September 24, 2023

New York City’s acclaimed Peridance Contemporary Dance Company returns to the Salvatore Capezio Theater for its annual Spring Season the weekends of March 21st- 22nd and 27th-29th, 2020. The program will feature three innovative works by distinguished New York City-based choreographers: Peridance’s Artistic Director Igal Perry, YYDC Artistic Director Yin Yue, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet CoArtistic Director Dwight Rhoden. Peridance Contemporary Dance Company’s twelve charismatic dancers will ignite the stage in these three breathtaking works, bringing forward a range of voices in today’s New York City contemporary dance scene. The 2020 Spring Season is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

On opening night, Saturday, March 21st, following a special gala performance, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company will host its Annual Benefit Dinner, raising funds for the non-profit organization. The Company will be honoring photographer Rachel Neville and filmmaker David Junior for their invaluable contribution to the advancement of visual arts.

This Season the Company continues to promote diversity and inclusivity by offering several community engagement activities, including an open master class, a low-cost matinee performance, and a Q & A session with the artists.

Peridance Contemporary Dance Company has been a trailblazer of energetic and dynamic dance in New York City since 1983. Led by Artistic Director Igal Perry, the Company has been touring extensively in the United States and overseas, offering stellar dance performances and educational classes. In its 2019 Season, the company toured to Colorado Spring’s Ent Center for the Arts, Butler University’s Jordan College of the Arts (JCA), and Long Island’s Staller Center as well as overseas engagements in Israel, Italy, and Germany.

Peridance Contemporary Dance Company is generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.

PERFORMANCES

The weekend I Saturday, March 21st at 7:30 pm an Opening Night Gala & Benefit Dinner Sunday, March 22nd at 7:30 pm

Weekend II Friday, March 27th at 8:30 pm Saturday, March 28th at 7:30 pm Sunday, March 29th Up Close with PCDC!

ABOUT THE NEW WORKS

(Title TBD) – Artistic Director and Choreographer, Igal Perry – Perry’s new work offers an intimate portrait of three men. With his unique sense of musicality and sweeping movement, this new creation will mark Perry’s 2020 addition to a rich body of over 75 creations since the inauguration of the Company in 1984. The cast will include guest artist and company alumnus, Craig Dionne, who currently dances with Complexions Contemporary Dance Company.

Just Above the Surface – Choreographer Yin Yue – Created as part of a residency program commissioned by Western Michigan University, this world premiere explores the electric connection of human interaction–the sensations that pull people together or apart. Conceptually rooted in Yue’s unique movement, the work showcases each of the dancers communicating a story through nontraditional narratives atop a simultaneously buzzing and complex musical undercurrent. The work is conceptually rooted in Yue’s powerful movement, often inspired by her Chinese heritage, without adhering to a traditional narrative.

Twilight – Artistic Director and Choreographer, Igal Perry – Twilight were originally commissioned in 2005 for the dancers of Joffrey II. Set to a selection of Chopin’s Etudes and Nocturnes, the work breaks down classical traditional lines into imaginative partnering sequences that produce a realm of deep, expansive contemporary movement. This work embodies the myriad of textures that are famous in Chopin’s music and is a testament to Perry’s pure, intelligent, and elegant interpretation of the music. Evermore – Choreographer Dwight Rhoden – Created in 2013 by Complexions Contemporary Ballet Choreographer and Co-Artistic Director Dwight Rhoden for PCDC, Evermore returns to the stage with renewed vigor and joy. Highlighted by a brilliant cast of eight fabulous PCDC dancers, Evermore showcases Rhoden’s athletic and virtuosic choreography at its best—a melting pot of styles ranging from ballet to ballroom! The work is set to the music of the incomparable Nat King Cole. ABOUT PERIDANCE CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY New York City’s Peridance Contemporary Dance Company (PCDC), founded by Artistic Director Igal Perry, has been a powerhouse of energetic and evocative dance since 1984. Operating from its home at the renowned Peridance Capezio Center in Union Square, the company made its New York City debut in October 1985 at the Riverside Dance Festival and hasn’t looked back since. Under Perry’s direction, PCDC has established one of the most eclectic bodies of repertoire in New York City, providing opportunities for both emerging talents and established, world-renowned choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Dwight Rhoden, Sidra Bell, John Butler, and Daniel Ezralow.

