Walter’s World: Weekend Picks Dance and Art

By Walter Rutledge

The weekend you can see some grant dancing that bridges both the African and Latin Diaspora. Or you can learn more about the art of an American master printmaker. These are just a few of the many events taking place around New York City and Long Island.

Ailey II will continue their 2012 New York spring season at the Ailey Citigroup Theater in the Joan Weill Center for Dance located at 405 W. 55^th Street (at 9^th Ave). The company will present two programs entitled Modern Moves and Contemporary Choices for a total of fourteen performances. The two-week season, which runs through Sunday April 29, will offer three new works and three repertory favorites.

The three New York Premieres include Artistic Director Designate Troy Powell’s Reference Point, Boulevard by South Korean choreographer Mina Yoo and The Legacy of Inheritance by Stephanie Batten Bland. Each works bring their own unique challenges to the dancers and perceptive for the audience. Returning works include Shards by Donald Byrd, Echoes by Vietnamese born choreographer Thang Dao and break out artist Kyle Abraham’s The Corner.

The schedule is: Friday, April 20, 2012 at 8pm – Modern Moves; Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 3pm – Contemporary Choices; Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 8pm – Modern Moves Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 3pm – Modern Moves; Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 7pm – Contemporary Choices

Tickets can be purchased at the box office located at the Joan Weill Center for Dance and online. For more information, box office hours and to purchase tickets online, visit www.alvinailey.org, www.ovationtix.com or call 866-811-4111.

Ballet Hispanico returns to The Joyce Theater for its annual New York Season through 29, 2012. The company will offer three different programs; which will include the world premiere of Espiritu Vivo by Ronald K. Brown, set to music by Afro-Peruvian Latin Grammy Award winner Susana Baca. The season will also feature the Joyce premiere of Asuka a tribute to the Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz. This is the first work for the company by Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro, and the New York premiere of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Nube Blanco.

In addition the company will also perform audience favorites including a revival of Guajira by Pedro Ruiz and is set to the music of Los Activos, Conjunto Céspedes, and José Maria Vitieir. Two works by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. The highly theatrical Mad’moiselle, which explores iconic male/female images and gender role-playing in Latin American cultures, and Locked Up Laura, a sensuous pointe duet by set to the music of Bart Rijnink. Tito on Timbales a tribute to the music of master percussionist Tito Puente by choreographer William Whitener.

The performance schedule is: Program A: Friday, April 20 at 8pm; Saturday, April 21 at 8pm; Sunday, April 22 at 7:30pm - Nube Blanco; Espiritu Vivo with Susana Baca; Asuka Program C: Saturday, April 21 at 2pm; Sunday, April 22 at 2pm; Tito on Timbales; Locked Up Laura; Espiritu Vivo; Asuka

The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19^th Street), NYC. Tickets begin at $10 and are available by phone at 212-242-0800 or joyce.org.

A Gallery Lecture with Pamela Ford on Bearden and Printmaking will take place on Sunday, April 22, 2012 from 2:00 pm -3:30 pm at the Art League of Long Island the fee is $8.00 and you can register by calling 631.462.5400 x 222. Pamela Ford is the former Program Director of the Romare Bearden Foundation and Curator of our traveling exhibition From Process to Print: The Graphic Works of Romare Bearden. Art League of Long Island is located at 107 East Deer Park Road, Dix Hills, NY 11746

From the mid 1960′s until the 1980′s Romare Bearden (1911-1988) created a body of print works using a range of techniques that include etching, screen printing and lithography. Working in close collaboration with master printmakers, Bearden expanded his artistic practice, which brought his work to a broader audience.  The prints share many familiar and admired themes and motifs with his collages that Bearden reinterpreted through cutting edge technology employing his unmatched talent for invention. This program is a part of the Bearden Centennial Celebration, which runs from September 2011 through September 2012.

As always thank you for letting me share my world with you.

 In Photo 1) Echoes cast 2)  Fana Tesfagiorgis 2) Asuka cast 4) In the Garden 5) Falling Star

Photo Credit 1& 2) Eduardo Patino 3) Paula Lobo 4&5) Prints by Romare Bearden