360° Dance Company: Maktub

South Street Seaport – Pier 17

July 21—23 & 28—30, 12:00pm and 1:00pm

360° Dance Company arrives at Pier 17 with the US Premiere of their latest commission, Maktub, an exploration of speed and possibility. Dancemaker Lauri Stallings challenges the dancers to burst through their comfort zones, creating a new physical language that blends ballet and modern techniques, gesture, partnering, and impossibly quick shifts of weight. Maktub invites the audience to share in the intricacy of community and witness the meeting of two very different worlds.

Dancemaker: Lauri Stallings

Music: Matmos, Gustavo Santaolalla, Max Richter, the Balanecu Quartet

Dancers: Yuko Giannakis, Martin Løfsnes, Milan Misko, Alessandra Prosperi

About 360° Dance Company

Founded in 2006 by Artistic Director Martin Løfsnes, 360º Dance Company is a New York-based company comprised primarily of former leading dancers from the Martha Graham Dance Company. Løfsnes, a principal dancer with the Graham Company for thirteen years, studied at London Contemporary Dance School, the Alvin Ailey School, and the Martha Graham School. He has also worked with choreographers ranging from Maurice Bejart to Susan Stroman.

360° Dance Company’s mission is to present some of today’s most experienced modern dancers in repertory combining the great classics of modern dance with cutting-edge contemporary commissions in order to simultaneously preserve and develop the modern/contemporary dance lineage. It seeks to challenge the traditional roots of modern dance and yet maintain their artistic vision and dramatic integrity, presenting programs that feature works from the Martha Graham legacy and lineage alongside exciting contemporary works. In November, 2007, 360º mounted its successful premier season, Full Circle, a weeklong run at Bærum Cultural Center in Oslo, Norway. The season featured an opening night Gala to raise funds for the creation of the Inger-Lise Løfsnes Medical Center (ILLMC), dedicated to fighting poverty by improving the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS in Zambia. Additional appearances have been made at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, Purchase College, SUNY, the 92nd St. Y, a featured appearance at the Society of Dance History Scholars at Skidmore College, and classes at Peridance Center and the Ailey School.

360º Dance Company is produced by Full Circle Productions, Inc.

Sitelines is generously supported by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the New York Mercantile Exchange, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Produced in association with the River To River® Festival.

The River To River Festival, presented by American Express, is a collaboration of Lower Manhattan’s major cultural event producers including the Alliance for Downtown New York, arts>World Financial Center, Battery Park City Authority, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Port Authority of NY & NJ, and South Street Seaport. These partners are firmly committed to using the arts as a tool for revitalization and the development of new audiences.

Return to the Sitelines 2008 listing.