The Sarasota Ballet to present two programs during the Joyce Theater’s 2018 Spring & Summer Season in New York
Returning to the Joyce this August, The Sarasota Ballet will perform two programs, one of which will celebrate and commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the passing of Sir Frederick Ashton
Sarasota, FL (July 24, 2018) – The Sarasota Ballet will return in August to the renowned Joyce Theater in New York with two programs from August 14 through August 19. Program 1 will feature Sir Frederick Ashton’s Monotones I & II, Ricardo Graziano’s Symphony of Sorrows and Christopher Wheeldon’s There Where She Loved — August 14 through 17. Program 2 — August 18 & 19 — will open with Christopher Wheeldon’s There Where She Loved, and then to commemorate the 30th Anniversary to the day of the passing of Sir Frederick Ashton, the program will feature Ashton’s Monotones I & II and divertissements and extracts from some of Ashton’s ballets — La Chatte métamorphosée en femme; the pas de trois from Les Patineurs; Méditation from Thaïs; and the final pas de deux from The Two Pigeons, performed by Victoria Hulland and guest artist Marcelo Gomes.
The Sarasota Ballet’s Program 2, dedicated to Ashton, was originally meant to be performed only on the Saturday August 18 matinee and evening performances. However due to public demand to see Gomes’ performance in the final pas de deux from The Two Pigeons, Program 2 has been extended to include the Sunday August 19 matinee performance as well.
“We are so thrilled to be returning to the Joyce Theater this summer,” enthuses Webb. “Being asked back so soon after our 2016 Joyce premiere is a great honor and I’m also very grateful to the Joyce for allowing us to perform an unprecedented two programs during our week long residency. This allows us the opportunity to present a program that represents our commitment to historical works, ballets of today and choreographers of tomorrow, as well as create a special and important tribute to the great Sir Frederick Ashton.”
Program 1
Opening the program is Sir Frederick Ashton’s Monotones I &II, two ballets that, as described by Alastair Macaulay of The New York Times, “show that Ashton was the ultimate poet of line.” Both works are perfectly matched to Erik Satie’s exquisitely haunting score, and are beautiful examples of Ashton’s choreographic genius. Ricardo Graziano’s Symphony of Sorrows is a contemporary work portraying people’s reactions towards death and the loss of a loved one. As Resident Choreographer and a Principal Dancer for the Company, this was one of his first commissioned works, and the ballet demonstrates Graziano’s emotional maturity, which belies his youth and set the foundation for many of the ballets he has gone on to create. Closing the program is Christopher Wheeldon’s ballet There Where She Loved, an intricate and poignant exploration of love. Described by dance critic Sarah Kaufman for The Washington Post as “a searing union of action, vocals and expression,” the ballet is set to songs by Frédéric Chopin and Kurt Weill. Its subtle structure and shifting tone appear in the artful repetition of specific phrases to starkly contrasting music and contexts, as his dancers meet and separate, expressing fleeting moments of joy, ebullient self-confidence, or despairing loss.
Program 2
Opening the program is Christopher Wheeldon’s There Where She Loved. To mark the 30th Anniversary, to the day, of Sir Frederick Ashton’s passing, the program will also feature Ashton’s Monotones I & II, as well as divertissements and extracts from some of Ashton’s ballets in order to showcase the choreographer’s vast choreographic range as well as his innate musicality and genius. The divertissements and extracts performed will be: La Chatte métamorphosée en femme; the pas de trois from Les Patineurs; Méditation from Thaïs; and the final pas de deux from The Two Pigeons, performed by Victoria Hulland and guest artist Marcelo Gomes.
Live Music
Both programs will be performed with live music. Christopher Wheeldon’s There Where She Loved will be accompanied by Pianist Cameron Grant and sopranos Stella Zambalis and Michelle Giglio. Grant will also accompany Sir Frederick Ashton’s Monotones I & II and Ashton’s La Chatte métamorphosée en femme.
Performance Schedule and Ticket Information
Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
Program 1
Tuesday, August 14 – 7:30pm
Wednesday, August 15 – 7:30pm
Thursday, August 16 – 8:00pm
Friday, August 17 – 8:00pm
Program 2
Saturday, August 18 – 2:00pm
Saturday, August 18 – 8:00pm
Sunday, August 19 – 2:00pm
Tickets available from $10 at 212.242.0800 or online at https://joyce.org/performances/sarasota-ballet
About The Sarasota Ballet
Since 1990, the mission of The Sarasota Ballet has been enriching lives, captivating emotions and strengthening the community through the art of dance. Under the leadership of Director Iain Webb, Executive Director Joseph Volpe and Assistant Director Margaret Barbieri, The Sarasota Ballet has received national and international recognition for its diverse repertoire of rarely performed ballets, as well as the integrity and artistry of its performances. The Company’s expanded repertoire includes works by world-renowned choreographers such as Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Sir Matthew Bourne, Dame Ninette de Valois, Michel Fokine, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Rudolf Nureyev, Jerome Robbins, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Antony Tudor and Christopher Wheeldon. During Webb’s tenure, The Sarasota Ballet has been invited to perform twice at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and twice at the Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center, as well as week-long residencies at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and the Joyce Theater in New York. In May 2017 The Sarasota Ballet performed at the inaugural National Choreographic Festival in Salt Lake City and in August of 2018 will return to the Joyce Theater for another week-long residency.
About The Joyce Theater
The Joyce Theater Foundation (“The Joyce,” Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a nonprofit organization, has proudly served the dance community for over three decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and The Joyce renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther’s clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also presented dance at Lincoln Center since 2012, and launched Joyce Unleashed in 2014 to feature emerging and experimental artists. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K–12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce’s annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 150,000.
