Lydia Johnson Dance, June 4-7 at Ailey's
Company:
Lydia Johnson Dance
LYDIA JOHNSON DANCE
World Premiere and Repertory Works at Ailey Citigroup Theater, June 4-7
June 4-7, 7:30 PM
Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55 Street
Tickets: $25; $15 for seniors/students
Reservations: www.smarttix.com or 212.868.4444
Dancers: Anthony Bocconi, Lisa Borres, Laura Di Orio, Chazz Fenner-McBride, Blake Hennessy-York, Min-Seon Kim, Katie Martin-Lohiya, Daniel Pahl, Sarah Pon, Kerry Shea, Eric Williams
Guest Artist: Carlos Lopez
Ballet Mistress: Deborah Wingert
"For musicality and fine structuring, few people currently choreographing in the
New York dance scene can compare with Lydia Johnson."
Philip Gardner, Oberon's Grove, 2012
"Lydia Johnson's lyricism of movement and musicality of phrasing is evident with
the dancer's first step. Ms. Johnson does not transition from shape to shape as
most choreographers do; her choreography flows into a ribbon of movement,
seamless, silky and continual."
Darrell Wood, nycdancestuff, June 2013
Lydia Johnson Dance returns to the Ailey Citigroup Theater with repertory works and the world premiere of a new work set to music by Mozart. Returning to guest with the 12-member ensemble is Carlos Lopez, former soloist with American Ballet Theatre. Four performances, June 4-7 at 7:30 PM at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55 Street.
Lydia Johnson is a dancemaker who is deeply connected to, and inspired by, music. She has created masterful works to music by several of her favorite composers, including Bach, Mozart, Philip Glass and Osvaldo Golijov. This year's full company premiere is set to music by Mozart, and 2013 premieres to Schubert and Golijov complete the program.
The new dance, set to Mozart's Fantasia in C Minor and the Adagio from the C Minor Piano Sonata, captures the elegance of past days and the remembrance of people lost in all but memories.
"Night and Dreams," which premiered at the 2013 season, was created to six of Schubert's most haunting songs, sung on a recording by British tenor Ian Bostridge. Critic Mary Cargill noted that "Johnson used very simple moves to echo the feeling of the songs........arabesques merged into floating, gentle walks, and the partnering was often small rocking moves. The final song ended with with the same grouping that began the evening, the dancers gazing into the back of the stage, so there was a sense of completeness, of coming full circle. And it made me want to rush home and listen to Schubert." (www.danceviewtimes.com, June 9, 2013)
Also premiered last year was "Night of the Flying Horses," in which Johnson's choreography matches the passion and mystery of the score by contemporary Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov. The work also provides stellar roles for longtime company principals Laura Di Orio and Kerry Shea. "Night of the Flying Horses, wrote Darrell Wood, "is filled with sublime imagery. Moments of the dance I can still see in my mind's eye. It's a beautiful and emotional work, a dance that stays with you long after you have seen it. Ms. Johnson reached in and pulled Night of the Flying Horses from her heart." (www.nycdancestuff.com, June 2013)
