JUILLIARD DANCES REPERTORY OF CLASSIC WORKS BY ACCLAIMED CHOREOGRAPHERS MERCE CUNNINGHAM, PAUL TAYLOR, AND JEROME ROBBINS

FIVE PERFORMANCES WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24 – SUNDAY, MARCH 28, 2010

IN JUILLIARD’S PETER JAY SHARP THEATER

Juilliard Dance, under the artistic direction of Lawrence Rhodes, presents Juilliard Dances Repertory, five performances Wednesday, March 24 – Sunday, March 28, 2010, performing classic works from the repertoire: Merce Cunningham’s Summerspace; Juilliard alumnus Paul Taylor’s Last Look; and Jerome Robbins’ N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz. Second, third and fourth-year dancers perform on this program. The Juilliard Orchestra, conducted by George Stelluto, and Juilliard Jazz musicians perform the live music for the dancers. Shows take place Wednesday, March 24, Thursday, March 25, Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27, all at 8 PM, with a matinee performance on Sunday, March 28 at 3 PM in The Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Juilliard (155 West 65^th Street).

Tickets at $20 are available at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard or through CenterCharge at (212) 721-6500. Half-price tickets for students and seniors and TDF are accepted only at the Box Office. For further information, call (212) 769-7406 or go to www.juilliard.edu.

Summerspace, was created in 1958 for Mr. Cunningham’s dance company and had its premiere on August 17, 1958 at Connecticut College in New London. The work is set to Morton Feldman’s Ixion, with backdrops and costumes by renowned artist Robert Rauschenberg. The work is set for 6 dancers (2 men and 4 women). Juilliard faculty member, Banu Ogan, a former member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (1993 to 2000), and Carolyn Brown, a Juilliard alumna and one of the founding members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, have been working closely with Juilliard dancers on the piece.

Paul Taylor’s Last Look set to a score by Donald York, with a set and costumes by Alex Katz, features 9 dancers (4 men and 5 women). Last Look had its premiere in 1985 by the Paul Taylor Dance Company at New York City Center. While Last Look has been in the Taylor repertoire a longtime, it has rarely been given to other dance companies. The work has an apocalyptic feel to it, is physically-demanding and theatrical. There is no partnering and very little touching in the work, as the dancers fling themselves about. Juilliard faculty member and alumna, Linda Kent, who danced with the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 1975 through 1989 in more than 40 works of originally created and existing dances, is leading Juilliard’s dancers during the rehearsal period.

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Jerome Robbins’ N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz, sometimes referred to as the ballet in sneakers, had its premiere by the Jerome Robbins’ dance company, Ballets: U.S.A., on June 8, 1958 at the Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto. Set to a jazz score by Robert Prince with urban backdrops by Ben Shahn, N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz about disaffected teenagers blends ballet, jazz and ballroom dancing with Latin, African and American rhythms. The work features 18 dancers (2 principal men and 2 principal women, 7 men and 7 women). The original costumes by Florence Klotz will be changed to modern day attire - black jeans and t-shirts, with sneakers with soles. Gary Chryst, who has danced with the Joffrey Ballet and the Nederlands Dans Theater and on Broadway in Guys and Dolls, Dancin’ and Nureyev, is working with Juilliard dancers on the piece.

During the run, Juilliard Dance will conduct an education outreach program to accompany Juilliard Dances Repertory, bringing several hundred New York City students in grades four through eight to attend an hour-long outreach performance on Friday, March 26 at 11 AM. The program introduces students to modern dance concepts, movements, and the choreographic process, as well as the role of an audience member and great dance works of today’s choreographers.

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