Press Release - March 9, 2008
The Freshman Year Initiative at Lehman College
presents a Free Performance Open to the Public of BALAM Dance Theatre’s
The Faces of Love
--Guest Starring Renowned Actor Irma Sandrey
from the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in “The Diary of Anna Karenina”
--
at Lehman College's Lovinger Theatre, April 2, 2008, 10-11:50 a.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carlos Fittante, Artistic Director, 646-361-9183 (cell phone)
Joyce Luhrs, Publicist, 201-592-9126,
The Freshman Year Initiative at Lehman College
presents a Free Performance Open to the Public of BALAM Dance Theatre’s
The Faces of Love
--Guest Starring Renowned Actor Irma Sandrey
from the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in “The Diary of Anna Karenina”
-- at Lehman College's Lovinger Theatre, April 2, 2008, 10-11:50 a.m.
(NEW YORK, NY)—March 9, 2008--BALAM Dance Theatre (BALAM), a unique New York ensemble that creates a new vision of contemporary dance by fusing Balinese theatre with diverse cultural dance styles and techniques, announces its new program, The Faces of Love. The program highlights several pieces with a variety of exhilarating dance styles, ranging from traditional Balinese to Hip-Hop, and features the renowned actor Irma Sandrey from the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute appearing in an excerpt of the dramatic work, The Diary of Anna Karenina.
In The Faces of Love, the audience experiences a range of emotions--joy, passion, spiritual yearning and heart wrenching pathos. “Ms. Sandrey’s masterful interpretation of the poetry in her piece moves an audience to stunned silence,” said BALAM’s artistic director Carlos Fittante.
The program’s eclectic mix launches the premieres of Bali-Bolero “Unrapped”, KT Gamelan, and Eden’s Mandala performed by BALAM’s company members Kristina Berger, Carlos Fittante, Robin Gilbert-Campos, and Toshinori Hamada. BALAM’s resident guest artist Nani Devi, a Balinese dance artist living in New York and the Director of Nani Devi’s Indonesian Dance Group, will appear in the scintillating solo Oleg Tambulilingan.
Other featured artists include guest dancer Ani Udovicki, formerly with the Belgrade National Theater and Ballet Hispanico, and cellist Christine Gummere, a solo on-stage cellist, who has recorded for SONY, and is a founder of Sinfonia New York.
This free performance is open to the public and presented by the Freshman Year Initiative at Lehman College, under the directorship of Steven Wyckoff.
About the Guest Artist
Irma Sandrey made her acting debut as Liat in the Broadway production of “South Pacific” and has acted in leading roles on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theatre, in feature films, and on television in prime time and day time series. Her many stage credits include Yen in “The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel”, acting opposite the movie star Al Pacino. She began her performing career as a ballerina dancing with the New York City Ballet under the direction of the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. For three years, Ms. Sandrey worked with master acting teacher Lee Strasberg, who developed the world famous Method. She is a member of the Actors Studio and a teacher at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, where she is currently the Senior Teacher and Advisor.
About the Premieres
The Faces of Love brings three outstanding choreographic premieres to the Bronx, Bali-Bolero “Unrapped”, KT Gamelan, and Eden’s Mandala. Bali-Bolero “Unrapped” is a celebratory ensemble dance fusing yoga, hip-hop and bolero dance movements with a sung interpretation of a Sanskrit invocation performed by a local rap artist. KT Gamelan, a fusion of Lester Horton and karate movements, features a short documentary film shot in Bali directed by BALAM principal dancer and independent filmmaker Toshinori Hamada. Eden’s Mandala is a sensual duet created for BALAM’s versatile ballerina, Robin Gilbert-Campos, that features a flowing partnered duet work on point, combined with masks and wigs and fused Baroque, Balinese and ballet dance styles.
About BALAM
BALAM offers a new vision of contemporary dance that emanates from a cutting-edge fusion of diverse cultural dance styles and movement techniques. The company’s fusion repertoire presents an opulent dance theatre that blends contemporary choreography, eclectic music, striking masks, imaginative props, and vibrant costumes to create a performance that appeals to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
In 1979, Islene Pinder, a Lehman College dance educator, founded the company and brought the mesmerizing Balinese dance theatre style to New York audiences. Under the directorship of Spanish-American choreographer Carlos Fittante, BALAM’s fusion repertoire blends boldly divergent dance styles and movements, including ballet, Spanish, Lester Horton, Baroque, Latin, Hip-Hop, Noh, and karate, as well as Balinese.
BALAM has been featured at several distinguished festivals and venues, such as First Night New York; Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors; La Mama Experimental Theatre, New York, New York; Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Lee, Massachusetts; and many others. The company has also appeared internationally at the Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar, Bali and the 2nd Encuentro Internacíonal de Danza Contemporánea in Cancún, Mexico.
The company’s work has received critical recognition from the New York Times and Village Voice. The Governor and people of Bali and the Indonesian Consulate of New York have highly commended its performances.
Performance Program
•Oleg Tambulilingan (a scintillating Balinese dance featuring BALAM’s resident guest artist Nani Devi)
•Hanuman the Monkey King (a whimsical masked solo inspired by a character from the Hindu epic, Ramayana)
•La-Tina (a comedic masked solo featuring Latin music by Puerto Rican composer Bobby Capo)
•KT Gamelan (premiere featuring a short documentary film shot in Bali, Indonesia)
•Eden’s Mandala (East coast premiere)
•The Diary of Anna Karenina (an excerpt of a full-length work featuring the renowned actor Irma Sandrey from the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.)
•Bali-Bolero “Unrapped” (premiere featuring a live rap artist)
Photos
The following photos are available upon request at 300 dpi or in a high resolution, electronic format: Bali-Bolero “Unrapped” and Oleg Tambulilingan- photographs by Julie Lemberger, Irma Sandrey, and Carlos Fittante-photograph by Mark Higashino.
Location of Performance
Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College
250 Bedford Park Boulevard
Bronx, New York
(Take the D or 4 trains to Bedford Park Boulevard)
(Publicity by Luhrs & Associates)
For further information, please call 646-361-9183 or email us at info@balamdance.org