On Monday and Tuesday, January 23rd and 24th, the annual Dance from the Heart performances will take place at the Cedar Lake Theater on West 26th Street. The evenings benefit Dancers Responding to AIDS and - in two showings each night - feature a stimulating mix of dancers from every milieu:
• Cecilia Marta Dance Company
• The Chase Brock Experience
• Company Stefanie Batten Bland
• Jessica Lang Dance
• Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion
• Melissa Mahon and Sean McKnight
• Jeremy McQueen
• Jodi Melnick
• Ray Mercer
• Melanie Moore,
So You Think You Can Dance
• Paul Taylor Dance Company
• Peridance Contemporary Dance Company
• Matthew Prescott and Misty Copeland,
American Ballet Theatre soloist
• Rennie Harris Puremovement
• Janie Taylor and Jared Angle,
New York City Ballet principals
• Michael Trusnovec
• Jonathan Royse Windham
The closing work on each programme wiill be Jeremy McQueen's CONCERTO NUOVO, an all-female ensemble piece set to the final movement of the familiar Bach concerto in D-minor for two violins that George Balanchine used for his immortal CONCERTO BAROCCO. This is the second time I have watched CONCERTO NUOVO in the studio; with a couple of exceptions - Taylor Gordon and Ninia Augustin - it's a new cast of dancers this time around. I liked the little speech Jeremy (above) gave them at the end of the run-thru, remarking on how well they had brought their diverse dance backgrounds to his work.
I'm looking forward to seeing CONCERTO NUOVO staged and lit at Cedar Lake, which is probably my favorite dance venue in Gotham. I'm going both Monday and Tuesday evenings, and I would love to see you there.
