Description
Slow and sensual, insistent and intertwined, athletic and aware, Leichter's dance pieces are filled with provocative pairings. Whether exploring race and gender, the relationship between dancers, or between street and traditional dance styles, the movement evokes a cultivated culture clash.
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Nicholas Leichter Biography
Nicholas Leichter (Artistic Director) received a BA in Dance
from Connecticut College where he studied with Jacylnn Villamil
and Martha Myers. He was a member of Ralph Lemon Company from
1993-1995, has performed with the companies of Jennifer Muller,
Ronald K. Brown, and Gus Solomons jr, and regularly appears
in the work of Clare Byrne.
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Repertory>full
repertory info
Spanish Wells (40 minutes)
In Spanish Wells, a diverse community
exchange unspoken bonds that reach back and forth across time.
Alternating sections of Claude Debussy’s La Mer
with songs by Amy Winehouse, Leichter’s newest work
is a Creole with a slightly ‘60s vibe, mixing up genres
in music and dance, along with sea themes, ideas of death
and afterlife, and a touch of the subversive. Support for
Spanish Wells was provided with public funds from the National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the New York State Council
on the Arts (NYSCA).
The RIte of Spring (33 minutes)
Leichter’s vision for this second commission for the
company from the Brooklyn Philharmonic follows the structures
of the Stravinsky ballet but imagines a collective of workers
instead of a virgin as the central theme. Support for the
Rite of Spring was provided, in
part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the
Arts.
Sweetwash (30 minutes)
Marking Nicholas Leichter’s first
collaboration with African American composer, writer, and
performer Eisa Davis, Sweetwash honors
the work and ideas of African American civil rights activists
and literary figures.
Carmina Burana (full-evening opera, 65 minutes choreograhy)
Set to medieval poetry, Nicholas Leichter’s choreography
forges a fresh interpretation of composer Carl Orff’s
exploration into hedonistic pagan ritual. Distancing
Carmina Burana from the Third Reich’s
appropriation of the work during the second World War, Leichter’s
signature choreographic style, fusing a modern dance vernacular
with urban street dance, transforms this magnetic, crowd-pleasing
work, often over-used in our popular culture, into a full-out
celebration of contemporary cultural diversity.
Downloads and Links
Website: nicholasleichterdance
To access high resolution images or technical specifications
for this artist send an email to: info@elsieman.org,
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