Photo: Garth Fagan Dance, credit Erich Camping

 

2018 Home Season is Dec. 5 – 9 at Nazareth College Arts Center

New: premieres, opening night reception, BOGOs & holiday family fun

 

Rochester, NY – Rochester’s world-renowned Garth Fagan Dance presents its exciting 2018 Home Season just in time for the holidays this year: December 5 – 9 at Nazareth College Arts Center (4245 East Avenue, 14618)’s Callahan Theatre for six performances: Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 7 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 8 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. A meet-and-greet in the lobby with Fagan and all dancers follows each performance.

Tickets are $40 (Orchestra), $43 (Orchestra Aisle), and $55 (Premium), and are available at the Nazareth College Arts Center Box Office in person at 4245 East Ave., by phone at 585-389-2170, or by visiting https://www2.naz.edu/events/3051/. Discounts available via Box Office only: $15 tickets for children/students under 18 as well as college students with ID, a 20% senior discount, and a 20% discount for groups of 10 more.

To further entice the hometown holiday crowd to experience one of Rochester’s true gems, Garth Fagan Dance is offering some festive extras and special incentives:

  • Wednesday, Dec. 5, following 7:30 PM performance: Opening Night Reception with Garth & Company in neighboring Medaille Hall, open to all ticket buyers on a first-come/first-served RSVP basis (as space is limited) by calling Garth Fagan Dance offices at 585-454-3260.
  • Thursday, Dec. 6 at 8 PM: buy-one/get-one-free ticket, applies to all full-price tickets ($40, $43, $55), available via Box Office only. Includes Post-Concert Chat with Garth Fagan and special guests.
  • & Sun., Dec. 8 & 9 at 2 PM: Family Holiday Matinees with buy-one-adult/get-one-free child/student ticket offer, includes goodie bags, Garth Fagan Student Ensemble appearance, and festive photo opportunities. Available via Box Office only.

“We know that Rochester is proud of our success and views us as global ambassadors, and we appreciate that so very much,” says Garth Fagan Dance Executive Artistic Liaison and former GFD dancer William J. Ferguson II. “We also want to reach out to our friends and neighbors and remind them that – whether they experienced a performance years ago or have yet to see the company live – this holiday season is the perfect opportunity to join us for our exciting 2018 Home Season at Nazareth College Arts Center.”

This year’s performances will feature the  Rochester premiere of Garth Fagan’s The North Star, a celebration of the life of 19th-century abolitionist, orator, author, and Rochester icon Frederick Douglass on the bicentennial of his birth. The work received rave reviews for its recent world premiere at the company’s annual season at The Joyce Theatre in New York City.

“I have read so much of Frederick Douglass that I allowed The North Star to lead me,” explains the much-awarded Fagan, who founded the company in 1970. “The work is receiving roaring ovations in New York, and I hope that it will also move and inspire Rochester audiences.”

The run will also feature the Rochester premiere of Distant Kin, an impressionist work choregraphed by Bessie Award-winner/GFD Rehearsal Director Norwood, as well as a selection of stirring revivals from the company’s rich archive: From Before (1978); In Memoriam: The Innocent, The Brave, The Hands, The Minds…All Mankind, dedicated to the victims and survivors of September 11, 2001 (September 2001), Plus: Aretha Franklin, John McCain, Paul Taylor, Arthur Mitchell; Mudan 175/39 (2009); Estrogen/Genius (2017); and No Evidence of Failure (2016).

In addition, both Family Holiday Matinees will feature a piece by the Garth Fagan Dance Student Ensemble, multi-racial students ages 5-18 who train in the Fagan Technique at Garth Fagan Dance School.

More about Garth Fagan Dance: Garth Fagan Dance is an internationally acclaimed contemporary American dance company, a bustling school of dance with an enrollment of 400 students, and a community-based resource of broad and growing influence, whose home has remained in Rochester for almost five decades. The company began in the ‘70s, when the country was just beginning to emerge from a tumultuous decade of riots and widespread unrest. As part of his recent appointment to the faculty at the State University of New York in Brockport, Garth Fagan began teaching dance classes at the SUNY Educational Opportunity Center in downtown Rochester. Many of his students had no previous training, and most came from inner-city, economically disadvantaged backgrounds.  But Fagan was so inspired by their raw talent and tenacity that he decided to transform this highly unconventional group of dancers into a professional company, based not in one of the world’s cultural capitals, but in upstate New York. From this early start, the organization has continued to evolve, shaped by the values that first prompted its formation. Garth Fagan Dance is still dedicated to the sentiments expressed in its founding mission: “To advance, nurture, and sustain Garth Fagan’s pioneering vision of contemporary dance through creation, performance, and preservation of his choreography and the commissioning of works by company dancers. Dance training that encourages young people – regardless of their race, gender, or financial resources – to develop their full potential. Educational programs, performances, and activities that enrich communities and engage audiences.” The current Garth Fagan Dance company includes long-time Fagan stars and Bessie Award-winners Norwood Pennewell, Steve Humphrey, and Natalie Rogers-Cropper, as well as Vitolio Jeune, Guy Thorne, Adriene B. Hodge, Wynton Rice, Andrew David, Davente Gilreath, Sarah Herbert, Le’Tiger Walker, Rishell Maxwell, Anna Lee, Justus Alicea, and J’royce Jata. Please find more biographical information at garthfagandance.org.

Media please note: Media assets including high-resolution photos are available here: https://bit.ly/2OKGCtg, and interviews and photo/footage opportunities can be arranged. Visit garthfagandance.org for more information.

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