LA Dance Project / Parcours Night Produktionsdossier

Kaserne Basel
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Katrin Schmidlin
Tel. +41 61 66 66 008
Basel, 22.05.2013
L.A. Dance Project / Parcours
Night
Produktionsdossier
L.A. Dance Project / Parcours Night
presented by Art Basel & Kaserne Basel / «Moving Parts» Benjamin Millepied /
«Winterbranch» Merce Cunningham
MI 12.06 / 19:00
MI 12.06 / 21:30
Pressetext
Der Abend beginnt mit dem Sück «Moving Parts», der neuesten Choreografie von
Benjamin Millepied. Der «junge Charmeur» (Zeitschrift «Tanz») des internationalen Tanzes
ist spätestens seit dem Film «Black Swan» einem grösseren Publikum bekannt. «The
inspiration for the piece came from Christopher Wool’s process as a painter, the layering
and the way these layers interact in surprising ways,» so Millepied. Christopher Wool selbst
ist für das Bühnenbild verantwortlich, die Kostüme haben Kate und Laura Mulleavy vom
Fashionlabel Rodarte entworfen. Die Musik ist von Nico Muhly, zeitgenössischer
Komponist und musikalischer Partner für verschiedene bekannte Musiker wie Björk,
Grizzly Bear, Philipp Glass oder Antony and the Johnsons. Den zweiten Teil setzt das L.A.
Dance Project mit einem Klassiker der Tanzgeschichte fort: «Winterbranch», eine
Choreografie von Merce Cunningham. Fallen und Aufstehen sind die zwei Grundideen auf
denen Cunningham seine Choreografie entwarf – Robert Rauschenberg zog den Tänzern
zur Uraufführung 1964 Trainingsanzüge und Turnschuhe an und malte ihnen schwarze
Farbe unter die Augen. Die Musik von La Monte Young mit dem Namen «2 Sounds»
bestand aus «dem Geräusch von Aschenbechern, die an einem Spiegel kratzen und dem
Geräusch von Holzstücken, die gegen einen chinesischen Gong reiben».
Das L.A. Dance Project ist ein Kollektiv von Künstlern, das vom renommierten
Choreografen und Tänzer Benjamin Millepied zusammen mit dem Komponisten Nico
Muhly, dem Art Consultant Matthieu Humery, dem Produzenten Charles Fabius und dem
Filmproduzenten Dimitri Chamblas gegründet wurde. Das Ziel des L.A Dance Projects ist
die Kreation von neuen Werken und die wegweisende Zusammenarbeit mit
einflussreichen Choreografen. Die neuen Werke der Compagnie streben nach einer
inter-disziplinären Zusammenarbeit mit unterschiedlichen Künstlern: bildende Künstler,
Musiker, Designer, Regisseure und Komponisten. Die Art Basel präsentiert in
Zusammenarbeit mit der Kaserne Basel zwei Choreografien des L.A. Dance Project. Sie sind
Teil der «Parcours Night», die von Florence Derieux, der Direktorin des FRAC ChampagneArdenne, kuratiert wurde und den diesjährigen Parcours der Art Basel eröffnet. Parcours,
ein Sektor der Art Basel, zeigt ortspezifische Installationen von etablierten internationalen
KünstlerInnen und jungen Talenten und findet in diesem Jahr rund um die Kaserne und
das Klingental statt.
http://player.vimeo.com/video/52394880
„Moving Parts“
Premiering August 20, 2012, Moving Parts features a score by Nico Muhly, costumes by Rodarte,
stunning visuals by famed LA artist Christopher Wool and choreography by LA Dance Project’s
founder, Benjamin Millepied.
„Winterbranch“ (1964)
Winterbranch (Uraufführung 21. März 1964) ist ein Tanz über das Fallen. Hier hat Cunningham im
Vorfeld vieles mit Steve Paxton ausprobiert. Zusätzlich kam die Idee hinzu, die Tänzer nicht in einer
Art Entrée tanzend auf ihren Platz auf der Bühne zu führen, sondern dass sie einfach auf ihren Platz
gehen, dort tanzen und wieder abtreten sollten. Das Bühnenbild (Bob Rauschenberg) sollte laut
Cunninghams Vorstellung schwarz gestaltet sein.
