For immediate release
Contact:  Helene Davis
(212) 354-7436
helene@helenedavispr.co

NEW YORK CITY CENTER
ANNOUNCES 2010-11 SEASON

New York, NY, August 5, 2010 -- New York City Center’s 2010-11 season begins on September 28 with the seventh annual Fall for Dance Festival, featuring 20 companies in 10 nights of dance for only $10 per ticket. More world-class dance follows when the acclaimed production of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, winner of three Tony awards, returns to New York for a limited engagement at City Center, beginning October 13.  The season also features world premieres and new productions by resident companies Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Paul Taylor Dance Company.  Flamenco Hoy by Carlos Saura, one of Spain’s most acclaimed flamenco shows, will play 6 performances, February 16 – 20, 2011.

The eighteenth season of City Center’s Encores!series will open onNovember 18 with Bells Are Ringing, followed by Lost in the Stars in February and Where’s Charley? in March.  Manhattan Theatre Club will present world premieres by Alfred Uhry as well as Beau Willimon as well as a New York premiere by Matthew Lopez,and The Pearl Theatre Company will present a season of four classic plays on City Center Stage II.

New York City Center is currently undergoing a historic renovation to create a sparkling 21st century facility for audiences and performers, while at the same time restoring the landmarked, neo-Moorish building to its elaborately decorative glory. Designed by Ennead Architects (formerly Polshek Partnership), the two-phase renovation will upgrade the building from the canopies in front to the backstage and performance areas, with new lighting, improved seating and sightlines, gracious new amenities and more. Phase I will be completed in September 2010; phase II will begin in late March 2011 and continue through a gala re-opening week in October 2011.

New York City Center gratefully acknowledges 2010-11 Dance Season Sponsors Frederic and Robin Seegal and the New York City Center Dance Council.

The 2010-11 Encores! season is sponsored by the Newman’s Own Foundation, the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores! and Stacey and Eric Mindich. 

New York City Center is a City-owned facility and is supported by funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts.

The complete schedule of the 2010-11 season is as follows:

FALL FOR DANCE FESTIVAL

September 28 – October 9, 2010                                                            Tickets on Sale Sept. 12

The seventh annual Fall for Dance Festival will showcase 20 national and international companies and choreographers. With ticket prices remaining at $10 for all seats, the festival will include world and U.S. premieres, and will feature several companies making their first U.S. appearances. A wide range of dance styles and traditions, ranging from contemporary dance and classical ballet to Odissi, tap and hip hop, will be represented in five programs. (Each program will be repeated once.)

Highlights of the festival include world premieres from Madhavi Mudgal and Jason Samuels Smith and his collaborator Mr. Wiggles; the U.S. premiere of Emanuel Gat’s My Favorite Things ;and Shu-Yi Chou award-winning [1875] Ravel and Bolero, as well as Tero Saarinen performing the U.S. premiere of Carolyn Carlson’s Man in a Room. The Merce Cunningham Dance Company will present the New York premiere of XOVER, presented as part of its two-year Legacy Tour. In addition, Miami City Ballet will present Twyla Tharp’s exhilarating The Golden Section.

Ten companies will make their festival debuts: Companhia Urbana de Dança (Brazil), Company Rafaela Carrasco (Spain), Corella Ballet Castilla y León (Spain), Dresden Semperoper Ballett (Germany), Emanuel Gat Dance (France), Gallim Dance (New York), Miami City Ballet (Florida), Russell Maliphant Company (England), Shu-Yi & (Dancers) Company (Taiwan) and Tero Saarinen Company (Finland).

The festival welcomes back: American Ballet Theatre, Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company, Jason Samuels Smith & Friends, KEIGWIN + COMPANY with Juilliard Dance, Madhavi Mudgal, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Ronald K. Brown / Evidence, A Dance Company and San Francisco Ballet. www.NYCityCenter.org

New York City Center gratefully acknowledges its new Leadership Sponsor, Bloomberg, and its new Principal Sponsor, MetLife Foundation. City Center is also delighted to announce the new support of Lead Presenting Partners Jody and John Arnhold, and Barbara and David Zalaznick.

