Satellite Ballet
Per Oberon's Grove Write-Up
Monday April 18, 2011 - Troy Schumacher of New York City Ballet is the founding choreographer of Satellite Ballet, an ensemble of NYCB dancers founded in 2010 by Schumacher and producer Kevin Draper as a collaborative arts workshop based out of Lake Michigan, New York and Portland, Oregon. Satellite Ballet is a creative company rooted in designing collaborations between digital artists, dancers, musicians, photographers and writers. Their current project is to create an evening of three works - two ballets and one staged vocal work - set for final workshop in the summer of 2011 and then to be premiered in New York City this Autumn.
Starting with a commission by the Satellite Gallery in conjunction with the Dogwood Center for the Performing Arts in Fremont, Michigan, Schumacher and his dancers presented PROGRESS at the Center during the summer of 2010.
Tonight at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Troy invited a small group of dance and arts devotees for a private showing; earlier in the day there was a run-thru which I watched and my friend Brian Krontz photographed. Five dancers took part in the studio performance: Teresa Reichlen, Ashley Laracey, Justin Peck, Daniel Applebaum and Sam Greenberg. Two other ballerinas are part of Satellite Ballet: Lauren King and Marika Anderson. A contingent of NYCB dancers came out to support their colleagues this evening: Sterling Hyltin, Gwyneth Muller, Sean Suozzi, Ralph Ippolito and Cameron Dieck. It was great chatting with these dancers before the presentation; they are really busy now preparing for the NYCB Spring season which begins on May 3rd.
Delicious hors d'ouevres and wine were served and then the dancing began. We were shown two excerpts from PROGRESS: a pas de deux for Ashley Laracey and Justin Peck, and a solo for Daniel Applebaum. Then Ashley performed a solo (in silence) and Tess Reichlen and Sam Greenberg a duet from the work-in-progress entitled EPISTASIS.
Composers Nick Jaina (piano) and Nathan Langston (violin) performed their scores live for the dancers, giving an added immediacy to tonight's showing. The music is melodious yet thoroughly contemporary; the theme of the PROGRESS pas de deux is particularly appealing. Troy's choreography is vibrant in its clarity and use of space; the dancers - all familiar from their work at NYCB - looked superb and the entire presentation felt fresh and exciting.
Read MoreMonday April 18, 2011 - Troy Schumacher of New York City Ballet is the founding choreographer of Satellite Ballet, an ensemble of NYCB dancers founded in 2010 by Schumacher and producer Kevin Draper as a collaborative arts workshop based out of Lake Michigan, New York and Portland, Oregon. Satellite Ballet is a creative company rooted in designing collaborations between digital artists, dancers, musicians, photographers and writers. Their current project is to create an evening of three works - two ballets and one staged vocal work - set for final workshop in the summer of 2011 and then to be premiered in New York City this Autumn.
Starting with a commission by the Satellite Gallery in conjunction with the Dogwood Center for the Performing Arts in Fremont, Michigan, Schumacher and his dancers presented PROGRESS at the Center during the summer of 2010.
Tonight at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Troy invited a small group of dance and arts devotees for a private showing; earlier in the day there was a run-thru which I watched and my friend Brian Krontz photographed. Five dancers took part in the studio performance: Teresa Reichlen, Ashley Laracey, Justin Peck, Daniel Applebaum and Sam Greenberg. Two other ballerinas are part of Satellite Ballet: Lauren King and Marika Anderson. A contingent of NYCB dancers came out to support their colleagues this evening: Sterling Hyltin, Gwyneth Muller, Sean Suozzi, Ralph Ippolito and Cameron Dieck. It was great chatting with these dancers before the presentation; they are really busy now preparing for the NYCB Spring season which begins on May 3rd.
Delicious hors d'ouevres and wine were served and then the dancing began. We were shown two excerpts from PROGRESS: a pas de deux for Ashley Laracey and Justin Peck, and a solo for Daniel Applebaum. Then Ashley performed a solo (in silence) and Tess Reichlen and Sam Greenberg a duet from the work-in-progress entitled EPISTASIS.
Composers Nick Jaina (piano) and Nathan Langston (violin) performed their scores live for the dancers, giving an added immediacy to tonight's showing. The music is melodious yet thoroughly contemporary; the theme of the PROGRESS pas de deux is particularly appealing. Troy's choreography is vibrant in its clarity and use of space; the dancers - all familiar from their work at NYCB - looked superb and the entire presentation felt fresh and exciting.
