Ascendance

New York City-based Above and Beyond Dance will premiere Ascendance, its second season of circus-infused dance. This innovative company melds modern dance with aerial, stilt, and acrobatic work, creating an exciting world onstage which challenges traditional spatial boundaries. The choreography is designed to heighten perceptions of power and weakness, connection and disconnection, and limitation and freedom, enabling exploration of the complexities of human interaction. The cast of Ascendance will move through intricate vocabulary in which they appear upright, inverted, impossibly tall, or free of the constraints of the earth altogether.

Ascendance is a journey into group dynamics and the nature of strength and weakness as revealed by a multi-talented cast of performing artists. Segments of choreography are ingeniously interwoven to form a unified work of dance-theater which is at once dynamic spectacle yet sensitive and subtle. Audience members will discover scenes ranging from playful to threatening, and will follow the performers through power struggles, chaos and fear until they ultimately reach a point of equilibrium and freedom. Original chamber music by Juilliard-trained composers Nicholas Csicsko and Reinaldo Moya will deepen the movement’s dramatic impetus and carry the audience through a fully integrated theatrical experience.

Artistic Director Chriselle Tidrick directs and performs with a cast of astonishing talent and versatility. The five accomplished female collaborators are professional dancers with additional training in circus arts disciplines. Cast members include dancer/aerialist Madeline Hoak, dancer/stilt performer Sharon Livardo du Maine, dancer/gymnast/aerialist Andrea Skurr, and dancer/aerialist Emily Smyth Vartanian.

Ms. Tidrick founded Above and Beyond Dance in 2007 to explore the limitless potential in the fusion of dance and circus arts. She has been inspired by her experiences as a dancer, stilt dancer, acrobat and aerialist with a variety of companies including The Metropolitan Opera, Alice Farley Dance Theater, Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance, Catherine Gallant/DANCE, and on film in Disney’s Enchanted. Above and Beyond Dance presented its debut season at Brooklyn’s Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts in February 2008 and has also performed at venues including the La Mama Moves 2009 Festival, WaxWorks, The Zipper Theater, Streb Lab for Action Mechanics and University Settlement Speyer Hall. For additional information about Above and Beyond Dance, please visit: AboveandBeyondDance.com.

Performances are Thur. Sept. 10 – Sat. Sept. 12 at 7pm, and Sun. Sept. 13 at 3pm. Tickets $20/ $15 students. TDF Vouchers accepted. Click the red TIX button at the top right of this page, or call 212-352-3101. In person sales at The Flea Box Office begin one hour prior to showtime.

Photo credit Steven Schreiber.