Last updated: January 7, 2019
It’s such an honour to bring to Ottawa a vast world of dance, shaped by some of the most gifted and innovative artists working across a broad spectrum of styles and influences. As we continue to search out the best and brightest dance companies to present to you, our wonderfully receptive and enthusiastic audience, we invite you to explore the new and the familiar on this extraordinary journey of life in motion!
It’s been fascinating to watch the growth of the contemporary dance scene in Cuba over the last many years with the emergence of a number of new groups. Malpaso Dance Company, founded in 2012, is the country’s first independent dance company. In its short history, it has distinguished itself as an exceptionally versatile ensemble dedicated to showcasing the work of both Cuban and international choreographers. For this Ottawa premiere, we’ll be treated to an outstanding mixed evening featuring works by Artistic Director Osnel Delgado, Canadian Aszure Barton and more. Enjoy!
Program
Indomitable Waltz (27 minutes)
INTERMISSION (15 minutes)
Ocaso (12 minutes)
PAUSE (2 minutes)
Face The Torrent (21 minutes)
INTERMISSION (20 minutes)
Tabula Rasa (27 minutes)
Indomitable Waltz (2016)
Choreography: Aszure Barton
Assistant to the Choreographer: Jonathan Emanuell Alsberry
Lighting Design: Nicole Pearce
Costume Design: Fritz Masten
Dancers:
Dunia Acosta
Maria Karla Araujo
Fernando Benet
Daileidys Carrazana
Osnel Delgado
Manuel Durán
Esteban Aguilar
Lisbeth Saad
Music: Balanescu Quartet
Alexander Balanescu, Waltz
Alexander Balanescu, The Young Conscript and the Moon
Alexander Balanescu, Love Scene
Michael Nyman, String Quartet No.2: 2. II
By arrangement with G. Schirmer, INC. publisher and copyright owner.
Nils Frahm, Circling
Courtesy of Erased Tapes Records Ltd. ISRC: GBWZD1506503
Nils Frahm, 04:33
By arrangement with Downtown Music UK, Ltd obo Manners McDade Music Publishing.
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Indomitable Waltz was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from; the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Executive Director’s Fund at The Joyce Theater Foundation, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Indomitable Waltz was co-commissioned by DANCECleveland and the Cleveland Foundation.
A technical residency was generously provided by Duncan Theatre at Palm Beach State College for the US premiere of Indomitable Waltz by Aszure Barton.
Ocaso (2013)
Choreography: Osnel Delgado
Music:
Autechre, Parallel Suns
Kronos Quartet, White Man Sleeps, Track 2
Max Richter, Sunlight
Lighting Design: Matt Miller
Costume Design: Osnel Delgado
Dancers:
Osnel Delgado, Beatriz Garcia (Jan 18)
Beatriz Garcia, Armando Gomez (Jan 19)
Face the Torrent (2017)
Choreography: Sonya Tayeh
Assistants to the Choreographer:
Austin Goodwin & Chelsea Thedinga
Music: Seed/Stem/Calyx
written and recorded by Colette Alexander with The Bengsons
Lighting Design: Nicole Pearce
Costume Design: Karen Young
Dancers:
Dunia Acosta
Esteban Aguilar
Maria Karla Araujo
Daileidys Carrazana
Fernando Benet
Manuel Durán
Beatriz Garcia
Abel Rojo
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Face the Torrent was commissioned by The Music Center, and was created in part during the Vivienne Jones Residency at Jacob's Pillow as well as during a 2017 creative residency provided by DANCECleveland.
Tabula Rasa (1986)
Choreography: Ohad Naharin
Music: Arvo Pärt, Tabula Rasa
Lighting Design: Ohad Naharin
Costume Design: Eri Nakamura
Rehearsal Directors:
Matan David & Brett Bailey
Dancers:
Dunia Acosta
Esteban Aguilar
Maria Karla Araujo
Fernando Benet
Daileidys Carrazana
Osnel Delgado
Manuel Durán
Beatriz Garcia
Armando Gomez
Lisbeth Saad
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Tabula Rasa made its world premiere on the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre on February 6, 1986. It premiered on Malpaso Dance Company on May 4, 2018 in Havana-Cuba.
Malpaso Dance Company
An Associate Company of Joyce Theater Productions
In the six short years since its establishment in 2012, Malpaso Dance Company has already become one of the most sought-after Cuban dance companies with a growing international profile. Emphasizing a collaborative creative process, Malpaso is committed to working with top international choreographers while also nurturing new voices in Cuban choreography. The company tours with 11 dancers and is led by its original three founders; resident choreographer and Artistic Director Osnel Delgado, Executive Director Fernando Sáez, and dancer and co‑founder Daileidys Carrazana.
Joyce Theater Productions
JOYCE THEATER PRODUCTIONS (JTP) is the in-house producing entity for The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc., formed to create original work for The Joyce’s own stage, and for worldwide touring. The program also includes fiscal and administrative management to select companies that may require infrastructure beyond project-based creations. Originally founded in partnership with Sunny Artist Management, Inc. (SAM) in 2014, JTP has since supported projects with Daniil Simkin, Wendy Whelan/Brian Brooks, Arthur Pita/James Whiteside, Maria Kochetkova, and L.A. Dance Project, and maintains an ongoing relationship with Cuba’s Malpaso Dance Company.
Worldwide Representation:
Sunny Artist Management Inc., Ilter Ibrahimof, Director
Artists
Aszure Barton was born and raised in Alberta, Canada. She received her formal training at the National Ballet School in Toronto, where, as a student, she helped originate the ongoing Stephen Godfrey Choreographic Showcase.
To date, she has collaborated with and created works for Mikhail Baryshnikov, Fang Yi Sheu, Ekaterina Shipulina/Bolshoi Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Houston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Nederlands Dans Theater, Sydney Dance Company, Ballet British Columbia, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Ballets Jazz Montréal (Resident Choreographer 2005-08), among many others. Aszure has also led masterclasses, mentored, and created for renowned training institutions including Harvard University, The Juilliard School, New York University, Arts Umbrella, Canada’s National Ballet School and The Laban Institute (UK).
Other work includes choreography for the Broadway revival production of The Threepenny Opera directed by Scott Elliott (translation by Wallace Shawn and starring Alan Cumming, Jim Dale, Nellie Mackay, Ana Gasteyer, and Cyndi Lauper), film and installation projects, and international outreach activities such as “Kenya’s Earth Project: Healing the Rift”, at the Laikipia Nature Conservancy. Aszure’s choreography has been featured in numerous film and television projects, including the Sundance Channel’s Iconoclasts Series with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Alice Waters.
Aszure was the first artist in residence at The Baryshnikov Arts Center in 2005 and has been an artist in residence at The Banff Center since 2009. She was proclaimed an official Ambassador of Contemporary Choreography in Canada and, more recently, received The Koerner Award for Choreography. In 2012 she was honored with Canada’s prestigious Arts & Letters Award, joining the ranks of Oscar Peterson, Eugene Levy, Karen Kain and Christopher Plummer.
She is the proud founder and director of Aszure Barton & Artists, a collective of visual, sound, and performing artists, and her work continues to tour to Europe, Asia, and Africa as well as Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.
