Andonis Foniadakis (above) is creating a new work for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet which will be presented as part of the Company's upcoming season at The Joyce. Just before Christmas, Andonis was in New York City to kick off the creative process with a workshop for the Company dancers.
It was in 2008 that I met Andonis briefly; at that time he was only a name to me but in a single hour spent watching the dress rehearsal of his RITE OF SPRING at Joyce SoHo I felt the transforming power of his work. Returning to SoHo the following evening with my friend Rob, we watched the spellbinding dancer Ioanna Toumpakari perform this long solo version of the Stravinsky classic and were swept away. It remains to this day the most unforgettable dance performance in my long experience.
Andonis's choreographic career flourishes in Europe, but his work is not well-known in the USA. I'm hoping that this Cedar Lake creation will herald his increasing presence in the dance world here.
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet will open at The Joyce on May 7th, 2013; in an exciting line-up, Andonis Foniadakis's new ballet shares the stage with works by Jiri Kylian and Crystal Pite.
