Jacob’s Pillow presents Havana-based Malpaso Dance Company
Company:
Malpaso Dance Company
JACOB’S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL PRESENTS
CUBA-BASED MALPASO DANCE COMPANY
WITH LIVE MUSIC BY GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING ARTURO O’FARRILL
AND THE AFRO LATIN JAZZ ENSEMBLE
July 30, 2015 — (Becket, Mass) A charismatic new force in contemporary dance, Havana-based Malpaso Dance Company comes to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival’s intimate Ted Shawn Theatre, August 5-9. Defined by power, passion, and spotless technique, the company’s program will include a new work by burgeoning choreographer and company Artistic Director Osnel Delgado with live music by GRAMMY Award-winning composer Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble. The company will also perform Under Fire, a new work by the ever-popular choreographer Trey McIntyre set to music by Boise-based singer/songwriter Grandma Kelsey. This engagement marks Malpaso Dance Company’s Jacob’s Pillow debut.
“Humbling and sparklingly present” (Siobhan Burke, The New York Times), Malpaso Dance Company brings a diverse program that celebrates cultural collaboration, dazzling dance, and live music. Choreographed by Malpaso Dance Company’s Artistic Director and one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch” of 2015, Osnel Delgado’s Despedida is set to an original score by Mexican-American composer Arturo O’Farrill and his Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, performed live. Taking inspiration from the eponymous poem by the award-winning Argentinian writer and recipient of the French Legion of Honour (1983) Jorge Luis Borges, Despedida showcases the company’s signature virtuosic range in style from Brazilian capoeira to ballet where “agile dancers rise and spill to the floor with resiliency” (Gia Kourlas, The New York Times). O’Farrill’s compositions “traverse pan-American styles and historical eras to draw connections all their own” (Jon Pareles, The New York Times) and his orchestra has been dubbed “the best jazz orchestra in existence” by The New Yorker. The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble includes Arturo O'Farrill on piano, Vince Cherico (drums), Carlo De Rosa (bass), Carlos Maldonado (percussion), Rafi Malkiel (trombone), Adam O'Farrill (trumpet), Ivan Renta (tenor saxophone), and Tony Rosa (percussion).
American choreographer Trey McIntyre’s “engaging and provocative” (Karen Campbell, The Boston Globe) Under Fire is an intimate portrait of redemption and renewal. Set to popular covers and original works by Boise-based singer/songwriter Grandma Kelsey, the work includes renditions of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and Ginuwine’s “Pony” with “an alternately plaintive and playful air” (Robert Greskovic, The Wall Street Journal). Gia Kourlas of The New York Times states that Under Fire “builds gradually while never relinquishing its silky flow” and possesses a “meditative quality” and “illusion of weightlessness”. Costumes are designed by former Lar Lubovitch Dance Company dancer Reid Bartelme, with lighting design by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Lighting Director Al Crawford. Under Fire is co-commissioned by The Joyce Theater and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.
ABOUT MALPASO DANCE COMPANY
Founded in 2012 by Osnel Delgado, Dailedys Carrazana, and Fernando Sáez, Malpaso Dance Company is committed to bringing the voice of Cuban contemporary dance into the present and global dance community. The company is based in Havana, Cuba and comprised of ten dancers, many of whom studied at Cuba’s National Ballet School. Following their 2014 U.S. debut at The Joyce Theater, the troupe was praised for their “pristine technique” (Siobhan Burke, The New York Times) and “chameleon-like nature” (Amsterdam News, Charmaine Patricia Warren). Since 2014 and the improvement of Cuba-U.S. relations, Malpaso Dance Company has announced plans to tour across the United States during 2015/2016 including California, Ohio, Washington, Texas, Oregon, and Massachusetts.