The concept for Winterbranch came from what Cunningham referred to as “facts in dancing.” Two
such facts are the act of falling, and unless one stays on the ground, the subsequent act of rising. The
dance began with Cunningham crawling slowly across the stage carrying a flashlight, followed by
the dancers engaging in a series of falls, in both slow and fast motion, eventually clustering together
to fall and rise as a cohesive group. Cunningham asked Rauschenberg to think of the lighting as if it
were nighttime, with automobile lights flashing in faces, reminiscent of walking along a dark
highway. Rauschenberg dressed the dancers in sweat suits and sneakers, with black paint under
their eyes. La Monte Young’s music for the piece, entitled 2 Sounds, consisted of “the sound of
ashtrays scraped against a mirror, and the other, that of pieces of wood rubbed against a Chinese
gong.”
PREMIERE DATE
March 20, 1964
PREMIERE VENUE
Wadsworth Atheneum
LOCATION
Hartford, CT
MUSIC
La Monte Young, 2 Sounds (April 1960)
DECOR
Robert Rauschenberg
COSTUMES
Robert Rauschenberg
DURATION
15 minutes
ORGINAL CAST
Carolyn Brown, Merce Cunningham, William Davies, Viola Farber,
Barbara Lloyd, Steve Paxton
Merce Cunningham
Kurzbiografie Merce Cunningham (* 16. April 1919 in Centralia, Washington; † 26. Juli 2009 in
New York City) war ein US-amerikanischer Tänzer und Choreograf. Zu Beginn seiner Karriere wurde
er von vielen als sehr talentierter Tänzer angesehen, der aber sein Talent mit gewagten TanzExperimenten vergeude. Vier Jahrzehnte später ist seine Stellung als einer der führenden Köpfe des
modernen Tanztheaters unbestritten.
Mit John Cage lernte Cunningham seinen späteren Arbeits- und Lebenspartner kennen. Im Laufe der
Zeit wurde der Tanz und die Musik der beiden immer unabhängiger voneinander, und in den
frühen 1950er Jahren war schließlich die einzige Bindung zwischen Tanz und Musik die
Gleichzeitigkeit ihrer Darbietung. Die Bühnenbilder für Cunningham entwarf oft der Maler Robert
Rauschenberg.
Cunninghams Werke finden sich heutzutage im Repertoire von Ballett- und TanztheaterCompagnien in der ganzen Welt. 2005 erhielt er die renommierte Auszeichnung Praemium
Imperiale, den „Nobelpreis der Künste“. 1985 war er MacArthur Fellow (Auszeichnung, welche die
MacArthur-Stiftung alljährlich an 20 bis 40 US-Amerikaner verleiht, die „außerordentliche
Verdienste vorzeigen und andauernde und verstärkte kreative Arbeit versprechen“.
"If a dancer dances – which is not the same as having theories about
dancing or wishing to dance or trying to dance or remembering in his
body someone else’s dance – but if the dancer dances, everything is
there. . . our ecstasy in dance comes from the possible gift of freedom,
the exhilarating moment that this exposing of the bare energy can give
us. what is meant is not license, but freedom..."
Merce Cunningham (1952)
www.mercecunningham.org
L.A. Dance Project
L.A Dance Project is a program of events founded by renowned choreographer and dancer Benjamin
Millepied. Its premiere performances commissioned by Glorya Kaufman presents Dance at the Music
Center are scheduled for September 22 and 23, 2012 at Walt Disney Concert Hall at the Music
Center.Millepied founded L.A Dance Project as an art collective together with composer Nico Muhly,
art consultant Matthieu Humery, producer Charles Fabius and film producer Dimitri Chamblas.
L.A Dance Project's goal is to create new work and to revive seminal collaborations from the past.
Programs will include full-length evenings in traditional theater venues as well as various modular
performances in non-traditional environments.
Charlie Hodges, Ballet Master
Charlie graduated Valedictorian from Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts where he earned
the Arnold C. Taylor Award for Artistic and Academic Excellence. He spent four years dancing soloist
and principal roles with the Sacramento Ballet, performing works by Ron Cunningham, Balanchine
and deMille. Charlie has spent the last ten years working for and alongside Twyla Tharp. Dancing in
her touring company, he was nominated the Best Male Dancer of 2003 by the European Critic's
Choice Awards. In 2006, he made his Broadway Debut in the Tharp/Joel musical Movin' Out. He
assisted in the creation of, and performed in, Tharp's subsequent Broadway musical The Times They
Are A-Changin'. And in 2010, he won the Fred Astaire Award for Best Male Dancer on Broadway for
the creation of his role, Marty, in the Sinatra musical Come Fly Away. He has had the thrill of staging
works of both Tharp and Millepied on companies in France and Australia as well as in New York,
Seattle, Michigan and California. And, he has guested with Lar Lubovitch, Los Angeles Dance
Company, Westside Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Charlie earned a High Honors Undergraduate Degree from the University of Washington where he
graduated Summa Cum Laude, gaining admittance to both Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Alpha
Lambda. As a Mary Gate's Research Scholar, he developed a University curriculum that exploits how
a dancer's brain is the most valuable tool. He recently deferred from Pratt University's Master Degree
for Industrial Design to kickstart LADP, a project in which he is thrilled to participate. And, he has
spent the last two years working with ODA, an architecture firm in SoHo Manhattan that specializes
in mid-century modern renovations. He dances for his husband Adam, John, Brenda, Boone, and
most importantly his mother, Cathy.