Fall for Dance is also made possible by major support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

MATTHEW BOURNE'S SWAN LAKE

October 13 - November 7, 2010                                                            Tickets on Sale Now

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake turned tradition upside down and took both the theater and dance worlds by storm when it arrived on Broadway in 1998 and went on to win three Tony Awards. Acclaimed as a landmark achievement on the international stage, it has become the longest running ballet in London’s West End and on Broadway, enjoyed four hugely successful tours in the UK, and thrilled audiences all over the world. Now Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake returns to New York for four weeks only. With a blend of dance, humor and spectacle, Bourne has created a provocative and powerful Swan Lake for our times. www.NYCityCenter.org

Tickets: $25, $50, $85, $110
Press: Joe Perrotta, (212) 575-3030, ext 215, jperrotta@bbbway.com

Rolex presents

CAREER TRANSITION FOR DANCERS 25th Anniversary Silver Jubilee - A Star-Studded Retrospective

Monday, November 8, 2010                                                                         Tickets on Sale Now

Presented by Rolex and hosted by Angela Lansbury, five- time Tony Award-winning musical actress and legendary star of film and television, this evening will highlight magical moments from past glittering galas. Prominent artists from America’s greatest dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, The Joffrey Ballet, MOMIX, National Dance Institute and Parsons Dance will perform. Tony Award winners Bebe Neuwirth, Ann Reinking, Chita Rivera, Marvin Hamlisch, Tommy Tune and Karen Ziemba will appear along with Lisa Niemi Swayze and many others to be announced.www.careertransition.org

Tickets: $45, $55, $75, $130 (Show Only)
Press:  Kevin P.  McAnarny (212) 581-3836, KPMAssociates@aol.com

ENCORES! -  BELLS ARE RINGING

November 18 - 21, 2010                                                                        Tickets on Sale Sept. 7

In Bells Are Ringing, with music by Jule Styne and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, a lonely girl who runs an answering service falls for a client she has met only by voice, and typical 1950s mayhem ensues. The score, by turns brassy, sweet and romantic, includes “Just in Time,” “The Party’s Over,” “I Met a Girl,” “Long Before I Knew You” and a fistful of other great tunes from one of Broadway's greatest tunesmiths. The original production opened at the Shubert Theater on November 29, 1956, and played a total of 924 performances. Directed by Jerome Robbins and choreographed by Robbins and Bob Fosse, it won Tony awards for its stars Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin. www.NYCityCenter.org
Bells Are Ringing has been generously supported by The Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust and Roz and Jerry Meyer.

Tickets: $25, $50, $100
Press:  Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436, helene@helenedavispr.com

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER

December 1, 2010 - January 2, 2011                                                           Tickets on Sale Sept. 7

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, recognized by U.S. Congress as a vital American “Cultural Ambassador to the World,” returns to the stage of New York City Center with exciting performances that have become a joyous holiday tradition.   Led by the renowned Judith Jamison in her final year as artistic director, and joined by artistic director designate Robert Battle, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater inspires in a universal celebration of the human spirit using the African-American cultural experience and the American modern dance tradition.  Ailey’s extraordinary artists will move audiences with a diverse repertory by a variety of choreographers, including seven premieres and new productions joining a cornucopia of repertory favorites.  The season will also celebrate five decades of Alvin Ailey’s timeless masterpiece Revelations.  www.alvinailey.org

Tickets: Starting at $25
Press: Christopher Zunner, 212-405-9028, czunner@alvinailey.org

ENCORES! -  LOST IN THE STARS 

                                              
February 3 – 6, 2011                                                                                     Tickets on Sale Sept. 7

Lost in the Stars has music by Kurt Weill and book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson. The pair set to work fashioning Alan Paton's novel Cry, the Beloved Country into a musical tragedy within weeks of its momentous publication. This story of life in South Africa under apartheid stirred generations to action, and was the basis for a beautiful, brooding, dramatic musical that produced not only the immortal title song, but an entire score that pulses with the life of a people. It opened at the Music Box Theater on October 30, 1949, and played 273 performances. www.NYCityCenter.org

