Steps Repertory Ensemble presents program ‘both intimate and grand’

2016 New York Season of Steps Repertory Ensemble to present Lar Lubovitch's Legend of TenThe Steps Beyond Foundation—Steps on Broadway’s non-profit arm committed to connecting artists and the community through dialogue, performance and artistic collaboration—recently announced a three-day performance celebration set for May 6-8 at Ailey Citigroup Theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

 

The weekend will commence with the Steps Repertory and Guests Benefit on May 6, featuring performances by American Dance Machine, Jon Ole Olstad, choreography by Al Blackstone and the staging of a Swan Lake variation by Elena Kunikova, to be danced by a student at Steps. Plus, there will be performances by students of the Steps Conservatory Program and by pre-professional students at The School at Steps, with staging by the legendary Leslie Browne.

 

On May 7 and 8, Steps Repertory Ensemble will present a full evening of works by Artistic Director Bradley Shelver and prominent choreographers Lar Lubovitch, Sidra Bell, Julia Ehrstrand and Jae Man Joo for the ensemble’s annual New York season.

 

This program will see the company continue its mission to create new works and re-stage nationally and internationally celebrated repertory. The eclectic program includes: Sidra Bell’s contemporary work Valse, which will be seen for the first time en pointe; RUST by Sweden’s Julia Ehrstrand; The Legend of Ten by master choreographer Lar Lubovitch; and excerpts of Korean dancemaker Jae Man Joo’s RECUR. The ensemble will also present Artistic Director Bradley Shelver’s Le Monde Est Fini, Pas De Panique, SCENES and excerpts of She and Him.

 

“Over the past three years, the ensemble has grown to include the works of master choreographers while also providing budding dancemakers with the opportunity to create work on a diverse and magnetic group of dancers,” explains Shelver. “This season there is a focus on light and dark, the ways in which we as humans need both elements in our life, experiences of ups and downs. This program is both intimate and grand, housing technical prowess and its subtle gestures—it is for me a true definition of a repertory company.”

 

Proceeds from the first annual Steps Repertory and Guests Benefit will go towards dance scholarships and the newly launched New Works Fund, enabling the ensemble to commission emerging choreographers to create new works and invite dancemakers to restage notable work on its dancers. All tickets are on sale at stepsandguests.bpt.me.

 

Photo: Steps Repertory Ensemble in Legend of Ten by Lar Lubovitch. Photo by Nan Melville.