Aaron Carr
Aaron Carr began dancing at age six in Pensacola, Florida. He studied ballet throughout high school
as an ABT national training scholar before attending the Juilliard School in New York City. Aaron has
been a member of KEIGWIN + COMPANY since graduating in 2009.He has also been dancing for
ZVIDANCE for the past four years. Through these companies, Aaron has toured internationally but
also found a love for teaching. As a freelance dancer Aaron has also had the chance to dance for
Charlotte Bydwell, Jaclyn K. Walsh, The Troupe, Jonathan Royce Wyndham, Emily Schoen, &
PROJECT RUIN.
Rachelle Rafailedes
Rachelle Rafailedes is a native Ohioan that began her formal dance training at an early age. She has
since received her BFA from The Juilliard School in 2009, under the direction of Lawrence
Rhodes, where she was awarded the Martha Hill Prize for excellence in leadership and dance. In her
career thus far, Rachelle has been fortunate to perform work by renowned choreographers
including: Ohad Naharin, Twyla Tharp, Antony Tudor, and Aszure Barton, as well as guest
perform with Keigwin + Company and Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. She has spent the past four
years dancing with Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion and is a Bessie Award winning collaborator
for Mr. Abraham’s The Radio Show.
Amanda W ells
Amanda Wells was born in San Francisco, where she began her formal dance training at the San
Francisco Ballet School. She continued to train and perform with the Boston Ballet and Richmond
Ballet Company. Amanda relocated to New York to attend NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she
earned a BFA. Upon graduation she joined the Stephen Petronio Company where for ten years she
had the pleasure of creating new works, touring and teaching master classes across the US, Europe,
Asia and Australia. Wells also served as a faculty member at Dance Cavise in Westchester, NY and
The New England Academy of Dance in New Canaan, CT. She is a certified OM Yoga instructor, and
currently a part of the Teacher Certification Program with Susan Klein.
Nathan B.Makolandra
Nathan began dancing and choreographing in Greenville South Carolina. He is currently a fourth
year student at The Juilliard School under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes. His performance
experience includes the works of Alexander Ekman, Nacho Duato, Jerome Robbins, Bronsilava
Nijinska, Eliot Feld, Sidra Bell, Jose Limon, and Victor Quijeda. In December of 2010, Nathan
collaborated with composer Jared Miller for the Juilliard Composers and Choreographers Concert.
Nathan’s choreography has been recognized at the regional and national level as well as being
selected for the Choreographic Honors concert in Juilliard’s own prestigious Peter Jay Sharp Theater
(2009 and 2010). In addition, Nathan’s choreography appeared on Fox’s So You Think You Can
Dance (Jakob Karr: Audition & Top 10 solo, Ariana Dubose: Top 20 solo). Nathan also had the distinct
pleasure of choreographing a dance/music video for UK Artist Richard Walters entitled “American
Stitches”. Last summer, Nathan placed 1st runner up in the competition for the 2011 Capezio Award
for Choreographic Excellence. Nathan is a current faculty member of Fresh Dance Intensive (Artistic
Director David Norsworthy), an initiative to help promote the next generation of young
choreographers and artists.
Morgan Lugo
Morgan Lugo, a native of Wilmington, North Carolina, attended North Carolina School of the Arts
and holds a BFA from SUNY Purchase College. He has also studied with American Dance Festival,
Dance New York International, Springboard Dans Montreal and Taipei National University of the
Arts. Morgan has performed works by such choreographers as Luca Veggetti, Lar Lubovitch, Doug
Varone, Stephen Petronio, Nicolo Fonte, Paul Taylor, and Huang Yi of Cloud Gate Dance Company.
In 2011 Morgan made his Joyce debut with Morphoses under Artitic Director and choreographer
Luca Veggetti.
