Peak Performances:Richard Alston Dance Company
PEAK Performances, in partnership with WNET's ALL ARTS, is launching PEAK HD, a broadcast and digital platform that gives worldwide reach to the Montclair State University-based commissioner and producer of new works by major international experimental artists—in dance, theater, performance art, music, and more.
While the initiative predates the pandemic—we first announced the partnership a year ago, PEAK began filming at the start of the 2019-20 season, and PEAK HD will continue indefinitely—it also exemplifies one way that performance institutions will move forward into the new season while audiences still aren't able to assemble in performance venues: becoming a hybrid live performance space / TV studio, having performances in the fall, at some point, at least for capture/broadcast, and then phasing live audiences back in when possible.
It turns out PEAK is perfectly suited to move forward in this way. MSU had already recently installed six 4K robotic video cameras in the Kasser Theater, linked by fiber optic cable to control studios in MSU’s School of Communication and Media, making the Kasser a state-of-the-art live-performance broadcast venue as well as a stage for live performance with in-person audiences.
Richard Alston Dance Company
Sunday, February 14, 2021, at 8pm
Voices and Light Footsteps
Choreography Richard Alston
Music Claudio Monteverdi
Detour (U.S. Premiere)
Choreography Martin Lawrance
Music Michael Gordon from the album Timer Remixed
Shine On (U.S. Premiere)
Choreography Richard Alston
Music Benjamin Britten
Performed live by pianist Jason Ridgway
Featuring soprano Gelsey Bell
Brahms Hungarian (U.S. Premiere)
Choreography Richard Alston
Music Johannes Brahms, Hungarian Dances for solo piano
Performed live by pianist Jason Ridgway
Performances, which included the U.S. Premieres of Detour, Shine On, and Brahms Hungarian, took place February 20-24, 2020 at The Alexander Kasser Theater
“In its final U.S. appearance, the company displayed its virtues: luxuriant dancing allied to courtly music.” — The New York Times
Boasting a “rich, pliant, full-bodied” style that transports audiences “to the heart of dance itself” (The New York Times), Richard Alston Dance Company returned to PEAK Performances in early 2020 for its final American engagement before the company closed its doors after a quarter of a century. A selection of recent works highlights the unflagging invention of this beloved group, led by Richard Alston, one of the world’s finest choreographers currently celebrating his 50th year of making dances. Performed to live music, Alston’s witty Brahms Hungarian is presented alongside Shine On, the last piece the choreographer will create for the company. The fast-paced Detour, created by associate choreographer Martin Lawrance, rounds out a thrilling program including three U.S. premieres and celebrating a troupe still in top form, even as the curtain closes.