Modern dance company, RIOULT Dance NY, will perform a series titled "Dance to Contemporary Composers" with Tactus, at the Manhattan School of Music on Jan. 22.
The "Dance to Contemporary Composers" Series is a collaborative effort with American composers which commissions new music and presents dance performances accompanied by live music. This series shows Pascal Rioult’s, the dance companies creator, love and support for contemporary classical composers, as well as interests in poetry and mythology. Consecutive world premieres from 2011-2013 were created through this series, including On Distant Shores a 2011 collaboration with composer Aaron J. Kernis, The Violet Hour a 2012 collaboration with composer Joan Tower, and Iphigenia a 2013 collaboration with composer Michael Torke.
The performance of Iphigenia, conducted by Benjamin Grow, is a dance drama driven by a young girl's transfiguration from innocent child to transcendental heroine. Based on Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis, it chronicles King Agamemnon's decision to sacrifice his daughter and Iphigenia's ultimate acceptance of her fate.
The Violet Hour is set to Joan Tower's "Tres Lent" and the newly commissioned "Catching a Wave" for piano and cello, is informed by images taken from T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. The Violet Hour evokes the stark beauty and consequent humanity that stems from these images, a time of expectation hovering between darkness and light, reality and dream, memory and desire.
On Distant Shores, conducted by Kyle Ritenauer, recalls the ancient myth of Helen of Troy. In this work he sets out to redeem her, imagining she is brought to Troy against her will, where she encounters four god-like warriors though ultimately walks alone as it all fades into a dream.
The performances will take place on Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Manhattan School of Music's Borden Auditorium. To purchase tickets for this event, click here.
