Kendrick Carter of BENNYROYCE DANCE. Photo by Tra To.
Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture and CUNY Dance Initiative present Bennyroyce Dance in
1000 FULL MOONS
& Other New Works
Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 7:30pm
Repertory Theater at Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture
450 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451
$10 General Admission
FREE for students 18 and under
Join us on Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 7:30pm at Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture, Repertory Theater in the South Bronx, New York, for three world premieres. Artistic Director Bennyroyce Royon will present the world premiere of 1000 Full Moons, as well as Undertow. The program also includes two new works, Viritas by Artistic Associate Marie Zvosec, and Use Me by guest choreographer and legendary former Alvin Ailey principal dancer Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish. This performance is a culmination of Bennyroyce Dance’s second consecutive CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI) residency at Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture.
The company consists of Kendrick Carter, Aurélien Peillex, Bennyroyce Royon, Allison Sale, Lynda Senisi, Gabriela Soto, and Marie Zvosec. Additional collaborators include Rodrigo Ribeiro (Motion Graphics and Animation Design), Josh Monroe (Lighting Design), Ryan Lee Masline (Costume Design), and Patrick Saint Jean (Costume Design).
Bennyroyce Royon's residency at Hostos Community College is part of the CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), which is supported by The Mertz Gilmore Foundation, New York Community Trust, Howard Gilman Foundation, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. CDI is spearheaded and administered by The Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College.
BENNYROYCE DANCE in rehearsal for 1000 FULL MOONS
ABOUT THE WORK
1000 FULL MOONS -- “If you are lucky in this lifetime you might get to see 1,000 full moons, so you better enjoy every one of them.” Choreographer Bennyroyce Royon uses his “refreshingly original” (ArtsATL) movement vocabulary to realize his departed friend’s words of wisdom with the world premiere of 1000 Full Moons, a theatrical dance set to a suite of music by Glenn Miller, Etta James, Jo Stafford, and more. Each performer is a character representing a different story rooted in personal experience, including imagery from dreams, love, mourning and loss, and the deep bonds between people.
UNDERTOW - Bennyroyce Dance will also unveil Undertow, “a sleek technical work” (Seattle Dances) performed to three musical selections by Kangding Ray. Undertow draws inspiration from the underlying forces that envelop moving bodies in a dynamic dance of ebb and flow. Undulating limbs contrast grounded floor work, giving a sense of displacement and opposition, spatially shifting the dancers’ centers like ocean currents.
VIRIDITAS - Artistic Associate Marie Zvosec will premiere Viriditas, a quiet ode to the strength and verdure of the feminine. Inspired by the life and music of twelfth century abbess Hildegard von Bingen, three women explore instincts alternating between support and dependence within a physically interconnected group. Together the trio travels, encircled by plainchant, across thick, and almost humid space, beckoning for a common salvation.
USE ME - Guest choreographer Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish, the legendary former Alvin Ailey principal dancer, will premiere Use Me, a riveting and funky duet set to music by Bill Withers featuring Royon and Zvosec. “I initially wanted to create a duet with the idea of selecting a piece of music that the dancers and I can relate to, something that allows the body to speak and evoke deeply rooted feelings. Bill Withers’ music does exactly that,” says Roxas-Dobrish.