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Kimberly Giannelli  
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BROOKLYN BALLET BRIDGES BALLET AND STREET DANCE IN 20TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON WITH COLLABORATION AND COMMUNITY CENTER STAGE

NY’s Only Ballet Company with A Corps of Hip Hop Dancers Continues to Challenge Convention Within the Art Form

NEW YORK, March 27, 2023 — Brooklyn Ballet, now celebrating 20 years of interdisciplinary dance that confronts convention through collaboration and inclusion, presents Rejoice! The Village Dances, an evening of dance and music that bridges ballet and street dance with works of the past and the now, April 20-23, at The Mark O’Donnell Theater in Downtown Brooklyn. From a collaborative world premiere work by Brooklyn Ballet’s founder and director Lynn Parkerson to the restaging of Antony Tudor’s Fandango (1963) and the company’s 2013 work Spiders, Cooks, and Mood Swings, this anniversary season explores the representation of community in contemporary and classical dance and the ways Brooklyn Ballet continues to re-define and revitalize this storytelling medium. All music is performed live.

As Parkerson’s creative and directorial commitment to equity and inclusion continue to be woven into the company’s repertoire, her latest work, Scripture, headlines the anniversary season. Devised by an ensemble of ten diverse movers, a microcosm of humanity, and of Brooklyn, is discovered against the backdrop of Bach’s cantata Jesu meine Freude, directed by Benjamin Niemcyk, Music Director at Brooklyn’s Oratory Church of St. Boniface. Created alongside long-time collaborator Michael “Big Mike” Fields, the work’s movement material ranges from liturgical gesture in American Sign Language, to hip hop and vogueing, to soaring classical ballet partnering, expressing the joy, love, and grief of being human. Together, they meet each other in the same space with their own journey, voice, and body, drawing us into the aching and joyful experience of being human.

Also on the program is Antony Tudor’s chamber ballet Fandango (1963) set in a public square in the South of Spain with an ensemble of five rivaling women vying for attention. Playful fancy footwork and intricate petite allegro offer a wry witty commentary on art and life, staged by Diana Byer and Elena Zahlmann from the Labanotation score by arrangement with the Dance Notation Bureau, to music by Antonio Soler. In contrast, Lynn Parkerson’s Spiders, Cooks, and Mood Swings (2013) set to Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne, is a contemporary, Brooklyn-style take on village dances seen in 19th century ballets defined by a pastiche of ballet, modern, jazz, and hip-hop dancers-- the company’s signature approach to challenging conventional dance making. 

“This Season celebrates a milestone--20 years!,” notes Lynn Parkerson, Founder and Director of Brooklyn Ballet. “We bring a masterwork from Antony Tudor to our audiences, celebrate over 15 years of mixed movement collaboration led by Michael “Big Mike” Fields, and begin a new work that celebrates the deep humanity we’ve discovered in each other and our community over two decades. We are proud to be New York’s only ballet company that nurtures hip hop arists as part of our corps. The creative opportunities, synergies, and partnerships continue to inspire us this season and beyond.”

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Thursday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m.

Friday, April 21 at 7:00 p.m. *Free beer Friday!

Saturday, April 22 at 3:00 p.m. (children’s matinee) and 7:00 p.m. 

Sunday, April 23 at 3:00 p.m.

A post performance Q+A will take place following Saturday evening’s performance.

TICKETS and VENUE INFORMATION

General seating is available for $30, student and senior, $20, and children under 12, $15. Premium reserved seating, $50, are available for all performances. 

Tickets available for purchase at https://www.brooklynballet.org/performances 

The Mark O’Donnell Theater at the Entertainment Community Fund is located at 160 Schermerhorn Street, in downtown Brooklyn, accessible by A, C, F and G trains.

REPERTORY NOTES

Dancers: Anna Antongiorgi, Audrey Borst, Jonalyn Bradshaw, Alexis Branagan, Nicole Federov, Michael “Big Mike” Fields, Valentina Fory Olaya, Tristan Grannum, Catie Kirch, Bobby “Anime” Major, Kieran McBride, Aoi Ohno, Bret Coppa, Ladell “Ocean” Thomas, Akiko Tokuoka.

Musicians: Mun-Tzung Wong, piano, Titilayo Ayangade, cello, 

Singers: Sofia Campoamor, Audrey Fernandez-Fraser, Clifton Massey, Matt Robbins, David Stech

Costume Design: Hilla Shapira, Sylvia Nolan (Fandango)

Lighting Design: Saúl Ulerio

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ABOUT BROOKLYN BALLET

Founded in 2002 by Artistic Director Lynn Parkerson, Brooklyn Ballet brings a contemporary vision to the treasured art form of ballet, with repertory and programs that revitalize and re-imagine the classical form. The first-of-its-kind in Brooklyn in more than 40 years, the organization is committed to artistic accomplishment, education, and community engagement. In 2009, Brooklyn Ballet opened the doors to its first permanent home at The Schermerhorn— built and managed by Breaking Ground and The Actors Fund. The ground level space provides Brooklyn Ballet with a storefront dance studio, access to a 99-seat black box theatre, dressing rooms, and administrative space. As a community dance institution, the Brooklyn Ballet School offers youth and adult ballet classes, allowing dancers to learn and develop their skills alongside professionals of all backgrounds. Brooklyn Ballet’s Elevate in-school dance residencies offer children scholarships and opportunities to participate in the rigors of ballet training.

Brooklyn Ballet is generously supported by Alloy, Baisley Powell Elebash Fund, BCG,  City Point, Con Edison, The Curtis W. McGraw Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Howard Gilman Foundation, The John N. Blackman Sr. Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, New York Community Trust, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Sidley, Sills Family Foundation, Tiger Baron Foundation, and the many individual donors that contribute to our mission. Public support is provided by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, National Endowment for the Arts, and New York City Council members Rita Joseph, Mercedes Narcisse, and Lincoln Restler.