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Former Martha Graham Dance Co. Principal Dancer Receives National Endowment for the Arts Work Grant for RIOULT Dance Piece 'Polymorphous'

RIOULT Dance, an established name in modern dance, is one of the 919 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) work grant.

Rioult Dance is recommended for $10,000 grant to support the creation and presentation of Artistic Director and Former Martha Graham Dance Company principal dancer, Pascal Rioult’s, new work entitled Polymorphous. NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, "I'm pleased to be able to share the news of our support through Art Works including the award to RIOULT Dance NY. The arts foster value, connection, creativity and innovation for the American people and these recommended grants demonstrate those attributes and affirm that the arts are part of our everyday lives."

Set to selections from J.S. Bach's "The Well Tempered Clavier," Polymorphous explores the subjectivity of perception through movement and technology. The work takes on the idea of polymorphism, referring to the act of something that assumes or occurs in various forms. Pascal Rioult integrates media through a vast variety of available technologies such as computer processing, simulation, animation, video and image processing. Rioult will be working with video artist Brian Beasley and set designer Harry Feiner on the project. Four dancers, two male and two female, will serve as both the performers and objects of illusion in the dance.

Hopefully, this grant will shine a positive light on the NEA, who recently got into hot water after announcing funding for a video game that advocated “consensual girlfriend slapping.” Though the money has yet to be released, the NEA has commented that they “cannot say” if they will rescind the grant that caused the controversy.

Polymorphous’ world premiere will be at DeBartolo Performing Arts Center in Notre Dame, Indiana, on February 6–7. Click here to purchase tickets.

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