorical character of Glory (soprano) appears to inspire Rome to renew her ancient greatness. In the imagery of the text this renewal is to be accomplished under the guidance of a ‘clement star’ who is, of course, Pope Clement himself. There are probably several topical allusions which are now obscure, but it may be noted that the references to ‘alba’ (‘dawn’) also allude to Clement (whose family name was Albani) and the rivers Ister and Orontes represent the Austrian and Turkish Empires. (‘Ister’ is the classical name for the Danube; the Orontes was the chief river of Syria. Though Turkey was not directly involved in the war at this time she was a perennial enemy of the Papacy.) The mention of the ‘lance of Jupiter united with Mars’, coupled with the statement that Urania and Clio (the muses of astronomy and history) cannot lie, suggests that there was a conjunction of the two planets at this time, but there was none between July 1707 and September 1709.

The music is full of spirited invention. A brisk and brief opening sonata leads directly into Olinto’s first aria; the image of the waters of the Tiber shimmering in the light of the ‘clement star’ is evoked by delicate overlapping figures in the violins. The Tiber’s awakening (‘Chi mi chiama?’) is accompanied by a bass line in dotted rhythm which Handel later put to good use in Alcina, and the vigorous G minor aria that follows (‘Più non spera) was rightly rescued for Il Pastor Fido. Glory’s first utterance is, surprisingly, a slow aria with a highly embellished vocal line, gently rebukingRome for its dejected state. Brilliance returns in ‘Tornami a vagheggiar’, which marks the first appearance of the radiant tune best known from the aria in Alcina beginning with the same words. (The ritornellos were used for the aria ‘E pur bello’ in Teseo.) Olinto’s next aria refers to the alarms of war arousing Rome’s ancient heroes, but to avoid anticipating his climax Handel declines to use the obvious imagery and sets it as a formal minuet. After Glory has ecstatically praised the ‘clement star’ Olinto declares he will change his shepherd’s pipes for the trumpet of war and, with splendid effect, Handel adds a real trumpet to the score for the final aria. A brief coro for the three singers concludes.”

from notes by Anthony Hicks © 1985 for Hyperion Records.

The last joint opera project, Handel’s Teseo, was an innovation in opera stage direction and lauded by the critics:

“The threads of the two worlds, opera and present-day reality, indeed sometimes merged with stunning effect.

… Ms. Turocy showed a special sensitivity in the shift from the French Thésée to the Italian Teseo, not only with the insertion of Lully’s dances, but also with the extra off-stage elements that pointedly broke down the “willful suspension of disbelief.” In Haym’s Italian libretto, elements of the plot are less fully explained, mostly because recitative is much reduced; arias pop up more frequently with characters often not exiting until they have sung another aria. Ms Turocy showed great skill in plugging the gaps, as it were, while effectively entertaining the audience as well (which after all was a primary aim of Baroque opera too.) Her vision lent whimsy and exuberance as well as moments of insight to the opera. Just as the original Thésée , set in Versailles, formed a bridge between the mythical realm of Thésée and the actual court of Louis XIV, so Ms. Turocy’s concept bridged the world of fabricated baroque artifice and the actuality of today, so dedicated to the breaking down of artifice.”Read full article by Richard B. Beams

In April of 2017 Turocy and McGegan will join forces to work on a modern day world premiere of the 1745 version of Le Temple de la Gloire.  Jean Philippe Rameau was the composer and Voltaire the librettist.

in 2017, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco will be the producer/orchestra. Eight dancers will be from The New York Baroque Dance Company. The creative team consists of Nicholas McGegan: conductor, Catherine Turocy: stage director/choreographer, Scott Blake: set designer, Marie Anne Chiment: costume designer, Pierre Dupouey: lighting designer.

Le Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles is supporting our research, editing the score and offering artistic advice. Cal Performing Arts is co-producing and 3 performances will be at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley.

This post will be updated as we progress on this most exciting revival!

Max’s Kansas City with Warhol, Joplin and Buckley

Since the founding of The New York Baroque Dance Company in 1976 where our rehearsals were held in a loft above Max’s Kansas City,  many dancers have been introduced to their rich dance heritage. The list of dancers below is in process. NYBDC member, Matthew Ting, will be building a webpage for our site on this subject over the year. This post is the beginning.

The Fresh Crop, current members of the NYBDC in their first years of choreography/reconstruction projects both for our company and for commissions outside of company activities and those developing as teachers/coaches:  Justin Coates, Carly Fox Horton, Alexis Silver, Meggi Sweeney Smith.

Deeper Roots and Flourishing, members of the NYBDC with more than a decade of independent work in the field of historical dance as choreographers, reconstructors and teachers: Patricia Beaman, Caroline Copeland, Sarah Edgar, Rachel List, Ani Udovicki.

Cross Pollination (former members of the NYBDC with their own companies working in historical dance) Thomas Baird, Deda Cristina Colonna, Carlos Fittante, Alan Jones,  Ken Pierce, Paige Whitley Bauguess

Hybrids (choreographers who studied with Catherine Turocy and created neo-baroque works) Edward Villella, Clark Tippet, Jacques Cesbron, Terry Creech, Marcea Daiter, Karen Eliot, Melanie Bales, Joseph Caruana, Yanira Castro, Julia Eichten

We are delighted to share with you, compliments of Ars Lyrica Houston, our November 20, 2015 performance of Charpentier’s Les Arts Florissants in a semi-staged production.

Catherine Turocy, photo by Catherine Andrako 2015

NEA Project from 1982 now available to view online!

