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DANCES PATRELLE announces Spring 2019 Season including the world premiere of The American Dream: It's Only Business, April 12-14

by Michelle Tabnick
February 15, 2019
New York Live Arts
219 W 19th Street
New York, NY 10011
(212) 691-6500
Dances Patrelle is pleased to announce its spring 2019 season, including the world premiere of Francis Patrelle's The American Dream: It's Only Business, at New York Live Arts, 219 W 19th Street, NYC 10011. Performances are Friday, April 12 at 7pm, Saturday, April 13 at 2pm and 7pm, and Sunday, April 14 at 12pm. Tickets are $50, with student and senior discounts available, and are currently available at www.newyorklivearts.org/event/dances-patrelle.

"In Francis Patrelle's ballets, the characters come alive. His choreography is full of heart and soul." 
- Cynthia Gregory, American Ballet Theatre Prima Ballerina

Dance's Patrelle's spring 2019 season at New York Live Arts includes Madame X (1999), featuring New York City Ballet principal dancers Abi Stafford and Ask la Cour: American Overture (2007), a solo piece set to a Leonard Bernstein score and performed by Reed Tankersley of the Twyla Tharp Company; and the world premiere of Patrelle's newest work, The American Dream: It's Only Business.

Set to a mesmerizing original score by long-time Patrelle collaborator, Patrick Soluri, Madame X debuted in 1999 to rave reviews. The piece was inspired by the famous John Singer Sargent painting "Portrait of Madame X," currently hanging in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The subject, Amelie Gautreau, was a young socialite rumored to have an affair with the infamous philanderer, Dr. Samuel Pozzi. Madame X was revived in 2005 with Sandra Brown and ABT's Marcelo Gomes as the scandalous couple, but has not been seen since. New York City Ballet principal dancers Abi Stafford and Ask la Cour will dance the roles of Gautreau and Pozzi.

Debuting with Madame X is the world premiere of The American Dream: It's Only Business. Set to César Franck's Piano Quintet in F Minor, Patrelle's newest work tells the stories of three families representing the upper, middle, and working classes. Each family has so much to give, and maybe even more to lose.
Finally, back by popular demand is Patrelle's tour de force solo, American Overture, with Twyla Tharp Company star Reed Tankersley in the iconic role of Uncle Sam. You've never seen such a riveting, thought-provoking, or sexy vision of our national symbol.

Ask la Cour (Guest Artist) was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and began his dance training at the age of nine at the Royal Danish Ballet School, where he studied with Niels Balle, Adam Lüders, and Colleen Neary. He joined the Royal Danish Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2000. Mr. la Cour joined New York City Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in the fall of 2002, was promoted to the rank of soloist in May 2005, and became a principal in February 2013.Since joining New York City Ballet, he has originated featured roles in works by Peter Martins, Christopher Wheeldon, Benjamin Millepied, and Justin Peck. He is the recipient of the 1998 Royal Theatre Award, the 2001 Edith Allers Memorial Award, the 2001 Birger Bartholins Memorial Award, and the 2001 John Roagers Memorial Award.

Abi Stafford (Guest Artist) began her dance training at the age of six with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in Carlisle, under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary. Ms. Stafford entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, full time in the fall of 1998. At SAB, she performed the role of Clarinet in Jerome Robbins' Fanfare and a role in Christopher Wheeldon's Scènes de Ballet for the SAB's Annual Workshop performances. Ms. Stafford was invited to become an apprentice with New York City Ballet in November 1999 and joined the corps de ballet in January 2000. She was promoted to the rank of soloist in January 2002 and principal dancer in December 2007. Among the ballets in which she has performed featured roles are Coppélia, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Jewels("Emeralds"), and many others. Ms. Stafford was named the Janice Levin Dancer for the 2000-2001 season. In the spring of 2003, Ms. Stafford was awarded Martin E. Segal Award, which acknowledges the exemplary achievement of young artists.

Reed Tankersley (Guest Artist), a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, began his dance training at the age of five. After graduating from The Juilliard School in 2014, he began working with Twyla Tharp on her 50th Anniversary Tour. As a featured dancer for the Twyla Tharp Company, he has had the opportunity to perform her iconic repertoire and premier original works on several nation-wide tours. Reed was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch for 2017."

About Dances Patrelle

Dances Patrelle (dP) is a dynamic professional ballet company celebrating its 26th season! dP presents two annual seasons in New York - the timeless holiday tradition, The Yorkville Nutcracker, and a spring repertory season featuring world premieres and classic Patrelle favorites. Mr. Patrelle's body of work includes over 50 original ballets choreographed for Dances Patrelle, and spans an incredibly wide range of styles, from his beloved American Songbook collection, to such contemporary classics as Madame X,Macbeth and Rhapsody in Blue.  Heralded by Lynn Garafola in Dance Magazine as a choreographer with "a personal vision…classical because it is rooted in metaphor and symbolic language [and] populist because of its legibility and broad cultural resonance," Patrelle has also cultivated a long-time collaboration with composer Patrick Soluri, commissioning four original scores including 2009's Murder at the Masque for dP's 20th Anniversary. Known for attracting the great talent of each generation, Dances Patrelle is pleased to count ballet stars such as Marcelo Gomes, Jenifer Ringer, Donald Williams, Lourdes Lopez, and Cynthia Gregory among its dancers. For 25 seasons, Dances Patrelle has tapped into the human experience, connecting intimately with the audience and continuously reinventing dramatic dance. In 2013, the company was named the resident ballet company of the Kaatsbaan International Dance Center. www.dancespatrelle.org
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