Julia Eichten
Julia Eichten grew up dancing in Minnesota. She is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School under
the directorship of Lawrence Rhodes. While attending Juilliard she had the opportunity of
performing a wide variety of work with world-renowned choreographers including, Stijn Celis,
Ohad Naharin, Alexander Ekman, Mark Morris, Paul Taylor and Jose Limón. During this time, she
also had the pleasure of working with Benjamin Millepied and Steven Wadsworth in Julliard’s first
collaboration with the MET. Upon graduation Julia received the Hector Zaraspe award in
recognition of her choreography. Since graduation Julia has had the chance to work with Aszure
Barton & Artists and has had the opportunity of showing her work around New York City, at such
places as; Le Poisson Rouge, Dumbo Dance Festival and Dance Theater of Harlem. Filled with
excitement and curiosity, Julia is very pleased to be apart of this new and exciting journey with the
L.A. Dance Project.
Benjamin Milledpied (Choreographer)
New York Times, 24. Januar 2013
„Benjamin Millepied, the choreographer and a former principal at New
York City Ballet, will be the new director of dance at the Paris Opera
Ballet, starting in September 2014.“
Biography
Born in Bordeaux France, Benjamin Millepied began his dance training at the age of eight with his
mother Catherine, a former modern dancer. From the age of thirteen to sixteen he attended the
Conservatoire National de Lyon, studying classical ballet under Michel Rahn. In the summer of 1992,
Benjamin made his first appearance in New York City, for a summer program at the School of
American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet. The following year he became a full-time
student at the school, having received the “Bourse Lavoisier,” a scholarship award from the French
Ministry of Culture. For the 1994 SAB Spring Workshop, Benjamin originated a principal role in
Jerome Robbins’ 2 & 3 Part Inventions, set to music by J.S Bach. That same year, he was awarded the
prestigious “Prix de Lausanne.” In his last year at SAB, Benjamin received the Mae L. Wien Award for
Outstanding Promise and was invited to become a member of New York City Ballet. By early 2001, he
was promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer. In 2004 and 2005, Benjamin directed the Morriss
Center Dance Workshop in Bridgehampton, New York. From 2006 to 2007, he was choreographerin-residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York. In 2007, Benjamin received the United
States Artists Wynn Fellowship. In 2010, Mr. Millepied was made Chevalier in the Order of Arts and
Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.
As a dancer with the New York City Ballet, Mr. Millepied’s repertoire included featured roles in
George Balanchine’s Agon, Ballo Della Regina, Coppélia, “Divertimento” from Le Baiser De La Fée,
The Nutcracker, Harlequinade, Rubies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Raymonda Variations, La
Source, Stars and Stripes, Symphony in C, Tarantella, Tschaikovsky Pas De Deux, Theme and
Variations, Valse-Fantasie. Mr. Millepied also danced numerous featured roles in Jerome Robbins’
works, including 2 & 3 Part Inventions, Dances at a Gathering, Fancy Free, A Suite of Dances, In The
Night, The Four Seasons, Dybbuk, Interplay, Piano Pieces and West Side Story Suite. Mr. Millepied
repertoire also included featured roles in Susan Stroman’s Double Feature, Christopher Wheeldon’s
Carousel (A Dance) and Mercurial Manoeuvres, and Peter Martins’ Swan Lake and Sleeping
Beauty. Additionally, Mr. Millepied originated roles in many works, including: Jerome Robbins’
Brandenburg, Les Noces (revival), and Dybbuk (revival); Peter Martins’ Hallelujah Junction; Angelin
Preljocaj’s La Stravaganza; Mauro Bigonzetti’s Vespro and In Vento; and Alexei Ratmanski’s
Concerto DSCH. In 1999 and 2002 he appeared in featured roles with the New York City Ballet for the
nationally televised Live From Lincoln Center broadcast. Mr. Millepied retired from the New York
City Ballet in 2011. In 2010, Mr. Millepied choreographed and starred in Darren Aronofsky’s awardwinning feature film Black Swan. That year, Benjamin also directed his first short film featuring Lea
Seydoux and a score by Angelo Badalamenti. In 2011, Millepied directed 5 short films set to new
violin works by Phillip Glass, commissioned by Timothy Fain for a multi-media performance entitled
Portals. Benjamin is now directing on a regular basis.
In 2012, Mr. Millepied announced the creation of LA Dance Project, a new dance company. L.A.
Dance Project’s inaugural performances, commissioned by The Music Center, will take place in
September of 2012 at The Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and feature a new
work choreographed by Mr. Millepied with a commissioned score by Nico Muhly, set design by artist
Christopher Wool, and costumes by Rodarte. L.A. Dance Project will tour the United States and
internationally into 2013.
Mr. Millepied is also the face of Yves Saint Laurent’s new fragrance for men, “L’Homme Libre”.
www.ladanceproject.com
www.benjaminmillepied.com
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