James Sewell Ballet celebrates 20th anniversary season
Contact:
Sarah Davy
James Sewell Ballet
612-802-5466
James Sewell Ballet Leaps into 20th Anniversary Season
Three New Dancers, Lar Lubuvitch Piece Celebrating Marriage Equality;
New Ballet inspired by Dantes Divine Comedy
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., October 28, 2013 James Sewell Ballet celebrates its 20th anniversary this fall with new dancers joining the nationally-renowned company and three exciting new choreographic projects with renowned choreographers from across the country.
The milestone season offers a retrospective performance of the best of JSBs first 20 years, strengthens a commitment to diversify choreographic voices and brings a new piece James Sewell has been envisioning his entire career to the stage the Inferno, a full-length ballet inspired by Dantes Divine Comedy.
Few arts organizations survive 20 years let alone have a strong vision for the future, says Artistic Director James Sewell. This is a big year for us - three beautiful new dancers are joining the company and we are collaborating with some of the most exciting performance and design artists in the country today. Weve been preparing for this organizational leap for some time and its great to capture so much of what we had been hoping for in the upcoming season.
20 years ago, James founded the ballet company with a small group of dedicated dancers and close friends. Today James Sewell Ballet is a critically acclaimed company with talented dancers from across the United States bringing projects to life that push the boundaries of traditional ballet and continually delight audiences. This year the company adds three new dancers, Anton LaMon, Kelly Vittetoe and Dominique McDougal. The dancers come from all over the country and have studied and performed with some of the most well known companies, choreographers and schools in the U.S.
20TH Anniversary Season Overview
Fall
The 20th Anniversary Season kicks off with an explosive retrospective of memorable performances from the past two decades as well as the arrival of Lar Lubovitchs Mozart duet, debuting on the Cowles Center stage and in Minnesota in time to celebrate equal rights for all. An American choreographic master, Lar Lubovitch has inspired James Sewell for decades. The fall season also sees a collaboration with composer and violinist Todd Reynolds of BILLBAND, which highlights James embrace of live music.
Winter
The Ballet Works Project in JSBs TEK BOX spotlights the emerging choreographic voices of company member, Nicky Coelho; contact improvisational expert, Blake Nellis; and guest NYC choreographer, Norbert De La Cruz III, The Ballet Works Project develops dancers as artists while exposing audiences to the vision of new, up-and-coming choreographers.
Spring
Two decades in the making, Inferno, inspired by Dantes The Divine Comedy, is the centerpiece of the anniversary season with beautifully choreographed performances and a production designed to create an immersive environment of electronic imagery, musical collage and striking staging and costume design.
Based in the Twin Cities, James Sewell Ballet studios are located at The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts in Downtown Minneapolis. To learn more about the James Sewell Ballet, visit http://www.jsballet.org/.
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About James Sewell Ballet (www.jsballet.org)
James Sewell Ballet was founded in New York City by James Sewell and Sally Rousse and brought to Minnesota in 1993. Combining their expertise, vision and chutzpah they envisioned a close-knit company of dance artists willing to both challenge their physical limits and expand their notions about ballet. Nearly two decades later, critically acclaimed JSB performances move and delight audiences across the country. The embodiment of the original vision is a professional company of eight dancers performing innovative work that explores the technical boundaries of ballet.
