Press Release: Lucy Guerin Inc

DANCE THEATER WORKSHOP
in partnership with
BARYSHNIKOV ARTS CENTER
presents
LUCY GUERIN INC
in the U.S. premiere of
Structure and Sadness
Oct 1 - 3 at 7:30pm

New York, NY, August 13 – Dance Theater Workshop, in partnership with Baryshnikov Arts Center, presents Australian choreographer Lucy Guerin Inc in the U.S. premiere of Structure and Sadness.  This work explores the fatal 1970 collapse of the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, Australia, as a physical, emotional, and visual response to a devastating accident. On stage, six performers introduce a movement vocabulary based on the engineering principles of compression, suspension, torsion, and failure to construct a precarious world teetering on the point of collapse. Structure and Sadness examines the functional nature of construction and the emotional wreckage that is brought about by its failure.

“The portrayal of balance…as well as the huge forces at play in construction, is beautifully executed…
this is a clever, thoughtful piece” – The Daily Telegraph

“Sensitive choreography - fractured gestures, crumpled torsos, dysfunctional
rhythms - captures this emotional cost.” – The Sydney Morning Herald

Performances will take place at Dance Theater Workshop in the Bessie Schönberg Theater, Oct 1-3 (Thursday – Saturday) at 7:30pm.  There will be a Pre-Show Talk on Oct 1 (Thursday) at 6:30pm, a Post-show Talk on Oct 2 (Friday) with Tere O’Connor, and a free wine reception following every performance (Thursday – Saturday). Fee-free tickets are $15 and are available online at dancetheaterworkshop.org, over the phone at 212.924.0077, and in person at the box office. Dance Theater Workshop Members, Students, and Seniors are eligible for a 20% discount ($12 Tickets).  Box office hours are Monday – Friday from 5pm-9pm and Saturday – Sunday from 12pm – 8pm.  Dance Theater Workshop is located at 219 West 19the Street between 7th and 8th Avenues.

Prior to the performances at Dance Theater Workshop, Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) will present Lucy Guerin Inc in the in the U.S. premiere of Corridor (2008). In Corridor, the relationship between movement and language is examined through the body as a transmitter and receiver of information. Set within a corridor structure formed by the audience, the dancers respond to a continuous stream of instructions delivered through a variety of media including iPods, telephones, spoken word, and written text. Performances will be held at BAC’s Howard Gilman Performance Space Sep 16 - 20 (Wednesday at 6:30pm and 8:30pm; Thursday at 8:30pm; Friday at 6:30pm and 8:30pm; Saturday at 6:30pm and 8:30pm; Sunday at 5:00pm). For more information visit: www.bacnyc.org.

About the  Artist
Born in Adelaide, Australia, Lucy Guerin graduated from the Centre for Performing Arts in 1982 before joining the companies of Russell Dumas (Dance Exchange) and Nanette Hassall (Danceworks). She moved to New York in 1989 for seven years where she danced with Tere O’Connor Dance, Bebe Miller Company, and Sara Rudner. Now based in Melbourne, Guerin has been commissioned by Chunky Move, Ros Warby, Woo Co (Denmark), Ricochet (UK ), The Berlin Literature Festival (with poet Michael Lenz), JCDN/Hirano (Japan), Dance Works Rotterdam, and Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project (USA), among others. In 2002 she formed her company Lucy Guerin Inc. Her works have toured to France, The Netherlands, UK, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Singapore, Korea, Shanghai, Croatia, Canada and throughout the U.S. In 2000 Guerin was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award for achievement by an individual. Other awards include the Prix d’auteur from the Rencontres Choregraphiques Internationales de Bagnolet in France, a 1994 New York Foundation for the Arts Choreographic Fellowship, and a 1997 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for her piece Two Lies. In 2007, Structure and Sadness won an Australian Green Room award for ‘Best Choreography’, a Helpmann Award for ‘Best Dance Work’ and an ‘Australian Dance Award’ for Best Performance by a Company. Recent works for Lucy Guerin Inc include Structure and Sadness, Corridor, and Untrained. She has also collaborated on projects with visual artist David Rosetzky, ACMI screen gallery, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the Australian Opera. For more information: www.lucyguerin.com.

Funding
Structure and Sadness (and Corridor, which is being presented at Baryshnikov Arts Center in partnership with Dance Theater Workshop) are funded, in part, by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding form the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Structure and Sadness has been supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts’ New Australian Story Initiative and its Major Festival Initiative, managed by the Australia Council for the Arts in association with the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals, Melbourne International Arts Festival, and Sydney Festival. It was also supported by Arts Victoria and the City of Melbourne.

Touring
Lucy Guerin Inc will next perform Structure and Sadness at The Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, Australia Nov 25 - 29, 2009.

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Dance Theater Workshop is the preeminent U.S. based center for dance and performance that maintains an uncompromising mission to identify, present, and support independent contemporary artists and companies to advance dance and live performance in New York and worldwide. Dance Theater Workshop supports innovative artists through all facets of their creative process and offers audiences the opportunity to experience and engage with artistic expression in bold and evocative ways.

Dance Theater Workshop’s 2009-2010 Season Supporters (as of July 1, 2009)

Private support provided by: American Masterpieces: Dance Initiative of the New England Foundation for the Arts; The Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; The Ford Foundation; French United States Exchange in Dance of the New England Foundation for the Arts; The Howard Gilman Foundation; The Mertz Gilmore Foundation; The Greenwall Foundation; The William Randolph Hearst Foundations; The Jerome Foundation; The Lambent Foundation; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts; National Performance Network; The New York Community Trust; New York State DanceForce; The Jerome Robbins Foundation; Rockefeller Brothers Fund; The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; The Scherman Foundation; The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; The Trust for Mutual Understanding; and The Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Fund.

Corporate support provided by: Bloomberg L.P. and Consolidated Edison Company of New York.

Public support provided by the following government agencies and elected representatives: National Endowment for the Arts; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Kate D. Levin, Commissioner; Speaker Christine C. Quinn; New York City Council; New York State Council on the Arts; New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; Senator Thomas K. Duane, New York State Senate.

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