Lar Lubovitch residency to begin May 29 on campus
Lubovitch dancers in North Star (Photo by Todd Rosenberg)
The summer at Skidmore College will start on a high note in late May when the renowned Lar Lubovitch Dance Company begins a three-week residency on campus. Company events throughout the residency will include master classes, public lecture/demonstrations, and, as part of SaratogaArtsFest, a June 9 performance at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Ten dancers from the renowned modern dance company and a group of guest teachers will be at the college May 29 through June 18, offering an intensive workshop for pre-professional and professional dancers. The residency and student workshop are sponsored in part, by the Dance Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, the Lar Lubovitch Company, and the Office of the Dean of Special Programs at Skidmore.
The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company is one of the headlined performances offered during SaratogaArtsFest. The company will dance at 8 p.m. Thursday, June 9, at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Admission for the event is $30, or $25 for those holding an ArtsPass or Festival Pass. Tickets are available online or by phone at 518-584-9330.
Lubovitch works to be danced at SPAC include "North Star," a 1978 signature work set to a composition by Philip Glass; Duet from "Meadow," which was premiered in 1999 by American Ballet Theatre, with music from the disc "Vita Nova," composed by Gavin Bryars; "The Legend of Ten," the choreographer's newest work, premiered in the fall of 2010, which is set to the first and fourth movements of Brahms' Piano Quartet; and "Coltrane's Favorite Things," which was premiered in February 2010, inspired by Lubovitch's Chicago jazz roots and by Coltrane's saxophone interpretation of Richard Rodgers' "My Favorite Things."
"Performing at SPAC in the aura of so many great Balanchine dances and dancers is humbling, and challenges us to rise to the occasion," Lubovitch said in an email from his studio.
The New York Times has called Lubovitch "one of the ten best choreographers in the world." He founded the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company in 1968, and since then has choreographed more than 100 dances.
Born in Chicago, Lubovitch was educated at the University of Iowa and the Juilliard School in New York. His teachers at Juilliard included Antony Tudor, Jose Limon, Anna Sokolow and Martha Graham. He danced in numerous modern, ballet, jazz and ethnic companies before establishing his own company.
Lubovitch made his Broadway debut in 1987 with the musical staging for the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical, Into the Woods, for which he received a Tony Award nomination. In 1993 he choreographed the highly praised dance sequences for the Broadway show "T he Red Shoes." In 1996 he created the musical staging (and two new dances) for the Tony-Award-winning Broadway revival of " The King and I." Most recently he devised the musical staging for Walt Disney's stage version of " The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in Berlin. In 2004 he was honored with the Elan Award for his outstanding choreography.
Coltrane's Favorite Things, Lar Lubovitch dancers
(Photo by Todd Rosenberg)
In addition to his work for stage, screen and television, Lubovitch has also made a significant contribution to the advancement of choreography in the field of ice dancing. He created dances for Olympic gold medalists John Curry, Peggy Fleming, and Dorothy Hamill and choreographed a full-length ice-dancing version of The Sleeping Beauty, starring Olympic medalists Robin Cousins and Rosalynn Sumners.
The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company was in residence at Skidmore once before, in 1994, when the choreographer was finishing work on "The Red Shoes."The final ballet from that show joined the repertories of American Ballet Theatre and the National Ballet of Canada. For his work on that show, Lubovitch received the 1993-94 Astaire Award from the Theater Development Fund.
Skidmore has hosted numerous dance companies for summer residencies through the years, including the Lim n Dance Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, Doug Varone and Dancers, Trisha Brown Company, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Martha Graham Dance Company, Garth Fagan Dance, and the Parsons Dance Company.
For the 2011 workshop with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, 35 dancers from throughout the U.S. have been selected to participate. Most are college juniors, seniors or graduate students. The program will offer training in modern technique, Lubovitch repertory, body conditioning, ballet, jazz, and special-interest seminars. Joining the company in teaching daily classes are distinguished alumni of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company: Sylvain Lafortune, Jeanne Solan, Rebecca Rigert and Nancy Colahan.
Lubovitch observed, "We place great value on the passing of knowledge to the next generation. It is the time honored tradition of maintaining the legacy...from dancer to dancer...."
The workshop's student dancers will give a public "showing" on the afternoon of June 17, time to be announced, in the Skidmore College Dance Center. Call 518-580-5599 for details.
Lar Lubovitch Dance Company
Skidmore Summer Dance Workshop 2011
May 29 - June 18
All events to be presented at Skidmore College and are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Master Class,June 1, 6:30 p.m.
Class Fee: $25
National Museum of Dance, South Broadway
A Conversation with Lar Lubovitch,June 2, 6:30 p.m.
Entry Fee: $8
National Museum of Dance, South Broadway
Lecture-Demonstration,June 3, 7:30 p.m.
Dance Center, Skidmore College
Lecture Demonstration,June 7, 7:30 p.m.
Dance Center, Skidmore College
Pre-performance Talk,June 9, 7:30 p.m.
Free with ticketed attendance for 8 p.m. performance
Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Dance Performance,a SaratogaArtsFest event,June 9, 8 p.m.
Saratoga Performing Arts Center
For tickets: http://www.spac.org/ or (518) 584-9330
Lecture Demonstration,June 14, 7:30 p.m.
Dance Center, Skidmore College
Dance Student Showing,June 17
Participants of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company
Afternoon time to be announced (call 518-580-5599 for details)
Dance Center, Skidmore College