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LULLABY IN SURREALISM
September 25-27 at Ailey Citigroup Theater

"a group of brainy, funny modern-dance choreographers" -- Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times

VIA DANCE COLLABORATIVE kicks off its 5th Anniversy season with LULLABY IN SURREALISM beginning September 25 at Ailey Citigroup Theater. This new evening-length work inspired by the paintings of Renee Magritte is choreographed by Adrienne Westwood and features guest dancer Daniel Charon (best known as a dancer with Doug Varone).

LULLABY IN SURREALISM investigates the artists' sleeping lives, harnessing the imagery of dreams and realizing those disparate, mystical, often alarming worlds onstage. Dancers' arms get caught in sharp gesture while tethered to breezy locomotions in the legs and feet. There are small, constant jumps and suspensions that invade sky and floor. At times, the dance seeps into an earnest quietude with slow violent exchanges. At other times, trancelike logic emerges that lulls the audience into a ritualized disorientation. The dancers spend time revealing and covering themselves, exposing delicate birdcages of the chest and heart. Glimpses of familiarity can be spotted through the folds of evaporating action.

In addition to Daniel Charon, LULLABY IN SURREALISM will be danced by Janice Lancaster, Dawn Porier, Katie Swords, Gudbjorg Arnalds, Bryan Campbell, Lindsay Fisher, Seth Miner, Anna Schon, Beth Edwards, and Renee Kurz, with lighting by Carrie Wood, sound by Jim Briggs III, set by Seth Easter, projection by Adam Larsen and costumes by Renee Kurz.

VIA DANCE COLLABORATIVE is a performance ensemble whose members have diverse aesthetic viewpoints. It was founded in 2003 through Adrienne Westwood’s Kenan Fellowship at the Lincoln Center Institute for Arts in Education. VIA had its inaugural performances at LCI's Clark Studio Theatre in February 2004. VIA has since had full seasons at Joyce Soho and at the Ailey Citigrup Theater and has been presented over two dozen times at venues including Joe’s Pub (with Dancenow), Dance New Amsterdam, St. Mark’s Church and Dance Theatre Workshop. VIA has been presented regionally at the Dance Under the Stars Festival at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California; Mt. Tremper Arts in the Catskills; Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out; and the East Street Theatre in Hadley, Massachusetts. The collaborative has also conducted residency programs at the State University of New York at Fredonia and North Carolina School of the Arts. VIA was recently a company in residence at Performática: an International Forum on Contemporary Dance and Movement Arts in Puebla, Mexico. For more info visit www.viadance.org.

LULLABY IN SURREALISM is made possible, in part, by grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (Fund for Creative Communities and Manhattan Community Arts Fund), The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, the Double-R Foundation, and a space grant from the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center.

LULLABY IN SURREALISM runs September 25 - 27, Thursday - Saturday at 8:00pm. Ailey Citigroup Theater is located at 405 West 55th Street (at the corner of 9th Avenue -- accessible from the A,C, D & #1 trains at 59th Street - Columbus Circle). Tickets are $20, available at 212-868-4444 or SmartTix.com.