Mother GOOSE! premiere March, 2005

From Childhood Days, Poetry in Motion

Remember the old woman who lived in a shoe and had so many children she didn't know what to do? Today she will find a solution, an appropriate one for someone whose existence centers on a shoe: she will have all her sons and daughters dance.They're the stars of New York Theater Ballet's new "Mother Goose! A Ballet Revue," an adaptation of nursery rhymes choreographed by Keith Michael to music by Vladimir Shinov. A benefit this evening, which includes storytelling, games, food and dance lessons, will raise funds for the company's LIFT program, a service providing support for homeless children."The old woman is also the Mother Goose character, and these are her children," said Mr. Michael, referring to Jack and Jill; Jack Be Nimble; Wee Willy Winky; Mary, Mary Quite Contrary; and Nanny Etticoat (from one of the more obscure rhymes). "The set is a large shoe that opens up and has doors and windows that characters lean out of."The score, for piano and four hands, was created for the ballet, with waltzes, ragtime, reels, jigs and folk-dance influences, Mr. Michael said. Mr. Shinov and the pianist Marina Porchkhidze will play it live.The dance itself "is to be Frederick Ashton-like," Mr. Michael said. It's influenced by classical ballet except, of course, when the ballerina who leads the brood becomes Mother Goose: then she trades in her toe shoes for webbed feet.

July, 2005

NYTB in Bryant Park, Aug. 3rd

Come support the company for free! NYTB has been invited to perform at Dancing for Life in Bryant Park on Wednesday, August 3rd at 1:30 pm. This hour-long concert is free to the public and is sponsored by Dancers Responding to AIDS, a fundraising program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. http://www.dradance.org

NYTB will perform the fourth movement from Danielle Genest’s Orbiting, which premiered this past April at Florence Gould Hall.

Dancers from all genres - from Broadway to the concert stage - will perform outdoors in Bryant Park, behind the NY Public Library. New York Theatre Ballet is making its first appearance at this annual festival.

Also scheduled to perform will be Cedar Lake Ensemble, Pilobolus, Benjamin Millipied, Streb, Peter Pucci Plus and more.

June, 2005

NYTB receives grant from Harkness Foundation

The Harkness Foundation for Dance, a supporter of NYTB since 1987, has again awarded a generous grant to the company. NYTB extends its sincerest thanks to The Harkness Foundation and to Executive Director, Mr. Theodore S. Bartwink for their continued support.

The Harkness Foundation for Dance, originally established by Rebekah & William Harkness in 1936, supports curriculum development, general/operating, program development and scholarship funds primarily for performing arts and dance in New York.

NYTB Event Calendar for Mac

webcal://icalx.com/public/joeystocks/NYTB.ics

Attention all Apple Macintosh users! If you are currently running OS X or higher on your computer, you can subscribe to the NYTB/Ballet School NY event calendar for free!

First, be sure you are connected to the internet. Then, click on the link above (or enter it in your iCal program manually), and your iCal program will automatically open and “subscribe‿ to our online event calendar. Every time you open iCal (while connected to the internet) our event calendar will “refresh‿ itself with new dates and schedule changes. What a great way to keep track of performances, special events, birthdays and classes! Sorry PC users. We hope to make this feature available to you in the near future.