New Faces at the Joyce Theater's 2015 Ballet Festival
This story originally appeared in the August/September 2015 issue of
Pointe.
Emery LeCrone, a prolific New York City–based freelance choreographer, and Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, directed by San Francisco–based Amy Seiwert, will both have their Joyce Theater debuts in August as part of its Ballet Festival.
In 2013, the Joyce ended its summer season with an eclectic festival featuring chamber companies and dancers’ projects. The program, which traditionally favors the small, new and inventive, returns this summer.
Imagery will perform three works August 15–16, all choreographed by Seiwert: Traveling Alone, an abstract piece originally commissioned for Colorado Ballet; an expanded version of the character-driven ballet Back To; and It’s Not a Cry, one of Seiwert’s most-performed ballets. “I almost didn’t program it because I was afraid the music—Jeff Buckley’s popular cover of ‘Hallelujah’—might turn off some critics,” says Seiwert. “But I kept it because even though the music makes the work accessible to audiences, the choreography is intensely vulnerable and highly technical.”
Rather than bringing a company, LeCrone will show a revised version of 2013’s Partita No. 2 in C Minor—danced by stars of New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, no less—along with a mix of current and past repertory and a world premiere. Her performances will be held August 13–14.
The opportunity to present a full evening at the Joyce has allowed LeCrone to source from a broad spectrum of her work. “Classical training is an inherent part of my vocabulary,” LeCrone says, “but audiences shouldn’t expect everything to come strictly from that canon.”
The festival will also include Joshua Beamish/MOVE: the company, August 4–5; Chamber Dance Project, August 6–7; The Ashley Bouder Project , August 8–9; and BalletX, August 11–12. Get tickets at joyce.org/performances.
