New York - Cedar Lake Ballet will be presenting three important works by contemporary choreographers during their winter season.  Artistic Director Benoit-Swan Pouffer is proud to unveil two World Premiers by two very distinguished European dance makers — Dutch choreographer Didy Veldman and the Italian-born Luca Veggetti.  Completing the triple bill is a reprise of the company’s popular 2008 piece, “Ten Duets On a Theme of Rescue” by Canada’s Crystal Pite.

Didy Veldman trained at Amsterdam’s Scapino Academy, went on to dance with Scapino Ballet, Ballet du Grand Théatre de Genéve, and London’s Rambert Dance Company, working with many international choreographers.  She co-founded the acclaimed dance company Alias and was later invited to join Rambert Dance Company in 1994.  Veldman now choreographs for many different companies.

Didy Veldman has said of working with Cedar Lake: “In collaboration with the phenomenal Cedar Lake dancers, I am investigating the physical movement a particular emotion may take, how it manifests itself in our body, how long that physicality may last, and the energy that it creates. By creating different interior and exterior scenes and utilizing a varied musical landscape, I hope to create an accessible work with a touch of irony and humor.”

Veldman is setting the work for four women and five men to an eclectic score that includes music of Bartok, Nina Simone, Pink Martini, Offenbach, Dean Martin, and The Kronos Quartet.

Italian choreographer Luca Veggetti was born in Bolgna and trained at La Scala in Milan.  After a career as a dancer, Vegetti started an ongoing collaboration with stage director and designer Pier Luigi Pizzi, working in Europe’s most important theaters. He was the first Italian choreographer of the 20th century to be invited to work with the Kirov Ballet at the Maryinsky in St. Petersburg, and has since worked with numerous companies and collaborative efforts.

According to Veggetti, “My piece for Cedar Lake is a very abstract dance play, scored for voice and electronics. Four individuals share an isolated space. Their movements, as well as the manner in which they relate to one another, seem to obey the rules and principles of a forgotten ancient dance — a lost ritual. Although striving for complexity, the dance is very pure, crystal clear yet mysterious, an obsessive search for an inattainable perfection.”

Photos Courtesy Erez Sabag

Canada’s Crystal Pite has created works internationally for many companies and several independent dance artists.  As a member of Ballet Frankfurt, she was involved in the creation of William Forsythe’s “Improvisation Technologies” and participated as both performer and co-creator in Forsythe’s works.  She formed her own company, Kidd Pivot, and continues to create and perform her own work, touring nationaly and internationally.

Commenting on what distinguishes her work, Pite says, “I am fascinated by the shared narratives that live in our bodies –- the familiar, repetitive storylines that move across cultures and generations, and the body’s role in providing the illustrative shape of those moments. I’m curious about the way in which the body can convey profound meaning through the simplest of gestures, and how distortion, iteration, and analysis of familiar human action provide an opportunity to recognize and re-frame ourselves in each other.”

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Luca Veggetti rehearsal video from Caleb Custer on Vimeo.

Didy Veldman Rehearsal Video from Caleb Custer on Vimeo.

Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue from Caleb Custer on Vimeo.