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PRESS RELEASE: NEW YORK CITY SEASON AT JOYCE SOHO
(OCTOBER 7-10,2004):
Infinity Dance Theater at Joyce SoHo
October 7 - 10, 2004
For Immediate Release
INFINITY DANCE THEATER - Kitty Lunn, Artistic Director
A company featuring dancers with and without disabilities
at Joyce SoHo, October 7-10
Works by Peter Pucci, Kitty Lunn, Dario Vaccaro, Gabriela Poler
the company: Kitty Lunn, Dario Vaccaro (formerly with the companies
of Julio Bocca, Twyla Tharp, and Jennifer Muller), Vanessa Laws
(studied at the Bolshoi, teaches at Ballet Tech), Jason McDole (with Lar Lubovitch,
formerly with the companies of Twyla Tharp and David Parsons), Teri Miller
(formerly with Ballet Hispanico)
Thursday-Sunday, October 7-10 at 8 PM
Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street
Tickets: $20; $12 for students/seniors/persons with disabilities; Free for personal
care attendants of persons with disabilities
Joyce SoHo Reservation Line: 212/334-7479
Payable before the performance by cash or check only
INFINITY DANCE THEATER, a company featuring dancers with and without disabilities,
will appear October 7-10, 8 PM, at Joyce SoHo in two World Premieres, a New York Premiere,
and repertory by choreographers Peter Pucci, Artistic Director Kitty Lunn, Dario
Vaccaro, and Gabriela Poler. Infinity, which has toured throughout
the U.S. as well as Italy, Scotland, and Belgium, appeared most recently last June at the
Kennedy Center�s Concert Hall and Millennium Stage. Over its nine years, the Company
has developed a large repertory of dances by a variety of choreographers inspired by this
unique company.
Artistic Director Kitty Lunn, formerly of the Washington Ballet, founded the company
to expand the boundaries of dance and to change the perception of what a dancer is. Ms. Lunn,
injured in an accident 17 years ago which left her paraplegic, is committed to artistic excellence.
She has developed a wheelchair dance technique strongly rooted in the principles of classical
ballet and modern dance. Ms. Lunn was described by Phyllis Goldman, writing in Backstage,
as "a marvelous creature, an exquisite dancer with an upper body of seamless fluidity, a touching
emotional tone in her movement quality, and a complete mastery of her instrument. Did I mention that
she performs from a wheelchair? ... She has made a friend and partner of her wheelchair, and the
results are both creative and gratifying" (2001). Jennifer Dunning of the New York Times
has described her as "radiant".
The season will feature a New York Premiere as well as two World Premieres, including "Chant"
by Peter Pucci, whose two previous dances for Infinity were described
by Elizabeth Zimmer as "showstopping". (Village Voice). This new solo for Kitty Lunn
is set to ancient Hebrew chants.
Kitty Lunn will also repeat Pucci's 2001 "In Time Like Air," called
"rapturous" by Phyllis Goldman (Backstage). The New York Times'
Jack Anderson, describing the partnering between Ms. Lunn and her chair, noted that she is
"responding to its presence as if it had a personality all its own" (2001). Theresa
Herron, writing in Dance Fax, that Ms. Lunn "sensitively and dynamically
danced with her wheelchair spins and gorgeous torso extensions, which evoked a sense of
freedom."
"Genesis", which had its World Premiere at the Kennedy
Center in June, will be performed by Kitty Lunn and Dario Vaccaro,
who co-choreographed this piece to the gorgeous music of Gustav Mahler's
Symphony No. 5 in C minor. Ms. Lunn dances without the use of her wheelchair in this
work that references birth, rebirth, and transcendence.
In addition, Mr. Vaccaro's choreography will be represented by the World Premiere
ensemble piece "Eight Seasons", set to the music of Antonio Vivaldi and
Astor Piazzolla. Vaccaro has appeared with the companies of Julio Bocca, Twyla Tharp,
and Jennifer Muller.
The program will also feature Venezuelan choreographer Gabriela Poler's "Neruda",
danced to the exquisite vocal accompaniment of acclaimed actress Anita Hollander narrating
three passionate poems by Pablo Neruda.
Infinity Dance Theater's performances at the Joyce SoHo are made possible in part by the
Fund for Creative Communities/NYSCA, administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council;
as well as the Hammerman and Fisch Foundation, the William J. & Dorothy K. O'Neill
Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, the New York Times Company Foundation, the New York City
Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance.
The creation of Joyce SoHo was made possible by the magnanimous support of the LuEsther T. Mertz
Charitable Trust. Joyce SoHo is supported by private funds from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,
The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Harkness
Foundation for Dance, J.P. Morgan Chase, Mertz-Gilmore Foundation; the Lila Acheson Wallace
Theater Fund, established in The New York Community Trust by the founders of The Reader's
Digest Association; and by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency,
and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
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