7 Days in dance

Volume 5, Number 14 | April 6 – 12, 2006

7 Days in Dance

Now Showing:

PRIL FIRST WEEKENDS NEW PERFORMANCE & DISCUSSION SERIES Jessica Gaynor Dance presents “Rhythm Studies,” a collection of short dance pieces set to four of Conlon Nancarrow’s “Studies for Player Piano” that examine the gestural relationship between musical and dance physicality. What images are conjured by hearing music, and what type of rhythms are produced internally by viewing dance? “Just put it in the bag” by K Johansen is a duet inspired by reading about traveling sideshows in the early 20th century and thinking about how society deals with abnormalities that are immediately, physically apparent—versus our reactions to deviations hidden in the deep recesses of the psyche. Christopher K. Morgan’s new company Muse will be premiering his latest work “3rd Dancer from the Back.” With literally tens of thousands of little girls studying classical ballet and dreaming of dancing swans in Swan Lake or the role of Giselle, and only a few dozen actually attaining the opportunity to perform such a role, where does that leave these young dancers? The piece looks at high expectations and wonders what happens when they aren’t met. Discussion with the artists follow each performance. BAX, 421 Fifth Ave. near Eighth St. in Park Slope. Apr. 7-8 at 8 p.m. $15, $10 members, $8 low-income at 718-832-0018 or bax.org.

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pcoming:

HILDREN OF UGANDA The award-winning “Children of Uganda” will make their Joyce Theater debut with a one-week season, as part of the troupe’s 10th Anniversary North American tour. With pulsing rhythms, quicksilver movements, powerful drums, and songs of joy and hope, 22 children from Uganda orphaned by HIV/AIDS and conflict, ages eight to eighteen, will celebrate Uganda and East Africa’s vibrant culture and the transformative power of art with this magical and one-of-a-kind performance. The “Children of Uganda” tour the world’s stages as ambassadors for Uganda’s 2.4 million AIDS and war related orphans, promoting global awareness and raising funds for fellow orphans in their homeland. The group is led by Peter Kasule who performed with the group on its first tour of America in 1996. Through its performances and hands-on activities the troupe’s 2006 tour is projected to raise $1.5 million to support orphans in Uganda while increasing global awareness of AIDS and its devastating impact on children. Apr. 11-16 at 7 p.m. at yhe Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th St. $25, children $15 at 212-242-0800 or joyce.org.

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AVID PARKER AND THE BANG GROUP Known for his innovative rhythm-based dance theater creations, Parker draws his inspiration from tap dance, vaudeville, silent film comedy and modern dance, and integrates these diverse elements with impeccable choreographic structures and a splendid, wholesome sense of humor and queerness. The Bang Group features Cristina Aguirre, Kate Digby, Jeffrey Kazin, David Parker, Nic Petry, Amber Sloan and Emily Tschiffely. The 10th Anniversary Celebration will include two premieres, “Backward and in Heels,” a new work for six dancers set to a score that ranges from “The Sound of Music” and a hand bell choir version of Hava Nagila to Schubert’s Ave Maria, and pays tribute to the lush tradition of popular American vaudeville which has long inspired Parker’s work; and the New York premiere of “Surprising Symphony,” a comic performance piece created by Kay Cummings, featuring Jeffrey Kazin and David Parker. The program will also feature “We’re Not Married,” Parker’s first breakthrough work, choreographed in 1990. An enigmatic and elegiac a capella tap dance for a man and a woman who make their own music with, for and in spite of one another, the duet will be danced at these performances by Kazin and Sloan. The evening will also include a preview of a new work-in-progress currently entitled “Steeplechase.” Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space, Broadway at 95th Street. $21, $16 for members at 212-864-5400, Tue.-Sun. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. or at symphonyspace.com. Apr. 13-15 at 8:30 p.m.

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