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Celebrity Series of Boston

Gary Dunning, President and Executive Director

Presents

Spellbound Dance Company

April 5 - 6

at Citi Shubert Theatre

(Boston)  Celebrity Series of Boston will present Spellbound Dance Company on April 5 – 6 at the Citi Shubert Theatre, 270 Tremont Street, Boston. The performances will take place on Friday, April 5 at 7:30pm and Saturday, April 6 at 8pm. Celebrity Series of Boston Dance Series is sponsored by The Little Family Foundation and The John S. and Cynthia Reed Foundation. Media partner is WGBH.

Tickets for Spellbound Dance Company start at $60, and are available online at www.telecharge.com or by calling 1-866-348-9738.

This engagement marks Spellbound Dance Company’s Boston debut.

Founded in Rome in 1994, Spellbound Dance Company is Italy’s premiere contemporary dance company. The company’s unique vocabulary of expression is rooted in poetic, emotive, and dynamic bodies creating shifting geometries through space with equal amounts of athleticism and elegance. Italy's Spellbound Dance Company has performed at dance festivals in Italy, Spain, Croatia, South Korea, Serbia, Germany, Austria, Belarus, France, and Thailand. The company has been supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture since 2000.

Mauro Astolfi is the Artistic Director and founder of Spellbound Dance Company. Before founding the company in 1994, Astolfi trained and danced for many years in the United States, Italy, and London. In 2006, Astolfi was offered a major commission by the International Festival of Maiori (Italy) to create Carmina Burana. To date, the work has toured over one hundred times, including performances at performing arts centers in Italy including Teatro Goldoni (Venice), Teatro Fraschini (Pavia), Teatro Verdi (Pisa), Teatro Marucelli (Orvieto), Teatro Tito Marrone (Trapani), Teatro Comunale (Carpi-Modena) and Teatro delle Palme (Naples) among others. The work has also been performed in Austria, Spain and Thailand. Additional commissions include the creation of “Don Giovanni” (2008) for the Venice Biennale, and “For Her” for the Picasso Foundation of Malaga. Most recently, during the 11-12 season, Astolfi was invited to create a new work for River North Dance Chicago.

Outside of his work and choreography for Spellbound Dance Company, Astolfi has choreographed original works for companies such as the Italian aerial dance Kitonb Theatre Company, Amsterdam Theaterschool, Szegedi Kotrars Ballet (Hungary), Leipziger Ballet (Germany) and Balleto di Roma (Italy). In the 11-12 season, he was invited to choreograph a new work for River North Chicago. When not creating new works, Astolfi also teaches extensively in Italy as well as internationally at dance centers in Tokyo, Paris, New York, Zürich, Stockholm, Amsterdam, and Los Angeles. Astolfi leads regular professional classes in the contemporary department at the Dance Arts Faculty in Rome where he also serves as its artistic director.

Program:

Lost for Words (2011)

Direction and Choreography by Mauro Astolfi

She Is On The Ground (2012)

Direction and Choreography by Mauro Astolfi

Downshifting (2009)

Direction and Choreography by Mauro Astolfi

About Celebrity Series of Boston

The Celebrity Series has been bringing the very best performers–from orchestras and chamber ensembles, vocal and piano music, to dance companies, jazz, and more–to Boston’s major concert halls for 74 years. The Celebrity Series of Boston believes in the power of excellence and innovation in the performing arts to enrich life experiences, transform lives and build better communities. Through its education initiatives, the Celebrity Series seeks to build a community of Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, shared experience–on stages, in schools, at home– everywhere. For more information on Celebrity Series of Boston, call (617) 482-2595 or visit us online at www.celebrityseries.org.

The Celebrity Series of Boston, Inc. receives generous support from: Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation; The Little Family Foundation; Tufts Health Plan; Vertex Pharmaceuticals; Foley & Lardner LLP; The DeMoulas Foundation; The John S. and Cynthia Reed Foundation; The Matisse Foundation; The Peabody Foundation; Charlesbank Capital Partners; PTC; The D.L. Saunders Companies & Boston Park Plaza Hotel, LLC; First Republic Bank; Massachusetts Cultural Council; New England Foundation for the Arts.

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