+ Add An Event

Contribute

Your support helps us cover dance in New York City and beyond! Donate now.

MICHAEL MAO Dance Celebrates its 25th Anniversary

MICHAEL MAO Dance Celebrates its 25th Anniversary

Company:

MICHAEL MAO Dance

Location:

New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th Street

Dates:

Thursday, April 26, 2018 - 7:30pm daily through April 28, 2018
Saturday, April 28, 2018 - 2:00pm daily through April 28, 2018

Tickets:

www.MichaelMaoDance.org

Company:
MICHAEL MAO Dance


MICHAEL MAO Dance Celebrates its 25th Anniversary with a program of Repertory Favorites and
special guests Virginie Mecene, Kevin Predmore, and more t.b.a. (Saturday night performance)

Thursday & Friday, April 26 & 27 at 7:30 PM, and Saturday April 28 at 2 PM & 7:30 PM
New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th Street
Tickets: $25 general admission; $15 students/seniors  ($7 for children 12 or under at the April 28 matinee)
Reservations: 212.924.0077  or  www.newyorklivearts.org



Choreographer Michael Mao presents the 25th Anniversary Season of Michael Mao Dance with a program of company favorites and guests Virginie Mecene, Kevin Predmore and other artists who are Mao Dance alumni (at the Saturday 7:30 PM performance only).   Four major Mao works have been selected for this celebration: Still Night, Kinderspiel, Weaving, and Shifting Shades.  Performances, April 26-28 at 7:30 PM with a Saturday matinee, April 28 at 2 PM at New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th Street.

Begun in 1993, Michael Mao Dance has performed regular seasons in NYC and was hailed on several tours around the world.  A sampling of international response:
"Young companies are rare.  Here is one to look out for."   Liberation, Paris
"Michael Mao's choreography enters a refined domain of corporeal language, close to the subtlety of Alwin Nikolais or Martha Graham."  El Naciónal, Mexico DF
"Despite his Chinese last name, Mao is a product of the American Modern Dance tradition (with) absolutely his own style."  Dagbladet, Oslo, Norway
"Mao combines a distinctly personal blend of styles, dramatic themes and post-modern choreographic devices." Gus Solomons jr, Ballet News
"Michael Mao Dance on its China tour brought a strong, totally new sense of crossing national and cultural boundaries."  Beijing TV Weekly
"Mao reflects the diversity, the energy, and the talent of America.  His works have been received by enthusiastic audiences across the U.S. and overseas."  Embassy of the United States of America in Beijing

 
Still Night was originally commissioned by the Lake Placid Arts Center in 1993.  Set to music by Arvo Pärt, the work was described in Chelsea Clinton News as "a dreamily beautiful dance full of grief and tenderness."  The New York Times added that the dancers "seem like stately angels."   At the closing night performance, the 12-member resident cast will be joined by original cast members, including alumnus Kevin Predmore, former Martha Graham Dance Company soloist and veteran Graham teacher, who will recreate his leading role in the work, along with Virginie Mecene, former Martha Graham Dance Company principal and currently director of Graham II.  Other participating alumnus are Penny Freeh, formerly with the James Sewell Company; and Greg Nuber, who danced with Rudy Perez, Cliff Keuter, and Mark Morris.   more alumni t.b.a. 

Weaving, (premiered at the Cunningham Studio in 1999), a dynamic company dance set to Japanese Taiko drumming, was described as "a strong feisty work, combining pounding drums and a multicultural sensibility driving towards a strong sense of conclusion."  Edinburgh Festival Magazine, August 2010.

Mao's Kinderspiel is set to the composition of the same name by Felix Mendelssohn, inspired by the innocent joyfulness of the composer's children at play.  Kinderspiel premiered at the Cunningham Studio in 2000.
The program also includes Shifting Shades, (premiered in 2010 at the Edinburgh Dance Festival), a collaboration with New York composer Huang Ruo as a dialogue between compositional modes and choreographic devices, which the Edinburgh Festival Magazine termed, "complex and dazzling."

MICHAEL MAO left his native Shanghai at the age of five.  His dance training took place at the Graham School, Cunningham Studio, and the Joffrey School.  His teachers included Margaret Craske, Ted Shawn, Marie Paquet, Zena Rommett, and David Howard, who was also company teacher for Michael's dancers from 1983 to 1994.  As a dancer, Michael performed for Toby Armour's Boston-based company from 1971 to 1986, appearing in works by Armour, Carolyn Brown, James Waring, Remy Charlip, and Lotte Goslar, among others.  He also performed for Mandala Folk Dance Ensemble, Sarah Caldwell's production of Die Fleidermaus with choreography by Graziela Daniele, and made a trip into musical theater to appear as Dancing Curley in Oklahoma!, directed by Andy Cadiff.
As choreographer, Michael's works have been created for, or re-set on, the National Ballet of Kosovo, Hong Kong Ballet, Café de la Danse in Paris, Tennessee Chidren's Ensemble, Oslo Black Box, the Festival Internacional Cervantino of Mexico, and more.   The Company has been funded by NEA, NYSCA, DCA, Massachusetts Council for the Arts, Dillon-Dunwalke Trusts, IBM, Seth Sprague and State Street. Most recently, Michael Mao Dance was awarded a two-year grant from the Soros Foundations administered by New York City Fund for the Arts.
 

Share Your Audience Review. Your Words Are Valuable to Dance.
Are you going to see this show, or have you seen it? Share "your" review here on The Dance Enthusiast. Your words are valuable. They help artists, educate audiences, and support the dance field in general. There is no need to be a professional critic. Just click through to our Audience Review Section and you will have the option to write free-form, or answer our helpful Enthusiast Review Questionnaire, or if you feel creative, even write a haiku review. So join the conversation.

Share Your Audience Review.


+ Add An Event