CLARK CENTER NYC AND CITY COLLEGE CENTER FOR THE ARTS HONOR LEGACY OF CLARK CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS WITH “FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH” PRODUCTION

CARMEN DE LAVALLADE, DIANNE MCINTYRE, LORETTA ABBOTT, SHEILA ROHAN, MEREDITH MONK, MORE…

Clark Center Residency At City College Center for the Arts To Include Master Classes, Panel Discussions, Performances

City College Center for the Arts and Clark Center NYC join together in celebration of The Clark Center for the Performing Arts with a presentation of the acclaimed dance/narrative series From the Horse's Mouth on Thursday, October 1 and Friday October 2 at Aaron Davis Hall.  The From the Horse's Mouth production will serve as the culmination of Clark Center NYC's weeklong residency at City College Center for the Arts, made possible, in part, by funding from the CUNY Dance Initiative.  Performances of From the Horse’s Mouth begin at 7pm. A reception will follow the October 1 performance.

From the Horse’s Mouth, conceived and directed by Tina Croll and Jamie Cunningham, will use its unique blend of movement, storytelling and supportive visual imagery to bring memories of The Clark Center for the Performing Arts vividly to life. Live music and multimedia presentation will be included in this extraordinary tribute. Notables from the theater and dance community will join together in the series’ intimate format of talking and dancing, sharing personal stories from their lives along with the movement of their choosing. (Cast list below.)

Begun with the inspiration of Alvin Ailey in 1959 and closed in 1989, The Clark Center for the Performing Arts was a multi-cultural community which became a haven for black dancers who, at that time, did not have ample opportunity to study or have access to quality teaching and rehearsal space. The Center provided dancers the opportunity to study technique, choreography and explore their talents.

Clark Center NYC is dedicated to preserving the history and continuing the legacy of The Clark Center for the Performing Arts, that Alvin Ailey helped to create in 1959 as a uniquely diverse arts community in New York City. A rich resource for dancers, choreographers, students and others interested in dance, Clark Center NYC expands its website content, archives, education/mentoring, symposia and presentations to honor the past, champion the present and build for the future.

The Clark Center NYC residency at the City College will begin on Monday, September 28 and last through Friday, October 2. Free master classes (class list below) and a panel discussion will be included in the weeklong program, culminating in the From the Horse’s Mouth production.

This year’s panel, “The Clark Center for the Performing Arts: Dance on the Forefront of Social Change” is free and open to the public. The panel will take place at Aaron Davis Hall, THEATER B, on Monday, September 28 from 6-7:30pm. Moderated by creator of EYE ON DANCE Celia Ipiotis, panelists will include Ella Thompson Moore, Martial Roumain,  Anna Kisselgoff and Linda Kent.  Archival film footage of Thelma Hill, Kathy Grant, Louise Roberts and members of the Lester Horton Dance Theater will be shown.

The Clark Center NYC residency is dedicated to Thelma Hill, who helped create the dance programs at The Clark Center for the Performing Arts and at City College. The residency follows the success of the October (2014) “A Clark Center Conversation with Dudley Williams” at the Bruno Walter Auditorium, moderated by dance writer Jennifer Dunning, and the equally successful Remembering Clark Center at the 92nd Street Y presented in April (2015) at 92Y’s Fridays At Noon.

*Cast for performances of “From the Horse’s Mouth: Celebrating The Clark Center for the Performing Arts” to include:

Loretta Abbott  - Alvin Ailey, Al Perryman duo, Fred Benjamin.

Ron Alexander - Performed with the National Ballet of Canada, the Iranian National Ballet, the Frankfurt and Hamburg Ballets in Germany, and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York and teaches extensively in NYC

Germaul Barnes - Bessie Award winner and former principal dancer with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Currently Artistic Director of Viewsic Expressions

Ted Berger – Executive Director Emeritus, New York Foundation for the Arts

Marla Bingham - Clark Center New Choreographer, former principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Marla Bingham Studio in La Jolla

Ramona Candy  - Charles Moore Dance Theater

Mickey Davidson - Director - Mickey D and Friends, Dianne McIntyre’s Sounds in Motion

Carmen de Lavallade

Alfred Gallman - Fred Benjamin Dance Company, Director of Gallman's Newark Dance Theatre

Laura Glenn - Limon Dance Company, Juilliard

Noel Hall  - Protégé of Lavinia Williams

Ron McBee  - Master drummer, Clark Center accompanist

Dianne McIntyre

Meredith Monk

Ella Thompson Moore - Alvin Ailey, Director of Charles Moore Dance Theater

Sandra Rivera - Ballet Hispanico  

Barbara Roan – Dancer in the companies of Erick Hawkins, Rod Rogers, Rudy Perez, Don Redich, Remy Charlip and in works by founders of Dance Theater Workshop in NYC

Sheila Rohan  - Dance Theatre of Harlem alum, Artistic Director of Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance

Martial Roumain - Chuck Davis Dance Company, Eleo Pomare Dance Company, Alpha Omega, Choreographer, Broadway

Sue Samuels - Director Jazz Roots Dance, Teacher at Ailey and Peridance; Co-founder Jo Jo's Dance Factory 

Donald Smith – Pianist, Clark Center accompanist   

Ted D Williams - Syvilla Fort, Broadway, The Wiz

Marlies Yearby - Clark Center New Choreographer, Choreographer RENT on Broadway

 *Cast subject to change

“FROM THE HORSES’ MOUTH: CELEBRATING THE CLARK CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS”

Performances Thursday, October 1 and Friday October 2 - 7PM - Reception to follow Thursday performance.

TICKETS

GENERAL ADMISSION - $20 STUDENT - $10

The City College Center for the Arts - Aaron Davis Hall - 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10027

Map

The Clark Center NYC Residency at City College will also include:

PANEL DISCUSSION - “The Clark Center for the Performing Arts: Dance on the Forefront of Social Change” - Celia Ipiotis, Ella Thompson Moore, Martial Roumain, Anna Kisselgoff and Linda Kent

Monday, September 28 – 6-7:30PM - Aaron Davis Hall (Theatre B) - ADMISSION: FREE 

MASTER CLASSES - Monday, September 28 through Wednesday, September 30 - Aaron Davis Hall (Theatre B) ADMISSION: FREE

Monday, September 28, 2015 - 4pm – 5:30pm   Hip Hop with Robin Dunn

Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - 6pm  - 7:30  Horton with Iquail Shaheed

Wednesday, September 30 - 6pm - 7:30  "Stories that Explore Memories" with Jamie Cunningham, co-founder of From the Horse’s Mouth

This "From the Horse's Mouth" residency and performances at the City College Center for the Arts are part of the 2015 CUNY Dance Initiative, which is supported by The New York Community Trust, with additional funding from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The Howard Gilman Foundation, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. Clark Center NYC has received funding from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Center (LLMC).

THE CITY COLLEGE CENTER FOR THE ARTS: The City College Center for the Arts Inc. is responsible for the planning and presentations of performing and visual arts programs on the campus of the City College of New York with specific attention to City College’s performing arts center Aaron Davis Hall.  The corporation is also responsible for raising funds that will allow the arts to continue to thrive and grow creating a more dynamic City College experience for all.  Our mission is to provide a creative arts center and focal point for The City College of New York, building a sense of community within the College, elevating the profile of Aaron Davis Hall in the greater New York area, and connecting the College to the surrounding community through the arts.

ABOUT THE CLARK CENTER NYC

ABOUT FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH

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