Nederlands Dans Theater
To Perform U.S. Premiere of
Marco Goeckes Woke Up Blind
In the 2016 Fall for Dance Festival
at New York City Center
October 7 and 8, 2016
The Performance Previews NDTs 2016 Season
November 16 19 at City Center
New York, NY, August 16, 2016 Nederlands Dans Theater 1, one of the worlds most prolific and creative contemporary dance companies, will perform in Program 5 of the 2016 Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center on Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8 at 8 pm.
Nederlands Dans Theater will preview Woke Up Blind, choreographed by Marco Goecke. The piece will premiere as part of the Companys 2016 season, which will run for four performances, November 16 19 at City Center. The season will also feature the U.S. premieres of Safe as Houses and Stop-Motion, choreographed by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot; and The Statement, choreographed by Crystal Pite.
We are thrilled to return to the Fall for Dance with a preview of our 2016 season, said Artistic Director Paul Lightfoot. Nederlands Dans Theater has a strong connection and history to New York City, and we are thrilled to introduce four U.S. premieres to American audiences.
About the 2016 Performances:
Safe as Houses (2001), choreographed by house choreographers Sol León and Paul Lightfoot to secular music by Johann Sebastian Bach, was inspired by the ancient Chinese book of I Ching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCf8oMwauWY&feature=youtu.be
Stop-Motion (2014), choreographed by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot to music by Max Richter, features seven dancers depicting a process of farewell and transformation, reinforced by large screens that show delayed video projections, which include their daughter Saura. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz_k7BEZY2I&feature=youtu.be
Sol León and Paul Lightfoot started to work as a duo for NDT over 26 years ago. Together they have won many prestigious awards, including the Benois de la Danse and the Herald Archangel. They have been the house choreographers of NDT since 2002 and have created over fifty ballets for the company.
Their many works include Sehnsucht/Schmetterling, Softly, as I Leave You; Spiritwalking; Shoot the Moon; and most recently, Shut Eye.
Woke up Blind (2016), choreographed by NDTs Associate Choreographer Marco Goecke, was inspired by two love songs by American singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley, who died tragically and young. Two female and five male dancers are drawn into an acoustic world that contrasts with Buckleys vocal power and his frenetic guitar sounds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr8yuY6QXiA&feature=youtu.be
Marco Goecke, an Associate Choreographer with NDT since 2013, made his first choreographic work in 2000. Since then he has created over forty works and is one of the world’s most sought-after choreographers. Goecke was resident choreographer at the Stuttgart Ballet and the Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. He has created work for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Hamburg Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, the Norwegian National Ballet, the Leipzig Ballet and Zurich Ballet. Mr. Goecke is the recipient of the prestigious Nijinsky Award (2006) as Emerging Choreographer.
The Statement (2016), choreographed by Crystal Pite, on a new composition by Owen Belton with spoken text by playwright Jonathan Young, takes a contemporary world view of power, conflict and morality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rragD1P34NA
Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite has been an Associate Choreographer with NDT since 2008. The ballet Plot Point, which Pite created for NDT 1 in 2010, was nominated for the prestigious dance award Benois de la Danse. Pite is also an Associate Dance Artist at Canada’s National Arts Centre and at Sadler’s Wells, London. Her ballets are performed by dance companies worldwide. In 2002, Pite founded her own company, Kidd Pivot, based in Vancouver, Canada.
Nederlands Dans Theater is recognized as one of the most prolific and creative contemporary dance companies in the world. It consists of two multinational companies: NDT 1 and NDT 2. The latter prepares sixteen classically trained dancers (between the ages of 17 and 23) for the highest possible level, during a three-year trajectory. NDT 1 consists of 28 dancers (varying in age between 24 and 38 years old), each one excelling in their solo qualities and renowned for their versatility, astonishing technique and virtuosic expression. Under artistic guidance of Artistic Director Paul Lightfoot and Artistic Advisor Sol León and based in The Hague, NDT dancers perform for over 115,000 visitors annually in Europe, USA, Asia and Australia. The multi-national company showcases multiple art forms alongside their stunning choreography, including visual art, music composition and innovative light and set designs.
Since inception in 1959, NDT has built a rich repertoire of over 600 works by master choreographers such as Jiøí Kylián and Hans van Manen, León and Lightfoot, associate choreographers Pite and Goecke, and high-profile guests such as Ohad Naharin, Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Johan Inger, Glen Tetley, Gabriela Carrizo, Franck Chartier, Edward Clug, Hofesh Shechter, Alexander Ekman, and Sharon Eyal &Gai Behar. www.ndt.nl
Fall for Dance tickets are $15 and will go on sale on September 10 at 11 am. Nederlands Dans Theaters 2016 season tickets are on sale now. The season will run for four performances at New York City Center: Wednesday, November 16 at 8 pm, Thursday, November 17 at 8 pm, Friday, November 18 at 8 pm, Saturday, November 19 at 8 pm. Tickets start at $35. Tickets can be purchased online at www.NYCityCenter.org, by calling CityTix® at (212) 581-1212, or at the City Center Box Office at 131 W. 55th St. (between 6th & 7th Aves). For more information, please visit www.NYCityCenter.org.