Tickets: $25, $50, $100
Press:  Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436, helene@helenedavispr.com

FLAMENCO HOY BY CARLOS SAURA

                                   
February 16 – 20, 2011                                                                         Tickets on Sale Sept. 7

Flamenco Hoy, choreographed by Rafael Estévez & Nani Paños under the musical direction of Chano Domínguez, is one of the largest and most popular contemporary flamenco shows in Spain. The dancing takes audiences on a highly visual historical journey of the genre, vividly portraying the struggle and emotions of the people of Andalusia. Dances and music from the various parts of the region, such as Malaga, Cordoba and Seville, are represented through the authentic cast and performers. The performance pays tribute to the historical significance of flamenco, but also emphasizes the vitality of the genre in the 21st century.

Tickets: $35, $45, $65, $85
Press: Jaime Avendaño, 34-963-739-361, info@flamencofuturo.com

PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY 

                                  
February 22 – March 6, 2011                                                                         Tickets on Sale Sept. 7

Paul Taylor, the last living member of the pantheon that created modern dance, returns with time-honored masterworks and two New York premieres. Highlights include the new Phantasmagoria - a dreamscape propelled by Renaissance music - and the long-awaited revival of Orbs, set to Beethoven’s fabled late string quartets, as well such riveting dramas as Speaking in Tongues and
The Word.

Tickets: $10, $25, $50, $60, $75, $100, $150
March 1 Black Tuesday Great Depression Special: $19.29 for all seats normally $25-$150, and $5 for all seats normally $10
Press:  Lisa Labrado, (212) 431-5562,ll@ptdc.org

ENCORES! -  WHERE’S  CHARLEY?

                      
March 17 – 20, 2011

Where’s Charley?, Frank Loesser's first Broadway score, immediately demonstrated the master's easy command of wit and romance, sophistication and high jinks. George Abbott's adaptation of Brandon Thomas’ classic college farce Charley's Aunt delivered “Once in Love With Amy,” “My Darling, My Darling” and “The New Ashmolean Marching Song” to the hit parade, and launched Loesser into the songwriting stratosphere. The musical opened at the St. James Theater on October 11, 1948, and played 792 performances. It was directed by George Abbott, choreographed by George Balanchine and starred Ray Bolger, who won a Tony Award for his performance. www.NYCityCenter.org

MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, MTC has become one of the country’s most prominent and prestigious theater companies. Over the past three decades, MTC productions have earned a total of 17 Tony awards and six Pulitzer prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. MTC’s City Center season includes the world premiere of Beau Willimon’s Spirit Control, directed by Henry Wishcamper and the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Alfred Uhry’s Carl’s Sister, based on the book Apples and Oranges by Marie Brenner, to be directed by Lynne Meadow. Rounding out the season is the New York premiere of Matthew Lopez’s The Whipping Man, directed by Doug Hughes. (Note: MTC will also present three additional plays at their Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway). www.manhattantheatreclub.com

Tickets: $80
Press: Aaron Meier: ameier@bbbway.com; Christine Olver: colver@bbbway.com

THE PEARL THEATRE COMPANY            

Tickets on sale online and by phone on Aug. 23

The Pearl Theatre Company’s award-winning Resident Acting Company will present its 27th season of plays rooted in the classics at New York City Center Stage II. The season includes Michael Frayn’s The Sneeze, adapted from plays and stories by Anton Chekhov, directed by J.R. Sullivan (September 17 – October 31); the American premiere of a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Rosmersholm, adapted by Mike Poulton, directed by Elinor Renfield (November 12 – December 19); Molière’s
The Misanthrope, translated into English verse by Richard Wilbur, directed by Joseph Hanreddy (January 14 – February 20, 2011); and the New York premiere of Wittenberg, by David Davalos, directed by J.R. Sullivan (March 11 – April 17, 2011). www.pearltheatre.org

Tickets: $35, $45, $55 
Press: Aaron Schwartzbord, (212) 505-3401, aschwartzbord@pearltheatre.org