CityDance Ensemble, Washington, DC Announces its 2002-2003 Season
Performances in Saint Petersburg, Russia and at Kennedy Center; New Legacy Series and Originals Series works; Plus Rasta Thomas as Artist in Residence!!!
Washington, DC - DC's CityDance Ensemble, hailed by the Washington Post as "polished and exciting, with a uniformly high level of artistry and execution," announces an extraordinary spread of dance, music and collaboration for its 2002-2003 season. Highlights include: a trip to Saint Petersburg, Russia, the first by a DC contemporary company; a return to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; performances throughout the mid-Atlantic area, including Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Richmond, Virginia; bold new initiatives in its youth-at-risk education programs the arrival, as artist in residence, of Washington's own Rasta Thomas, a dancer of international stature and reputation.
In just six short years CityDance Ensemble has become the premiere contemporary repertory company in the DC area. Under the artistic direction of Paul Gordon Emerson, the Ensemble has promoted and showcased exceptional talent among Washington dancers, choreographers, composers and musicians. The 18 member company builds its repertory and programs around two signature efforts -- the Legacy Series of Great Dances, which revives and restages milestone works from the region's past and the Originals Series, which commissions music, performed live, for its new dances.
This season the Legacy Series presents choreography by Washington legends Kris O'Shee and Deborah Riley. Also in the Legacy repertory are Eric Hampton's hilarious 1992 send up of gender bending, "Girl Friends," and Adrain Bolton's 1989 signature, "Givin' Up."
The Originals Series adds pieces by Vladimir Angelov, Mr. Emerson, Alvin Mayes and others. In addition to the Legacy Series, the company will stage dances by Dana Tai Soon Burgess and Paul Emerson to live music by internationally known Estonian composers Arvo Part and Petris Vasks.
The addition of Rasta Thomas to the roster is sure to be a treat for the company's audiences everywhere. Mr. Thomas, who hails from Washington, joins a DC company for the first time. An artist of the highest caliber, he was most recently principle guest dancer with the Kirov Ballet of Saint Petersburg, Russia.
CityDance Ensemble's 2002-2003 season includes dates at the following venues:
• Sunday, September 8th: Special preview performance in Philadelphia, PA.
• Monday, September 9th: Special appearance at the second annual Metro DC Dance Awards ("Chinook")
• Saturday, September 14th:
The Grace Street Theater, Richmond, VA
• Thursday, September 19th: The Terrace Theater at Kennedy Center
• Thursday, Friday and Saturday, December 5, 6 and 7: The Painted Bride, Philadelphia, PA
• Saturday, December 14th: The Mussorsky Theater, Saint Petersburg, Russia
• Saturday and Sunday, January 23rd and 24th: The Kreeger Theater, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington
• Wednesday, January 29th: The Concert Hall at Reston Town Center, VA
• Saturday and Sunday, February 8th and 9th: The Black Rock Performing Arts Center, Germantown, MD
• Thursday-Sunday, March 23-26: With Gesel Mason Performance Projects. A celebration of Black Choreographers at Dance Place, Washington, DC
• Thursday, May 18th: The Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center ...
For further information contact: Paul Gordon Emerson, Artistic Director, CityDance Ensemble
202.238.0172; paul@citydance.net •