Dance & Performance: “Tell Me Where It Comes From” by Emily Coates

6:00 gallery viewing | 7:30pm performance

Spurred by George Balanchine’s brief yet pivotal 1933 touchdown in Hartford, Connecticut, dancer, writer, and choreographer Emily Coates gathered artifacts of his lingering presence in archives throughout the region. Drawing on her background as a former member of New York City Ballet, Coates creates an unexpected portrait of Balanchine’s choreographic legacy, working in collaboration with Ain Gordon (director), Derek Lucci (performer, co-creator), Charles Burnham (violinist, composer), Melvin Chen (pianist), Krista Smith (lighting design), and Reid & Harriet (costume design) to collage far-flung remains: unanswered letters, lost ballets, old photographs, music exercises, early muses, and more. Filled with hidden movements and quieted voices, Tell Me Where It Comes From meditates on the spark that propels art into existence.

$35, $25 members and Hartford residents, $10 students with ID. Registration required.

Tell Me Where It Comes From is commissioned by Works & Process for premiere at Guggenheim New York. This performance is presented by The Wadsworth in partnership with Austin Arts Center at Trinity College. Support provided by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation Fund and the Saunders Foundation Endowment for Music at The Wadsworth.

Image: Emily Coates and Derek Lucci in Tell Me Where It Comes From. Photograph by Chris Randall, courtesy of Emily Coates.