AMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL EXPLORES WHAT IS DANCE THEATRE?

For Immediate Release

JUNE 10 – JULY 24, 2010

8 World Premieres  1 US Premiere  2 Reconstructions  5 ADF Debuts

The American Dance Festival (ADF) celebrates 77 years of the best in modern dance by exploring What is Dance Theater? from June 10 – July 24, 2010. The Festival will explore works of the dance theater genre, allowing audiences the opportunity to see the influences of theater on modern dance and the inspiration the art form has had on choreographers’ artistic expression. Many of the choreographers represented this season – Jerome Robbins, Shen Wei, Paul Taylor, RUBBERBANDance Group, Martha Clarke, Pilobolus, Mark Dendy, Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak, Tatiana Baganova, and Rosie Herrera – have created works known for dipping a toe in both theater and dance and then back again, all with great success.

The 2010 Festival will also highlight significant milestones from Paul Taylor and Shen Wei. Performances will once again take place in two locations. ADF @ DPAC performances will take place at the Durham Performing Arts Center in downtown
Durham, and ADF @ DUKE performances will take place at Reynolds Industries Theater
on Duke University’s West Campus.

The Festival’s 2010 repertory begins with the unforgettable African American Dance Ensemble on June 10 – 12. Making their ADF debuts, Monica Bill Barnes & Company and Kate Weare Company will celebrate humor, individuality, and the complexities of human behavior with a shared program at Reynolds Industries Theater June 15 - 16.
Inbal Pinto & Avshalom Pollak Dance Company will make its ADF debut and present its 1999 tour-de-force, Oyster, June 17-19 at the Durham Performing Arts Center. North Carolina native Mark Dendy and his company, Dendy Dancetheater, present an ADF-commissioned World Premiere at Reynolds Industries Theater June 21-23.

The extraordinary dancers of Canadian company RUBBERBANDance Group articulate the perfect marriage between explosive hip-hop physicality and the subtle profoundness of contemporary story telling. This summer, Durham audiences will get their turn as the company presents Loan Sharking (2008) at the Durham Performing Arts Center June 24-26.
For more than thirty years, Eiko & Koma have been performing internationally their own ’delicious movement.” At Reynolds Industries Theater June 28-30, the duo will present a retrospective of their most timeless dances artists have created work that

Year after year the most original Pilobolus works challenge, provoke, and inspire. Onstage at the Durham Performing Arts Center July 1-3, the company presents an ADF co-commissioned collaboration with one of Time Magazine’s ’100 Most Influential People,” Pulitzer Prize-winning artist/illustrator and comics guru, Art Spiegelman of The
New Yorker.

Director, choreographer and 2010 Scripps/ADF Award recipient Martha Clarke collaborates with Pulitzer, Tony, and Academy Award-winning writer Alfred Uhry (Driving Miss Daisy) on a highly anticipated ADF-commissioned work based on the Shakers, to be presented at Reynolds Industries Theater July 5-7.

Argentina-based Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company presents a sensational exploration of space, flying, and movement, both onstage and above. The tango takes flight July 8-10 at the Durham Performing Arts Center.

Back by popular demand, Rosie Herrera brings her Miami-based company to Reynolds Industries Theater July 12-14 to present last year’s Past/Forward hit, Various Stages of Drowning: A Cabaret (2009).

Paul Taylor Dance Company revisits the Durham Performing Arts Center July 15-17 with Taylor’s trailblazing choreography that has touched dance aficionados and novices alike for over six decades. Audiences will experience an addition to an ADF-commissioned World Premiere celebrating Taylor’s 80th birthday

The ADF’s Past/Forward program celebrates new works and classic reconstructions featuring ADF dancers July 19-21 at Reynolds Industries Theater.

Concluding the ADF’s 77th season, Shen Wei Dance Arts will grace the Durham Performing Arts Center stage July 22-24. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of this internationally acclaimed company, Shen Wei Dance Arts will present two programs for ADF audiences.

For detailed information about the 2010 Festival, ADF community programs, performing companies/choreographers, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.americandancefestival.org. Patrons may also learn more about the Festival, receive frequent insider updates, and get to know the performing companies by becoming a fan on Facebook and/or following the ADF on Twitter (@AmerDanceFest).

TICKET INFORMATION: Single tickets and new subscriptions to ADF performances go on sale on May 10, 2010 and may be purchased by phone by calling 919.688.2233 (2ADF), online at www.americandancefestival.org, in person at Durham Performing Arts Center Ticket Center, 123 Vivian Street Durham NC, and Duke University Box Office, Bryan University Center, Duke University West Campus. Tickets range in price from $20 - $45.