Armitage Gone! Dance
The Elegant Universe
As part of the Guggenheim Museum's Works & Process series, director/choreographer Karole Armitage presented a new work inspired by physicist Brian Greene's bestselling book, The Elegant Universe. This dynamic performance blended music, dance, text, and projected imagery to create a vibrant portrait of the universe as revealed by cutting-edge physics, incorporating wondrous insights from the realm of string theory.
The performance included a discussion between Armitage, physicist Jim Gates and composer Lukas Ligeti about the rich and challenging process of transforming scientific concepts into aesthetic expression. Lukas Ligeti's score was performed live by the Composer with Marco Cappelli on guitar, and Ha-Yang Kim on cello.
Photo by: Julietta Cervantes
Dancers: Frances Chiaverini and Megumi Eda of Armitage Gone! Dance
Karole Armitage is a dancer and choreographer widely known for combining disparate styles and themes with the discipline and techniques of classical ballet. Armitage danced with the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Switzerland, and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, before forming her own New York-based company in the 1980s. She has created dances for numerous companies including American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet the White Oak Dance Project, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Lyon Opera Ballet, the Washington Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Rambert Dance Company, and most recently, Bern Ballet and Kansas City Ballet.
Sylvester James (Jim) Gates, Jr. is currently the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland-College Park. In spring of 2009 he was appointed to serve on President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the Maryland State Board of Education.
Lukas Ligeti is a composer whose works combine downtown New York experimentalism with contemporary classical music, jazz, electronica, and world music.This event produced in collaboration with
Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum
