Jacob's Pillow Presents World Premiere of Cherkaoui's "Orbo Novo"
.jpeg)
BECKET, Mass. - In one of the most highly-anticipated dance engagements of 2009, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet performs the world premiere of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Orbo Novo at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival July 8–12. One of Europe’s most in-demand dancemakers, Belgian-born Cherkaoui is known for his intensely eclectic movement style and a unique repertory that deals with cultural connections and divisions. Orbo Novo (New World) draws its inspiration from neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s memoir My Stroke of Insight, in which she chronicles her scientific study of her own stroke. “The piece tackles issues of freedom, contamination, perspective, loneliness, and enlightenment,” Cherkaoui comments. “Orbo Novo is, in a way, an exploration of the present moment, the Now.” In addition, Cherkaoui has stated that the title of the work is inspired by what is believed to be the first reference to North America as ‘the New World,’ in a 1493 letter by Pietro Martire d'Anghiera, a historian of Spain and its Age of Exploration. Orbo Novo is Cherkaoui’s first work created for an American company and features an original score by Polish composer Szymon Brzóska, performed live at the Pillow by the Mosaic String Quartet.
Cherkaoui also states that Orbo Novo searches for “the perfect balance between left and right, between heaven and earth…Or to quote Jill Bolte Taylor,” he comments, “I believe, that the more time we spend choosing to run the deep inner peace circuitry of our right brain hemispheres, the more peace we will project into the world, and the more peaceful our planet will be, and I thought that was an idea worth spreading.”
According to Roslyn Sulcas of The New York Times, “Mr. Cherkaoui's physical vocabulary is contemporary in its supple, back-bending deployment of the upper body, and the extraordinarily fluid transitions between vertical and horizontal, the ground and the air, that can suggest a kind of transcendental break dance.” In Orbo Novo, the Cedar Lake dancers perform his gravity-defying choreography with uncanny ease and grace as they leap, tumble, slide, and fall across the stage and up, over, and through tall latticed set pieces designed by Alexander Dodge. Founded in 2003, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet is an athletic young company of unique abilities; its corps of 16 dancers have been called “extraordinarily gifted” by The New York Post and “superb and versatile performers” by The Village Voice.
“Here we have a perfect confluence: a world premiere by one of the most important choreographers working anywhere today, performed by the especially brilliant dancers of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, with a new original score by a wonderfully talented young composer, performed live at the Pillow. It just doesn’t get any better than that,” comments Ella Baff, Executive Director of Jacob’s Pillow.
Pillow audiences were introduced to Cherkaoui’s work in 2007, when Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève performed the U.S. premiere of Loin during the 75th Anniversary Festival. Recognized as a choreographic prodigy, Cherkaoui was born to a Flemish mother and Moroccan father and began his dance career at the late age of 16, training at Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s acclaimed P.A.R.T.S. school in Brussels. He studied the techniques of William Forsythe, Pina Bausch, and Trisha Brown before joining Alain Platel’s Les Ballets C. de la B. and becoming one of Europe’s most highly regarded performers. His choreography burst onto the contemporary scene in 2000 with his first work, Rien de Rien, which toured throughout Europe and won him the 2002 Nijinsky Award for best emerging choreographer.
In addition to Les Ballets C. de la B. and Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Cherkaoui has created commissioned works for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Sweden’s Cullberg Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet. In 2005, he collaborated with British-Bangladeshi dancer/choreographer Akram Khan to create and perform zero degrees, a duet about similarities and differences in culture and behavior. Zero degrees was described by The Village Voice as “deep, soul-shaking performing, in which every move seems to flow from a wellspring of feelings and experiences.” In 2006, Cherkaoui was named artist-in-residence at Toneelhuis in Antwerp, the largest municipal theatre in Europe’s Flanders region. In 2008, Sutra, created with the Buddhist monks of the Shaolin Temple in China, opened to critical acclaim at Sadler’s Wells in London. His work is known for its distinct physicality and central themes of equality among all individuals, ethnicities, and means of expression.
On Wednesday, July 8 at 5pm, Cherkaoui, Brzóska, and Cedar Lake director Benoit-Swan Pouffer will discuss the creation of the choreography and music for Orbo Novo in a free PillowTalk titled Previewing a World Premiere.
This 2009 Festival presentation will mark Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet’s first time performing in the Ted Shawn Theatre. The 16-member company performed as part of Inside/Out, the Pillow’s free performance series in 2006. Based in New York City, Cedar Lake, named one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch” in 2008, is quickly becoming one of the United States’ finest mixed repertory companies, and is led by Benoit-Swan Pouffer, who was named Artistic Director in 2005. The company’s repertoire includes works by Ohad Naharin, Jill Johnson, Stijn Celis, Nicolo Fonte, Crystal Pite, Jacopo Godani, Jo Strømgren, Angelin Preljocaj, Luca Veggetti, Didy Veldman, and Pouffer. Two Cedar Lake dancers, Jubal Battisti and Acacia Schachte, are alumni of The School at Jacob’s Pillow. For additional information on the company go to www.cedarlakedance.com.
Recently awarded a postgraduate diploma in composition from the Royal Flemish Conservatory in Antwerp, Szymon Brzóska also holds a Master in Arts diploma from the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Music Academy in Poznan. He has attracted considerable attention among professionals of classical and contemporary music and his works have been performed in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Poland. Brzóska collaborated as composer, musical director, and pianist alongside Cherkaoui and British sculptor Antony Gormley in Sutra, which has since toured among prestigious festivals of Tivoli (Rome), Avignon, Barcelona, and Athens.
The Mosaic String Quartet is based in New York City and performs extensively for dance, collaborating on eclectic repertoire from Bartok to late Beethoven to commissions by living composers. Recent seasons have brought the MSQ to the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Joyce SoHo, St. Mark’s in-the-Bowery, and the James Cohan Gallery. Musicians include Jane Chung and Liza Zurlinden on violin; Tawnya Popoff on viola; Greg Hesselink on cello; and guest pianist Aaron Wunsch.
Performance and Ticket Information
Wednesday, July 8 through Saturday, July 11, at 8pm.
Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12, at 2pm
· Tickets are $58, with discounts available for subscribers, seniors, students, and children age 16 and under. To sign up for Student Rush Ticket alerts, email info@jacobspillow.org.
· Free Pre-Show Talks with Jacob’s Pillow Scholars-in-Residence are offered on Sommerspace at Blake's Barn 30 minutes before every performance.
· Thursday, July 9, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet performers and/or artistic personnel will participate in a moderated Post-Show Talk, on stage immediately following the performance.
· Box Office hours: Monday through Saturday, 10am – 6pm, and Sunday 11am – 6pm.
· To purchase, call the Box Office at 413.243.0745 or order online at www.jacobspillow.org.
· Pillow Members receive exclusive benefits. To become a Member call 413.243.9919 x24.
Jacob’s Pillow is located at 358 George Carter Road in Becket, MA, 01223 (10 minutes east on Route 20 from Mass Pike Exit 2). The Jacob’s Pillow campus and theaters are handicapped-accessible.