Anchored by the iconic and “blessedly inventive” (NY Times) works of Artistic Director Igal Perry and featuring a cast of 16 classically trained dancers and apprentices from across the world, PCDC’s productions have reached over 48,000 audience members around the globe in the past five years alone with engagements including Ballet Internacional de Buenos Aires, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Big Arts Florida, Spring to Dance St. Louis, Florence Dance Festival, Tel Aviv Dance, Seoul International Dance Festival, and many more. In its most recent 2018/2019 Season, the Company served over 8,500 audience members and class participants at the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University, the Suzanne Roberts Theater in Philadelphia, the Schrott Center for the Arts at Butler University, and the Ent Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Off the stage, PCDC has been equally ambitious. With programs such as the Company’s outreach initiative “Dance Break”, which provides arts access to children in low-income and immigrant communities in partnership with University Settlement, and the Company’s free classes and outdoor showcases for charitable organizations such as CityParks’ SummerStage, Dancers Responding to Aids (Fire Island Dance Festival), America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Union Square Partnership, NY Flamenco Festival, and the Latino Commission on AIDS, PCDC continuously strives to positively impact the world through dance.

SEASON SPONSORS The Company has been generously supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Capezio/Ballet Makers, Google Ad Words, Rachel Neville Photography, Louis/Dressner Selections, and individual donors.

ABOUT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR IGAL PERRY Igal Perry, Founder and Artistic Director of Peridance Contemporary Dance Company and Peridance Capezio Center, is a world-renowned choreographer, ballet master, and dance educator. Mr. Perry’s elegant choreography, often in collaboration with contemporary composers, has been described as “blessedly inventive” (Jennifer Dunning, NYTimes). His works have been set on prestigious companies and performed at renowned festivals including Florence Dance Festival and Invito Alla Danza (Italy), Batsheva and Bat-Dor Dance Companies and the Karmiel Dance Festival (Israel), Ailey II and Complexions Contemporary Ballet (NYC), Companhia de Danca de Lisboa (Portugal), and Alberta Ballet (Canada). This year his new work Infinity will be set on the San Jose Ballet.

Born in Israel, Igal Perry began his dancing career with Karmon, a folk-dance company. He later joined the Bat-Dor Dance Company, where he worked with leading teachers and choreographers including Alvin Ailey, Benjamin Harkarvy, John Butler, Rudi Van Dantzig, Inesse Alexandrov, Paul Sanasardo, and Lar Lubovitch. Upon arriving in the United States, Mr. Perry joined Dennis Wayne’s Dancers as ballet master and choreographer. During that period, he staged John Butler’s work for the NYC Opera, the Opera of Munich, Caracas Ballet, and Teatro Alla Scala in Milan, where he also directed the world premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s opera Paradise Lost. From 1981-1982, Mr. Perry headed the ballet department at Jacob’s Pillow. In 1983, he launched his dance school, Peridance Capezio Center, now one of New York City’s leading dance institutions. A year later he founded Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, for which he has choreographed over 50 works, with performances at BAM, The Joyce Theater, and City Center.

In addition to his daily class at Peridance, Mr. Perry serves as guest faculty/choreographer at The Jacob’s Pillow Festival, The Ailey School, and Marymount Manhattan College. Since 1995, Mr. Perry has served as a guest teacher at The Juilliard School, where he staged his Intimate Voices and Mourning Song. His international teaching engagements include Scapino Ballet and Het National Ballet (Holland), Laterna Magica and the National Ballet (Prague), Architanz (Tokyo), The Royal Ballet of Sweden and Balettakademien (Sweden), the National Ballet of China, and the Kwang-Ju City Ballet Company (Korea).

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