Photo courtesy David Seelig
In her book Choreography & Style For Ice Skaters, brilliant choreographer Ricky Harris shared the Nico Charisse quote "Painter's art is two dimensional. Sculptor's art is three dimensional. Dancer's art is fourth dimensional, embracing space and time". Over the coming nights, the Ice Theatre Of New York will be bringing the art of dancing on ice to a whole new level, showcasing some of the most amazing choreography that the Ice Theatre has ever presented in a three day spectacular presentation of ICE:DANCE at Chelsea Piers in New York City.
David Seelig photo of Roots by Douglas Webster, premiering tonight in NYC with Eve Chalom, Carly Donowick, Ryan Bradley, Brent Bommentre, Erin Reed, Jonothan Hunt and Kim Navarro
The Friday night Gala will honor 4 time World Champion Kurt Browning and his wife Sonia Rodriguez, prima ballerina with the National Ballet Of Canada. In addition to Kurt's iconic "Singin' In The Rain" program (which I was lucky enough to see live at Stars On Ice here in Halifax in April), three new repertory pieces will be presented at the Gala by choreographers Edward Villella (founder of the Miami City Ballet), Chucky Klapow (Emmy Award winning choreographer) and ITNY's Artistic Director Douglas Webster.
Although the Friday Gala is definitely a must see event, the Thursday and Saturday shows are NOT to be missed. They will be much more of a full length showing featuring wonderful pieces from the Theatre's repertory and showcasing amazing skating by 7 time British Champion John Kerr (who's just adorable I must say... for the 50th time!), U.S. Men's Champion Ryan Bradley, World Team members Kimberly Navarro, Brent Bommentre and Eve Chalom, Aerial Ice's Joel Dear, 6 time Finnish Champion Jessica Huot and many more. "The mission is to develop dancing on ice as performance art," explained ITNY Artistic Director Douglas Webster, who stressed that ALL THREE SHOWS are definite must see skating.
David Seelig photo of Reveries, choreographed by Edward Villella and featuring Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre. This piece will see its New York City debut tonight!
If you're in New York City or planning to visit over the next few days, PLEASE take the time to treat yourself to some wonderful skating with depth, character and verve. You'll thank yourself for it. It would simply be rude not to. That's the long and short of it. All shows are at 7 PM, tickets for the Thursday and Saturday shows are $25 (students and seniors $15) and the Gala on Friday featuring Kurt Browning is $45. For more information or to purchase tickets, you can give ITNY a call at (212) 929-5811 or visit http://www.icetheatre.org. If you're unable to attend but would love to support what ITNY (a non-profit) is doing to better the world of skating, you can donate to their Kickstarter Project to offset gala costs at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/685690700/ice-dance-itnys-home-season-gala.
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