New Chamber Ballet opens its 20th Anniversary season with an evening of four ballets by German-born choreographer Miro Magloire to live music by Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Tristan Murail.

Choreographed in Magloire's signature, in-the-round style with the audience seated on all sides of the stage, the four works explore different facets of musical expression.

Mandragore, a duet to an eponymous piano work by Tristan Murail, takes its name from a gnarly plant that has hallucinogenic and narcotic properties. The ballet's two dancers “…are fearless, strong and supple as they wrap around one another, performing lifts and mutually supportive feats in an unusual mixture of power and intimacy.” (Philip Gardner, Oberon's Grove, April 18, 2015)

Tilting/Leaning is an “ingenious trio” (New York Times) to Pierre Boulez' Notations for piano. Siobhan Burke, reviewing in The New York Times, remarked that “The title doesn't do justice to the inventiveness of the action: their weight-sharing, limb-locking, head-butting and other modes of manipulating one another's bodies, often in deliberately arduous ways.” (April 2014)

In the trio Lace, to music by Luciano Berio, whenever one dancer “is performing a short solo, the other two sit on the floor in poses that call up images from Greek friezes. Also reminiscent of antique statues: the way they stand with one arm curved over their head. Their calmness is a nice contrast to the intricacies of the solos and Berio's virtuosic Sequenza VIII for violin.” (Deborah Jowitt, Village Voice, February 2010)

Chaconne, the most recent work on the program, was premiered this spring, to Bach's iconic violin solo. Reviewing the premiere of Chaconne this spring, critic Leigh Witchel wrote: “You could see [Violinist Doori Na] relishing his opportunity to perform the Chaconne. He took it at a clip and not as a tragedy... [Magloire] had the wisdom to ignore everything that came before and concentrate on his own relationship with music and Bach. There was no confrontation, it was an assimilation and a salute. It felt like a finale, but also a benediction.” (Leigh Witchel, May 25, 2024, Dancelog.nyc)

Performers include the dancers Anabel Alpert, Megan Foley, Nicole McGinnis, Amber Neff, Rachele Perla, and Kayla Schmitt; as well as Doori Na (violin) and Melody Fader (piano).

“It's heartening to see work so focused on the meeting of dance and music.” -Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times

Date and Time: Friday, September 13 and Saturday, September 14 at 7:30 PM

Location: Mark Morris Dance Center, 3, Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217

More Information: https://www.newchamberballet.com/performances