1982 8:42
choreography/performance Catherine Turocy
camera/direction Celia Ipiotis
narration Robert Einenkel
music Folies d’ Espagne by Marin Marais/Les Fetes Venitiennes by Andre Campra
music performance Sandra Miller flute/James Richman harpsichord/Sarah Cunningham viola da gamba

from “The Videodance Project: Volume One”
produced with partial support from the National Endowment for the Arts

Celia Ipiotos and Jeff Bush have been contributing to the NY dance scene with video coverage, creative projects, archive videos, etc., since the 1970’s. Please visit their award winning Eye on Dance

Dance of the Month on November 7, 2016 with Catherine Turocy at Mark Morris Dance Center, 3pm to 5pm

Dancing the Garden Path, a Cosmic Choreography will explore symbolic meaning behind geometry of court dances of the 18th century as well as period garden design. Turocy will use the La Gavotte de Roy as a springboard for embodying cosmological theory and will also look into La St. George, a contredanse which Turocy thinks was in  honor of the Chevalier de St. George. The purpose of the class is to grasp the intangible nature of the past in asking from a period perspective, “What were they thinking!”  All are welcome to attend, no previous baroque dance experience required.

Location and cost: Click here

About the Video (description credit, Barnard IMATS)

From Parquet to Parterre is a video lecture developed to enhance the Barnard College course, “The Golden Age of Versailles: an interdisciplinary course that focuses on the vibrant cultural life in and around the court of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV (1661-1715). The course, taught in French by Laurie Postlewate of the Barnard French Department, features a number of digital components to emphasize the conversation at Versailles between multiple disciplines. “

“Parquet” refers to the patterned ballroom floor where complicated geometric dances were a part of an evening’s entertainment and “Parterre” is the distinct garden space designed with the same basis in geometrical forms.  Both were used in social intercourse in Baroque society. Catherine Turocy, Artistic Director of The New York Baroque Dance Company is the guest writer and narrator. She discusses the philosophical origins of art with its social and moral importance and demonstrates the reflection of these ideals in both dance and garden design. Through demonstrations by professional dancers of her company (Caroline Copeland and Olsi Gjeci) and student dancers from Barnard, Ms. Turocy examines connections between the geometry used in 17th/18th century choreography with configurations of garden design by André Le Nôtre.  She discusses the philosophical origins of art with its social and moral importance, and reveals how both dance and garden design reflect these ideals. The video concludes with a momentous event in our own time, a look at the 2015 installation of the fountains at The Water Theatre Grove in Versailles by sculptor Jean-Michel Othoniel. One begins to understand how these designs are still of primary interest today.

From Parquet to Parterre  is the first in a series of video projects to be developed for “The Golden Age of Versailles” by Laurie Postlewate and Barnard’s IMATS (Instructional Media and Technology Services) with funding from COOL, the Committee for Online and On-Campus Learning, at Barnard College. This video is available for educational and noncommercial use, with attribution. (Catherine Turocy and Barnard College, 2015) Please email cturocy@gmail.com for more information on other videos and lectures of The New York Baroque Dance Company.  For a complete listing of video credits please refer to the final minutes at the end of the video.

October 3, 2015 Dance of the Month with Caroline Copeland at MMDC

October 9, 2015 at King Manor, 6:30pm: An Evening at Home with our Founding Fathers. Location: King Manor Museum, 150-03 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, NY(a short walk from the last stop on the E train – Directions: http://www.kingmanor.org/visit/directions.php)  Caroline Copeland, Associate Director of NYBDC, working with NYBDC dancer Matthew Ting, has devised an entertaining dance/drama for this special concert with musicians Dongsok Shin, fortepiano & Leah Gale Nelson, violin. Reading letters from the period and singing songs of early America, Grant Herreid will be joining them in the intimate setting of the Dining Room at the Rufus King family estate.  For Tickets: $40 at the door. Advance purchase recommended. Seating is limited. more info: Click Here

November 6-9 at Haymarket Opera in Chicago:  Amadigi di Gaula by George Frederick Handel.  Sarah Edgar, Associate Director of the NYBDC, is the stage director and choreographer for this inventive production of one of Handel’s “magic” operas fully staged with new costumes and sets. Do not miss this exciting production with period instruments conducted by Craig Trompeter.  For Tickets and more information: http://haymarketopera.org/events.html

November 07, 2015  Dance of the Month with Catherine Turocy: Dancing the Garden Path,  dance notations which correspond to 18th century parterre designs will be the basis for the lesson.  Held at the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn.

November 11-13 at BAM: You Us We All   Seth Williams, advisor and former dancer/teacher of the NYBDC, is the choreographer for this new opera making its US premiere at BAM Harvey Theater. Part of 2015 Next Wave Festival …Shara Worden is the composer, Andrew Ondrejcak is the librettist, designer and stage director and the music is played by B.O.X. (Baroque Orchestration X). For Tickets and more information: Click!

November 20, 7:30pm with Ars Lyrica Houston, Hommage to the Sun King. Catherine Turocy and members of the NYBDC, Brynt Beitman, Carly Fox Horton, Alexis Silver and Andrew Trego celebrate Louis XIV’s 300th anniversary with music and dance in this special “Hommage to the Sun King.” Turocy provides the semi-staging and choreography for Marc Antoine Charpentier’s Les Arts Florissants in a period instrument performance conducted by Matthew Dirst. Location: Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center in Houston  Plan your visit  For Tickets and more information: Please click!