....Gestures Dance Ensemble

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In Performance

Friday, June 18 & 19, 2010, 7:30 pm

The Ailey Citigroup Theater

East Harlem, New York – Led by Artistic Director Nina Klyvert-Lawson, the GESTURES Dance Ensemble of Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts, now celebrating 40 years of enriching lives through the arts, will present two evenings of dance on June 18 and 19 at 7:30 pm at The Ailey Citigroup Theater of The Joan Weill Center for Dance located at 405 West 55th Street at 9th Avenue.  Admission is $15.  For tickets and additional information, please call 646-981-2720 or 646-981-2707.

Following the company’s 20th anniversary celebration last June which garnered glowing reviews from Dance Teacher Magazine and the eminent dance journalist Elizabeth Zimmer of METRO, the talented members of GESTURES and the gifted students of the LEAP program will present a multi-textured evening of contemporary works fusing modern, ballet, jazz, Afro-Puerto Rican folkloric dance, a world premiere and Pantsulla a social dance form developed in the South African Townships.

“Heightened,” “Reach” and “New York State of Mind” showcase the work of GESTURES alumni Darrell Moultrie, a Juilliard graduate and 2007 recipient of a Princess Grace Foundation Fellowship in Choreography. He has created work for the Colorado Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theater and DRA’s Fire Island Dance Festival. In 2008, Moultrie was the subject of “Doing the Two-Step” The Dual career of dancer-choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie which appeared in the October 23, issue of BACKSTAGE.

Premiering will be “Roscoe and Clara,” a moving duet by Nina Klyvert-Lawson based on love letters from “A Love No Less” love letters from the time of slavery up to 2000 compiled by journalist Pamela Newkirk, and set to the music of African American composer William Grant Still.

Technically challenging for these young dancers, the program also demonstrates the diverse and exciting work of today’s contemporary choreographers. The program will include: “Breaking Through” by Maxine Montilus, “In the Rain” by Amy Hall, “Horizons of a Full Moon” by Darius Damazi Williams, “No Escape” by Troy Powell, “Pantsulla by Ngaba Mafilka, “Holy Joyful” by Nina Klyvert-

Lawson, “Dame Sol” by Jocelyn Duran, and a work in progress by GESTURES alumni Tislarm Bouie, set as a prelude to a work by Blanca Alonso.

GESTURES is a performance workshop where students are trained to become versatile dancers, and to that end, they complete a broad curriculum of dance techniques, and have many opportunities to learn from and perform varied repertory with an international faculty and renowned guest artists. Dance students build a solid technical foundation in Classical Ballet, Modern, (Graham, Limon, Horton), Jazz, (Luigi and Simonson) Tap, West African, Dunham, Pilates, and Choreography.

Over the years the ensemble has worked with Sarita Allen, Ronald K. Brown, Dyane Harvey, Pedro Ruiz, Max Luna, Jennifer Muller, Steven Rooks, Ken Robertson, H.T. Chen, Darrell Moultrie, Troy Powell and others. The selection of professional choreographers working in very distinct styles has enabled the members of GESTURES to think about dance as “creating.”  For young dancers, exposure to artists from different parts of the world, working in different dance idioms, combined with their own experiences performing in diverse venues (from the grounds of Wave Hill, to SummerStage to the Ailey Theater),  their sense of creative possibilities is endless.

The Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts, now in its 40th year, was established by Boys & Girls Harbor and offers pre-professional training in the disciplines of dance, instrumental music, voice and theater arts to students ages 4-21. The Conservatory is unique in its focus on pre-teen and teenage talent development through special ensembles, public performances, and career counseling and placement. Harbor students have been accepted into specialized high schools and colleges, and have appeared on commercials, television, Broadway and radio. While the Conservatory prepares young people for careers in the arts, it also helps those who do not pursue this direction gain the skills and confidence that are needed to succeed in education, employment and positive family and community life. For more information on the Harbor Conservatory please call 212/427-2244 ext. 573 or visit www.harborconservatory.org

Boys & Girls Harbor founded in 1937 by Anthony D. Duke, is a seventy-three -year-old multi-service youth agency positively affecting the lives of over 2,500 children and their families annually through education, cultural awareness and character development. Since its inception, The Harbor has maintained its view of the primacy of the performing arts in the quest for a holistic and satisfying life for children and teens. For more information please visit www.theharbor.org

The Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts, a division of Boys & Girls Harbor is funded in part by the following: Foundations: The Leonard Bernstein Family Foundation, The Brenner Family Foundation, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Gannett Foundation,The Herman Lissner Foundation, NAMM Foundation,  The Alfred and Jane Ross Foundation, Surdna Foundation. Corporations: Bloomberg LP, NY Yankees, 1199SEIU, GOYA FOODS, “Just Us” North Bablyon Neighborhood Reunion, Toca Percussion and Latin Percussion, divisions of KMC Music, Inc.,  W.P. Carey & Co., WABC-TV. Public: National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs,  New York State Council on the Arts- (Music Program and Special Arts Services Program), City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, and New York State Senator José Serrano.

Individuals: Beth Uffner Arts Fund, Bette Midler, Lyor Cohen, Joseph Perella, William Ackman, Ilsa Nelson, Margaret Puente, Anthony Drexel Duke, Helene Swedowsky, Sally Kleberg, Mark and Rhonda  Axelowitz, Barry Friedberg and Charlotte Moss, Stephen and Beth Dannhauser,  Robert L. Barbanell, Jane Gould, Edward Flores, Esq., Dr. Robert North, Anne Taibelson, Denise Harper, Arthur Loeb, Barbara Lowenstein, Marie Mendoza, Richard and Jennifer Akins, Sandra E. Chatelain, Tery Garard Michaud, Howard and Patricia Farber, Neil Goldstein, William McGathy, Dean Palin, Jonas and Marie Nachsin, Jane Lindberg, Dawn E. Ewing