Todd Rosenlieb Dance (TRDance), Coastal Virginia's only professional modern dance company, will launch its STUDIO CONCERT SERIES at TRDance Center’s Benjack Studio Theatre with five performances on the weekend of November 15-17, 2019 and again on November 22-24, 2019. Each concert will include four original works produced & directed by TRDance resident and guest choreographers, each bringing world-class talent and experience as former dancers & directors of national and international dance organizations & companies.
“Now in its 14th performance season, Todd Rosenlieb Dance continues to bring original work showcasing the very best of the modern dance community to Hampton Roads,” says Lisbet Hanson M.D., president of TRDance’s Board of Directors. “As the region’s only professional Modern Dance Company, TRDance brings innovation and beautiful physicality to the stage.”
“We are thrilled to welcome new dancers and guest choreographers into the TRDance family.” adds artistic director Todd Rosenlieb. “These consummate professionals bring together all the ingredients for a concert rich in movement and aesthetics that promises to delight.”
TRDance will offer up four separate and unique presentations spotlighting various facets of the universal human condition. From playful and provocative to intense renderings of human connection…and disconnections. Rosenlieb has crafted a full line-up of performance experiences designed to touch, encourage, and challenge audience perspectives.
Rosenlieb’s "Chance Favors the Prepared Mind" is set to the magical score of Arcangelo Corelli’s Concerto #2 in F major. This playful & provocative piece will begin with a witty exploration of gender roles and flow seamlessly through the ingenuity of space & partnering.
Renata Sheppard, a guest choreographer will debut Before Ever After, a piece she shares is inspired by fairytales which are born from the collective human experience. Motifs, archetypes, and plots emerge with striking similarity in stories across geography and culture, signifying a universal need to tell our stories and a common place of origin. The fairytale doesn’t need to come true to serve its purpose, that is, to give us hope and help us voice our desires. But happily ever after only comes on the final page, and true happiness comes with the realization that life itself is the fairytale. Otherwise, we become puppets in a mechanical and endless loop. To break away from living in stories detached from our true nature, we must first depart from the mindless repetition that is numbing us, we must fight for our deepest selves, sometimes painfully, and we must lean into the mystery. Therein lies the magic.
Ricardo Melendez, Virginia Ballet Theatre’s artistic director, will premiere his latest work Near a modern rendering which combines movement and a score of nature sounds and Gabriel Fauré Opus 24 Élegie in C Minor. In this showcase, Melendez experiments with couple’s work in non-gender connections and explores ways of connecting that are both specific and universal.
Janelle S. Ings, TRDance resident choreographer, will offer a premiere work, The Race, accompanied by the music of Mombasa, 2Cellos. According to Ings, The Race can be interpreted in many ways -- The Race towards something, the Human Race, and/or our attempts to make it through what we face on a daily basis coupled with a collective intent to persevere.
Tickets
Show times are as follows:
Friday, November 15th, 8:00 PM
Saturday, November 16th, 8:00 PM
Sunday, November 17th, 3:00 PM
Friday, November 22nd, 8:00 PM
Sunday, November 24th, 3:00 PM
The Benjack Studio Theatre is located inside of Todd Rosenlieb Dance Center located at 325 Granby St. Downtown Norfolk.
For more information, please contact TRDance at [email protected] or by calling (757) 626-3262.