Award-Winning Canadian Dance Company Performs Famous Ballet at Lafayette
Called “a hurricane of unbridled imaginativeness” by the New York Times, master Quebec choreographer Marie Chouinard brings her innovative dance company to Lafayette College for a performance at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 13 in the Williams Center for the Arts, 317 Hamilton St.
Dancers will perform Chouinard’s bold and original choreography to Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring in honor of the 100th anniversary of the ballet’s controversial debut in Paris. Although the music was composed for the stage, the score is now considered one of the most influential works of the 20th century.
The program also includes 24 Preludes, a jubilant yet solemn work that evokes feelings of passion, introspection and rebellion. The dance is set to music by Chopin and performed live by pianist Holly Roadfeldt.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by calling the box office at (610) 330-5009 weekdays noon to 2 p.m., 4 to 5 p.m., and one hour before the show.
During a pre-performance talk at 7 p.m. in Williams Center room 108, Kirk O’Riordan, assistant professor of music and Carrie Rohman, assistant professor of English and a dancer, will provide context for these two very different dances and musical settings.
In addition, the Lehigh Valley Dance Consortium will present its 2013 LVAIC Award for Distinguished Service in Dance to Williams Center Director Ellis Finger prior to the performance.
A 2010 recipient of Quebec’s Prix Denise Pelletier award, Chouinard has been a fixture on world stages for more than two decades. Her pioneering company explores the poetics of the body in immediate, intelligible, and every-surprising ways, and creates compelling imagery on stage that will sustain and demand the audience’s attention. She has created more than 50 solo and group works, and celebrates the body as a “vehicle of life.”
The design concept for Compagnie Marie Chouinard’s performance of The Rite of Spring will include nudity.
Lehigh Valley Community Public Radio WDIY 88.1 FM is Lafayette College’s media partner for this event.
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Higher resolution photo available online
Photo by Nicolas Ruel, courtesy of Lafayette College
Kathleen Parrish
Associate Director of Media Relations
Lafayette College
Communications Division
Easton, PA 18042
parrishk@lafayette.edu
www.lafayette.edu