dancers

April 23 gala performance tickets available on-line

Lar brings "...smile" to Colorado Ballet

Anniversary Tour Dates Announced

April 23 gala performance tickets available on-line

The incomparable Bernadette Peters.  Photo: Tim White.

The incomparable Bernadette Peters.  Photo: Tim White.

Tickets for April 23rd's Prelude to a Dance -- the official launch of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company's 40th anniversary celebration -- can now be purchased on-line.  As previously announced, this one-night-only event will feature performances by our company and guest stars from American Ballet Theatre, as well as a special appearance by Tony-Award-winning sensation Bernadette Peters.

Prelude to a Dance takes place on Wednesday, April 23 at the historic Hudson Theatre, just off Times Square at 145 West 44th Street, in the Broadway Millennium Hotel New York.  Gala tickets -- including cocktails and post-performance supper -- are priced from $500.   A limited number of performance-only tickets (with seating in the mezzanine and balcony) are available for $150 each.

Visit our website for complete information on Prelude to a Dance,  or click here to purchase tickets on-line

Tickets can also be reserved by calling 212.221.7909 or sending an RSVP via e-mail.

Please join us for Prelude and help us set the stage for an entire year of celebration. 

Lar brings "...smile" to Colorado Ballet

Emily Bromberg and Alexei Trukov in Colorado Ballet's premiere of Lubovitch's '...smile with my heart.'  Photo:  Terry Shapiro.

 Emily Bromberg and Alexei Trukov in Colorado Ballet's premiere of Lubovitch's "...smile with my heart."  Photo:  Terry Shapiro.

Lar Lubovitch spent part of the past month in Denver, helping Colorado Ballet stage its March premiere of his 2002 dance, "...smile with my heart,"  which was featured in the company's annual Repertory Series.  Lar's Colorado colloboration also involved a reunion of long-time friends, as he had worked with both Colorado's artistic director Gil Boggs and ballet mistress Sandra Brown during their years at American Ballet Theatre -- indeed, Sandra had danced the lead role in "...smile" for its world premiere at ABT.  Before that, she had appeared as a guest artist with the Lubovitch company, where she danced the world premiere of the final section from "...smile" (called My Funny Valentine).  This duet was later featured in Robert Altman's film "The Company."

Set to a fantasie by Marvin Laird on themes from songs by Richard Rodgers, "...smile" has touched the hearts of audiences everywhere, and that was certainly the case in Denver.  In its review of the premiere, The Rocky Mountain News praised the dance for having a "close and loving relationship with the music at hand," while the Denver Post called "...smile" "snappy," noting that "while dominantly balletic, Lubovitch's choreography also incorporates elements of modern dance and hints of soft shoe."

The critics also seemed quite taken by Lubovitch himself.  The headline of a profile published in the News: "Humble choreographer gives credit to dancers."  Visit our website to read more of what the Denver media had to say about Lar -- and to catch up on coverage of Ballet Florida's February premiere of Dvorak Serenade.  According to the Sun-Sentinel: "Lubovitch has reinvented the romantic ballet in sparkling 21st century terms." 

Anniversary Tour Dates Announced

Rasta Thomas in Lubovitch's Little Rhapsodies.  Photo:  Chris Woltmann.

Rasta Thomas in Lubovitch's Little Rhapsodies.  Photo:  Chris Woltmann.

Since 1995, collaborations such as the one with Colorado Ballet (described above) have been the primary way that the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company has shown our work outside New York City. The company stages annual seasons in New York, but for the past 13 years the company has chosen to disseminate its work outside New York through partnerships, rather than by touring.  With more than 12 Lubovitch company dances currently active in the repertories of as many companies, we have been able reach broader audiences in far more places than any single company could have done. And we have had the chance to build incredibly rewarding relationships with our peers at leading companies all over North America.

As we reach our 40th anniversary, cross-company ventures will remain a major part of our mission. But as part of this year's special celebration, the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company is going back on the road -- in a big way. With engagements in more than 20 cities across America, our anniversary tour will provide audiences outside New York with their first opportunity in more than a dozen years to see Lubovitch masterworks performed by our own "exquisitely talented company" (New York Magazine).

The company's tour begins in late June with a special preview appearance at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina, then has its official kick-off with a one-week residency at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts (July 2-6).

In August, we will join nearly a dozen leading dance companies appearing at the Chicago Dancing Festival (an important new festival established last year by Lar Lubovitch), followed by a fall itinerary including engagements in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Madison (WI), Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Tucson. There is also a special international engagement in Neuss, Germany. For winter, we will launch a second leg of the tour in January/February 2009, with stops in Aspen, Bellingham (WA), Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle and Vail.  Click here for a complete list of tour dates.


Lar Lubovitch Dance Company

Mission:  The Lubovitch company was created to realize the artistic vision of Lar Lubovitch, one of the foremost contemporary choreographers in the United States.  The company exists: (1) to create new work; (2) to perform those works (and facilitate the performance of those works by others) both in our home base of New York City and around the world; and (3) to teach people of all ages, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds, in order to increase awareness and appreciation of dance.

History:  Over the past 40 years, the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company has gained a reputation as one of the world's leading modern dance companies and has performed in virtually every state of the US and in more than 30 foreign countries.  Lar Lubovitch has been cited by The New York Times as "one of the ten best choreographers in the world," and the company has been called a "national treasure" by Variety.  The company is primarily focused on the creation of new dances, sometimes in collaboration with other top companies.

Contact:  The Lubovitch company is located at 229 West 42nd Street, New York NY 10036.  You can reach us at (212) 221-7909 or Lubovitch@aol.com.  Or visit our website at www.lubovitch.org.

Support:  Programs of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company are funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as by Altria, American Mastepieces: Dance, Irene Diamond Fund, Brooke Garber & Daniel Neidich Fund, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Joyce Theater Foundation, McMullan Family Foundation, National Dance Project, Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation, A. Woodner Fund and numerous additional generous individuals, corporations and foundations.

Memberships:  The Lubovitch company is a member of Dance/USA, Dance/NYC, ART/NY, Americans for the Arts and the Arts & Business Council of New York.