Jeanne Ruddy Dance presents a world premiere by Susanne Linke and a new version of Breathless

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THE POWER OF DANCE MEETS THE DRAMA OF HUMAN OBSESSION THIS SPRING, WHEN JEANNE RUDDY DANCE PRESENTS
A WORLD PREMIERE BY RENOWNED GERMAN EXPRESSIONIST CHOREOGRAPHER SUSANNE LINKE AND A NEW VERSION OF RUDDY’S 2005 WORLD PREMIERE, BREATHLESS

PHILADELPHIA, PA – January 11, 2008 – Just as the continuum of time reaches back and then forward, Jeanne Ruddy Dance leaps into its 8th concert season April 10 – 19 at the Performance Garage, building on the legacies of the German Expressionist dance movement and the drama – and often tragedy – of human obsession.

From the success of last fall’s exploratory workshop, comes the anticipated world premiere by renowned German choreographer and dancer Susanne Linke, whose philosophy/approach is rooted in the legacy of German expressionist dance and the work of pioneer Mary Wigman. Set to the music of German composer Wolfgang Bley-Borkowsky, and utilizing the power of pure dance movement and its relationship to space, Linke will experiment with the total use of the interior of the Performance Garage in ways it has not been seen before, working to blend her mastery of the German Tanz Theatre style with the rich dance forms of her Wigman movement vocabulary roots. The collaboration with Linke is a first for JRD, and marks Linke’s first alliance with a Philadelphia company.

From the power of dance movement to the often tragic power of human obsession, Jeanne Ruddy originally premiered BREATHLESS during the company’s 5th Anniversary Season in 2005, taking her inspiration straight from the headlines, and the infamous cases of Craig Rabinowitz, Tom Capano and Scott Peterson.

Powerful, haunting and disturbing, BREATHLESS was born out of Ruddy’s meditative exploration of the ominous qualities of water, and influenced by Theodore Dreiser’s classic masterwork, An American Tragedy, that led to the remembrance of murder victims Laci Peterson, Stefanie Rabinowitz and Anne-Marie Fahey, and the similarities between the three brutal cases. Featuring 8 dancers as the couples – Stefanie and Craig Rabinowitz, Anne-Marie Fahey and Tom, Laci and Scott Peterson, as well as Summer, the exotic dancer who was the object of Rabinowitz’ obsession, and Scott Peterson’s girlfriend Amber Frye, BREATHLESS explores the dark side of the American Dream that has become a harsh reality of contemporary life, and lays bare their doomed pursuit of love and success.

With this new staging, set to a new score by composer Ellen Fishman Johnson, BREATHLESS is being re-imagined through a change in the sequence of actions that now evolve sequentially as they actually happened resulting in greater clarity and power of its dark undercurrents – the tragedy of male cruelty to women, the horror of murdering a wife to be with a girlfriend, the dark arrogance that lies within some men in thinking that murder is the only way to fulfill their needs. New solo sections for the women have been added, as well as newly choreographed duets, and five out of the eight dancers in the production are new to the roles. The production also heralds the introduction of JRD’s newest member, dancer Deondre Horner, who joins the company from the Martha Graham Ensemble.

In conjunction with the production, noted photographer Bob Emmott, whose images of dance and water provide the backdrop to BREATHLESS, will be presenting an exhibit of his work in Studio B throughout the season for the second year.

Recently honored as the recipient of the German Dance Award 2007 (Deutschen Tanzpreis), for her contribution to dance in Europe and the world, Susanne Linke is one of the greatest representatives of modern German expressionist dance. Now 62, Linke unites in her dance both her origins in the historic German tradition and the development of contemporary German dance theatre. After studying with Wigman, she went to Essen and continued her training at the Folkwang School’s dance department, which was founded by Kurt Jooss. From 1970 – 1973 she was a dancer at the Folkwang Dance Studio under the artistic direction of Pina Bausch, and began to create her own choreographic pieces. She quickly gained international recognition with her solos and group dances, received several awards and gave guest performances all over Europe as well as in India, South and North America. For almost ten years, until the summer of 1985, she directed the Folkwang Dance Studio and went on tour with the group to South America as well as to other countries. Since then, she has worked as a freelance choreographer and dancer and with international ensembles as a guest choreographer, among them the Limón Company in New York, GRCOP at the Paris Opera and the Nederlands Dans Theater.

Established in 1998, Jeanne Ruddy Dance features the work of such preeminent choreographers as Robert Battle, Ann Reinking, Mark Dendy, and many others. Now a mainstay of the region’s dance community, each season’s productions also include new works by Ruddy herself, who continues to explore diverse styles and techniques with her company of nine professional dancers. The company’s renovated studio theatre headquarters at 1515 Brandywine Street, THE PERFORMANCE GARAGE, together with its outreach and touring program and classes, supports JRD’s mission to create a viable youth outreach program for area children and local schools, to nurture new dancers and promote new audiences.

The Susanne Linke project was made possible in part by a grant from Dance Advance, a program of the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by The University of the Arts. .

Jeanne Ruddy Dance's 8th Concert Season will be presented at The Performance Garage, 1515 Brandywine St (one block north of Spring Garden Street between 15th and 16th Streets), April 10 – 19, 2008. Performances are Thurs, April 10 at 7:30pm, Fri-Sat, April 11-12 at 8pm; Sun, April 13 at 2 pm; Thurs and Fri, April 17-18 at 8pm and Sat April 19 at 2pm and 8pm.

Tickets for opening night are $150 (special ticketed event with post-performance Gala Party at Rembrandt’s Restaurant at 741 N. 23rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19130), all other performances are $25 /$15 for seniors, students w/ID and members of the professional dance community), and can be purchased by calling 215.569.4060 or visiting www.ruddydance.org. $15 tickets are available for groups of 10 or more; $10 for groups of 20 or more. Cash, checks or all major credit cards (MC, Visa, Amex, Discover) accepted.

For more information on Jeanne Ruddy Dance, please call Nina Zucker Associates at 610.667.0706 or email at nzapr@aol.com or visit www.ruddydance.org.

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