Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company premiers Ann Carlson’s “Elizabeth, the dance” in SLC
The Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company presents the world premiere of “Elizabeth, the dance” by Ann Carlson at 7:30 p.m. April 13–15 and 2 p.m., April 15 in the Leona Wagner Black Box Theater in Salt Lake City.
Built for the concert stage, “Elizabeth, the dance” is a unique full-evening-length collaboration between Carlson and the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company.
Carlson has structured an episodic accumulation of dances that are deliciously surprising and joyfully restrained. “Elizabeth, the dance” traces personal and public histories through the lens of aesthetics, embodiment, and desire — and is accompanied by a blend of popular songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s, house music, electro pop, sound effects, and silence, all mixed by a DJ.
“’Elizabeth, the dance’ pays homage,; first and foremost to the present moment, also to that which has come before, to teacher, to movement, to that which we know and that which we don’t know, to brilliant dancers and the powers of dancing, to the joys, disappointments, and mysteries of desire,” said Carlson.
“Ann has created a playfully moving work that is layered with captivating imagery,” said Daniel Charon, company artistic director. “It is incredibly whimsical, joyful, sad, profound, serious, ironic, and uplifting — all at the same time. She has artfully crafted a piece that juxtaposes movement sensibilities from different eras and cultures and packages them in a way that takes the viewer on a delightfully raucous theatrical voyage. Through her deep explorations, she has woven together layers of movements and performative qualities that elegantly create a wonderfully distinctive dance experience,”
The Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company will tour “Elizabeth, the dance” through 2020 throughout the U.S.
Founded in 1963, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company furthers contemporary dance as an accessible and valued art form through performance and dance education. We strive to raise the standards, deepen the understanding, and promote personal connections with dance. The company pursues this overall vision through performing innovative, original works, and commissioning choreographers of exceptional talent; providing dance education for all levels; touring regionally, nationally and internationally; training artists as performers, educators and choreographers; and developing dance audiences. More information can be found at ririewoodbury.com.
Ann Carlson’s work takes the form of solo performance, site-specific projects, ensemble dance and theatrical works, and performance and video. She often works within a series format, creating socially engaged performance structures over a period of years that adapt and tour to multiple sites. She is a recipient of over 30 commissions and a number of awards including a 2016 Capital Award, a 2015 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in Contemporary Dance, five Multi-Art Production Fund Grants, a USA Artist Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and a fellowship from the Foundation for Contemporary Art. She was an Artist Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies/Harvard University and at Stanford University’s Humanities Center. Carlson has received three awards from the National Choreographic Initiative; a Doris Duke Award for New Work; the first CalArts Alpert Award in Choreography; and a prestigious three-year choreographic fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Carlson’s “Doggie Hamlet,” a performance with a herding dog, a flock of sheep, and four human performers, begins touring the U.S. in 2017. “The Symphonic Body,: a performance/orchestral work made entirely of gestures, was performed by 100 people from across UCLA’s campus at Royce Hall in November 2015. More information on Ann Carlson can be found at elsieman.org/artist-roster/ann-carlson.
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