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Additional Pathways to Dance events announced, March 31–April 2
SCHENECTADY, NY—MARCH 21, 2016—Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp will spend three days in the Capital Region as March passes to April, dropping in at a variety of Pathways to Dance events in conjunction with Basilica Hudson, Hubbard Hall, Proctors and Russell Sage College.
Pathways to Dance is an annual eight-county Capital Region initiative, in concert with Manhattan’s Joyce Theater, designed to support new dance creation and presentation.
Earlier in the month, Tharp signed books and spoke with WAMC’s Joe Donahue at UAlbany’s Page Hall. On Saturday, April 16, the choreographer will offer a look at works in progress at the Orpheum Film & Performing Arts Center in Tannersville; and Thursday, June 30, the groundbreaking collaboration culminates with the premiere of a new evening of dance at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Currently, Twyla Tharp Dance is in residence at Catskill Mountain Foundation in Hunter, where the troupe is mounting repertory works and rehearsing a new dance set to Beethoven’s Opus 130.
7 p.m. Thursday, March 31, at Basilica Hudson, Tharp will offer a lecture on The Creative Habit, based on her 2006 book of the same name. Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Ms. Tharp has choreographed more than one hundred sixty works: one hundred twenty-nine dances, twelve television specials, five Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows and two figure skating routines. She has also written three books and is working on a fourth. She received one Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, nineteen honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President’s Award, the 2004 National Medal of the Arts, the 2008 Jerome Robbins Prize and a 2008 Kennedy Center Honor.
Friday April 1, Tharp and members of her company will hold a lecture and demonstration at both Hubbard Hall (1 p.m.) and Russell Sage College (4 p.m.). The latter is presented in association with Troy Cultural Alliance, as part of the school’s Centennial celebration. The events are based on the program that will premiere at SPAC and tour across New York State this summer. The group will discuss the rehearsal process, the importance of remounting older works—specifically Country Dances from 1973 and Sinatra Suite from 1983—as well as talk about the Beethoven piece. Audiences will learn how the works fit together and represent a trajectory of Tharp’s career, making for an exciting look into the famed American choreographer’s process.
5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 2, the Schenectady YMCA, in association with Proctors, will host a performance of Tharp’s The One Hundreds (1970). The One Hundreds is a participatory dance event starring 100 community volunteers and company members of Twyla Tharp Dance. Registration begins at 1 p.m. Rehearsals follow, with attendees learning a specific dance phrase from a company member while leading up to the full performance.
All Pathways to Dance events March 31-April 2 are free and open to the public. Please visit individual websites for more information.
Twyla Tharp lecture, 7 p.m. Thursday, March 31, Basilica Hudson, 110 S. Front Street, Hudson, NY, 518.822.1050, basilicahudson.org.
Twyla Tharp Dance lecture/demonstration, 1 p.m. Friday, April 1, Hubbard Hall, 25 E. Main Street, Cambridge, NY, 518.677.2495, hubbardhall.org.
Twyla Tharp Dance lecture/demonstration, 4 p.m. Friday, April 1, Russell Sage College, 65 1st Street, Troy, NY, 518.244.2000, sage.edu.
Twyla Tharp’s The One Hundreds, 1 p.m. registration; 5:30 p.m. performance, Schenectady YMCA, 433 State Street, Schenectady, NY, via Proctors, 518.346.6204, proctors.org.
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