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Noted dance festival launches its 78th season

ADF student practice moves in 2010.  The first performances for the new season of dance begins this week.
ADF student practice moves in 2010. The first performances for the new season of dance begins this week.

The American Dance Festival (ADF) will launch its 78th season June 9th at the Durham Performing Arts
Center (DPAC) with the 2011 ADF Gala, a one-night only performance by five companies celebrating the
career of ADF Director Charles L. Reinhart.

Following
the gala, the first week of performances will be filled with premieres by
internationally noted dance companies.

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Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's Rosas will make its ADF debut with her 1983 classic work Rosas danst Rosas Friday-Sunday,
June 10-12 at Reynolds Industries Theater, and Israel's newly coined "choreographers to watch," Yossi
Berg and Oded Graf, will bring a US premiere to Reynolds
Industries Theater Tuesday-Wednesday, June 14-15.

The
exhilarating Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company will round out the first week with a reconstruction of his masterpiece D-Man in the Waters at the DPAC Thursday-Saturday, June 16-18, featuring live accompaniment by the Durham
Symphony.

Additionally, former
ADF Dean, Donna Faye Burchfield, will receive the Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching on
June 10, Anne Teresa De
Keersmaeker
will receive the prestigious $50,000 Samuel
H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award on June 11th at Reynolds Industries Theater prior to her
company's performance, and on June 16 the season will be officially dedicated to  visual artist Alex Katz prior to
the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company performance at DPAC.

 

ADF GALA

Thursday, June 9 at 7 pm

Durham Performing Arts Center

The
2011 season will commence with a special Gala performance celebrating Charles Reinhart's incredible career and final season as ADF Director. The evening
will feature works by five choreographers and companies, along with special
speakers including Mayor Bill Bell, Duke's Vice President Tallman Trask,
African American Dance Ensemble's Artistic Director Dr. Charles R. "Chuck"
Davis, and ADF Co-Director Jodee Nimerichter. All gala proceeds will benefit
the newly established Charles L. and Stephanie Reinhart Fund, which will
support future tuition scholarships, commissions, and other special projects.

Gala
performances include: North Carolina native Mark Dendy will channel modern dance giant and one of
the ADF's founders, Martha Graham, for an unusual impersonation. The Scottish Dance Theater will perform the US premiere of Drift
(2010), an intense and highly physical duet
that examines loneliness and the risk of full commitment. Reconstructed with
support from the ADF, Martha Clarke's Pagliaccio (1980) celebrates humor
and wit and will be performed by performance artist John Kelly. Durham's own African American Dance Ensemble will celebrate traditional African dance, music and culture with Honoring the Legacy, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will present an excerpt of Ohad Naharin's THREE TO MAX, a collage of Naharin's
works from the past decade.

 

SEASON DEDICATION

Visual
artist Alex Katz has been a longtime friend and supporter of the ADF, creating 9
season posters since 1979, including the 2011 season poster. The dedication
will be presented immediately prior to the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
performance on Thursday, June 16 at DPAC. An exhibit of the season posters he
created for the ADF from 1979-2011 will be on display throughout the season in
the Durham Performing Arts Center and will be free and open to the public.

For a full list of ADF performances, click here.