Founded by Israeli-born New York-based Artistic Director Zvi Gotheiner in 1989, ZviDance – a collaborative alliance among artists dedicated to creating a vision of community through its inter-disciplinary process and format – presents the premiere of The Art of Fugue at New York Live Arts, with performances through Sunday, November 14. Johann Sebastian Bach’s eponymous musical work serves as the point of departure for the 55-minute multimedia dance drama, choreographed by Gotheiner and exploring the complexity of the 18th-century original.
In music, a fugue is a contrapuntal composition in which a short melody is introduced by one voice and successively taken up by others, then developed by interweaving the parts. Gotheiner introduces this compositional structure in his dance as a metaphor, to portray a non-hierarchical society. In keeping with the company’s collaborative model of creation, which involves the ensemble and designers from the initial phase of research, the piece celebrates diversity by melding different genres into the dance vocabulary, while highlighting the individual contribution of each member of its creative team.
The Art of Fugue is a collaboration between Gotheiner, composer Scott Killian, lighting designer Mark London, media designer Joshua Higgason, and eight dancers (Alison Clancy, Evan Fisk, Caitlin Javech, Matilda Mackey, Doron Perk, Nat Wilson, Ching Ching Wong, and Anson Zingelberg). Killian integrates original electronic music with Bach, anchoring the work in contemporary culture; and Higgason’s live and pre-recorded video projections add an additional “voice” to the complexity of the canonic composition.
The Art of Fugue plays November 11-13, 2021, at New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th Street, NYC. For tickets ($25 general admission; $18 for students and seniors) go online. All audience members must show proof of full vaccination (Excelsior pass, NYC COVID Safe App, or valid vaccine card) and a government-issued ID before entry. “Fully vaccinated” means the event date must be at least 14 days after the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine, or at least 14 days after a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine. Masks are required when in any part of the building.
