Works & Process Presents Martha Graham Dance Company: Baye & Asa
Michelle Tabnick
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6467654773
E-mail:
michelle@michelletabnickpr.com
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Things to do near New York, NY » Art » Performing-Arts
Works & Process presents Martha Graham Dance Company: Baye & Asa on Sunday, September 29, 2024 at 7pm at the Guggenheim’s Peter B. Lewis Theater, 1071 Fifth Avenue, NY. Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased at https://www.worksandprocess.org/calendar/works-and-process-at-the-guggenheim-marthagraham-baye-asa. See highlights from Baye & Asa’s Cortege, a new work commissioned by the Martha Graham Dance Company. Drawing inspiration from Martha Graham's 1967 Cortege of Eagles, Baye & Asa focus on Charon, the ferryman who shepherds souls to the underworld. In Graham's work, the Trojan Empire is crumbling, and Charon is the conductor of its inevitable fall. Baye & Asa’s Cortege removes this central figure of mythological predestination, and instead places the burden of fate on the ensemble. Together, they generate the cyclical momentum of war. Martha Graham Dance Company members will perform excerpts of this work, and Baye & Asa will participate in a moderated discussion with Graham Company Artistic Director Janet Eilber. This evening culminates a weeklong Works & Process LaunchPAD technical residency at the Catskill Mountain Foundation. Cortege is set to premiere in April 2025. Baya & Asa (choreographers) is a company creating movement art projects directed and choreographed by Amadi ‘Baye’ Washington and Sam ‘Asa’ Pratt. They grew up together in New York City, and that shared educational history is the mother of their work. Hip Hop and African dance languages are the foundation of their technique. The rhythms of these techniques inform the way they energetically confront contemporary dance and theater. They have presented live work at The Joyce Theater, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Pioneer Works, the 92NY, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Jacob’s Pillow, DanceHouse Vancouver, Blacklight Summit, and Battery Dance Festival, and were selected as one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" for 2022. They have created works for the Martha Graham Dance Company, BODYTRAFFIC, and Alvin Ailey II. Their film work has won numerous awards and has been presented internationally. About the Martha Graham Dance Company The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a leader in the evolving art form of modern dance since its founding in 1926. It is both the oldest dance company in the United States and the oldest integrated dance company. Today, the Company is embracing a new programming vision that showcases masterpieces by Graham alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists. With programs that unite the work of choreographers across time within a rich historical and thematic narrative, the Company is actively working to create new platforms for contemporary dance and multiple points of access for audiences. Since its inception, the Martha Graham Dance Company has received international acclaim from audiences in more than 50 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The Company has performed at the Metropolitan Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the Paris Opera House, Covent Garden, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as at the base of the Great Pyramids in Egypt and in the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus theater on the Acropolis in Athens. In addition, the Company has also produced several award-winning films broadcast on PBS and around the world. ABOUT WORKS & PROCESS About Works & Process A non-profit without walls, Works & Process champions performing artists and their creative process from studio to stage. We platform artists from the world’s largest organizations and amplify underrecognized performing arts cultures. We provide rare, longitudinal, and fully-funded creative residencies, and commissioning support. We present at the Guggenheim Museum, Manhattan West, and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, with the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Each summer Works & Process curates and presents free dance programs with City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage and NYC Parks. Works & Process LaunchPAD “Process as Destination” provides artists multi-week residencies with 24/7 studio availability, on-site housing, health insurance enrollment access, industry-leading fees, and transportation to residency partners spanning counties in New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts. Stay connected: @worksandprocess #