Summer Mix July 16-19 in Ithaca, NY
CLICK HERE TO GET SUMMER MIX TICKETS
SUMMER MIX, an accessible, entertaining program of dance, combines the old with the new, a visual playlist bringing together favorites from the repertory with a premiere.
PURCHASE TICKETS ON THE KITCHEN THEATRE COMPANY’S SITE
Performance Venue: Kitchen Theatre Company, 417 W State St, Ithaca, NY 14850
Performance Dates and Times
- July 16: 2pm and 7pm
- July 17: 7pm
- July 18: 2pm and 7pm
- July 19: 2pm
The mix includes joyful excerpts from the Company’s acclaimed evening-length theatrical dance Encore, which premiered at New York City’s Joyce SoHo in 2007 and has never fallen out of the repertory. “The dancers can’t help but smile,” wrote The New Yorker reviewing the show. “It’s great to see imaginative dancing to music like this,” wrote The Village Voice. Backstage called the work “a riotous piece of razzle-dazzle entertainment.”
The new work, Flashpoint, was developed during an invitation-only residency at the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC during the summer or 2024. Flashpoint explores the contours of relationships, the push and pull of harmony and strife within our lives, and the lines separating intimacy from violence. The dance traces the contours of relationships, exposing moments that shift on a dime and ignite into conflict, a metaphor for the incivilities and dramas playing out in society.
Like a sultry summer storm, the program moves through darkness and sun, turbulence and clear skies, all anchored by the Company’s signature blend of virtuosic and pedestrian choreography, intimate partnering, a playful musical spirit, and charismatic performance. Accessible and entertaining, Summer Mix is a program for everyone!
Each performance will be followed by a brief conversation with the Company, offering audiences the opportunity to engage directly with the dancers and choreographer.
CLICK HERE TO GET TICKETS
MORE ABOUT ENCORE
A signature work of the Company’s, Encore lives at the intersection of concert dance and contemporary musical theater and is audience-proof. With an infectious score of classic jazz recordings, Encore‘s exuberant cast entertains the audience in humorous fashion under the conceit that the audience is observing a final dress rehearsal. Encore is thus a show about a show, the ultimate reality show, giving audiences a peek behind the curtain. The choreography is joyful, fast, rhythmic, innovative and diverse, a wealth of pure, red-hot, dynamic dance. Audiences tap their feet during the show and hum as they leave the theater.
Encore is both the title of Gwirtzman’s new dance suite and the response it’s likely to inspire. The name refers to the repetitions of rehearsal, as a fictional troupe of Broadway dancers prepares to go on the road, but there’s little tedium in Gwirtzman’s choreography, set to classic jazz recordings. Executing his tricky syncopations and intricate patterns at breakneck tempos, the dancers can’t help but smile.
Brian Seibert, The New Yorker
No matter how many dark pieces Daniel Gwirtzman has turned out since starting to choreograph in 1995, he’s clearly a not-so-secret jazz baby who’s also a fan of Broadway…I’m a pushover for dancers who can play themselves in unaffected ways-as these do extremely well.
Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice
I found myself grinning from one of the piece to the other. Gwirtzman has made a spring fling, showing us the underside of the dancer’s world, letting us feel the sensuality of the studio and glory in the music of the first half of the 20th century.
Elizabeth Zimmer, Gay City News
The Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company pulled out all the stops with its performance of Encore, a riotous new full-evening piece of razzle-dazzle entertainment.
Lisa Jo Sagolla, Back Stage
