Programming
Below is a selection of our current offerings. Live music is always available, as are pre/post performance discussions with the choreographer, composer, and/or dancers. We are able to tailor our repertoire and expertise to the needs of your venue and programming including in-person or virtual
Programs
Photo by David Gonsier
Repertory Concert
Program Length: 60-90 Minutes
ARD offers a flexible and diverse section of repertory to fit your needs. The work explores emotionally driven movement with underlying currents of technique and structure. Rivka's choreography incorporates various styles of dance and music, exposing audiences to an accessible artistic experience for all ages.
Live music is always available, as are pre or post-performance discussions with the choreographer, composer, and/or dancers. We are able to tailor our repertoire and expertise to the needs of your venue and programming whether in-person or virtual.
Suggested programming: Unorthodox, If I Forget You, Rust, Convergence, Mossy, She, For Her, Ori, Variations on a Box, Four Concerned, Holly, No Words, Undertow
Family-friendly Programming
Program Length: 40-60 Minutes
See dance and music come to life in an educational, family-friendly performance utilizing a selection of ARD repertory or an excerpt of our evening-length Jewish program, “The Book of Esther”. Audiences enjoy a workshop with Artistic Director Ariel Grossman and Resident Composer David Homan, who will discuss the art of collaboration and how they use music and movement to tell a story.
This condensed, interactive program showcases the creation process, invites the audience to explore movement for themselves, and is sure to delight people of all ages.
Suggested works: Rhapsody in K, Variations on a Box, Book of Esther
Photo by David Gonsier
Photo by David Gonsier
Heritage & Tradition
Program Length: 50 Minutes
This program investigates the traditions and stories that make a community. The Book of Esther, which is often performed in excerpts, tells the story of the biblical journey of Queen Vashti and Queen Esther through emotionally driven movement, epitomizing the Jewish traditions of collaboration and support. Inspired by the novel, and now recently adapted Netflix series by the same name, Unorthodox questions the bonds that rule the structure of our lives, when a woman chooses to leave a Hasidic sect. What happens when you unzip to breathe?
Perfectly complementing these two, Ori is a contemporary exploration of light and athleticism accompanied by four amplified cellos.
This program aims to help forge stronger bonds through meaningful conversation. Additional works can be provided.
Suggested programming: Book of Esther, Unorthodox, Ori
Women & Mothers
Program Length: 45 Minutes
Exploring the many faces of womanhood, ARD’s Women & Mothers program delves into the juxtaposition of who we are with ourselves, and who we chose to let the world see.
With a total runtime of 45 minutes, this program takes the audience through the emotional waves of female-identifying individuals experience in motherhood; a rebirth, inspired by a woman leaving a strict Hasidic sect; an intimate look at the deep layers and entangled cycles of love and hate within a marriage; and examines how familial love evokes positive and negative impulses where frustration and desire compete with the need for space and independence.
This program strives to inspire conversation across generations and genders.
Program Includes: She, Unorthodox, If I Forget You and Mossy
Photo by Whitney Browne
Photo by Whitney Browne
Composer’s Notebook - Stefania De Kenessey
Program Length: 50 - 90 Minutes
This program celebrates the collaboration between composer, Stefania de Kenessey and Artistic Director, Ariel Rivka and their ongoing exploration of womanhood. Program highlights include She, a work that delves into the waves of motherhood and features a unique soundscape of layering breast pump sounds. De Kenessey excels at creating dynamic electronic and melodic scores to compliment ARD’s emotive choreography.
Her instrumental and vocal music has been performed extensively in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to Joe’s Pub, LaMama, and New York Live Arts. Trained at Yale and Princeton, de Kenessey is steadfastly committed to honoring women composers and is the founding president of the International Alliance for Women in Music.
Program Includes: She, Rhapsody in K, Mossy, Unorthodox, In Her Words
Composer’s Notebook - David Homan
Program Length: 50 Minutes
This program highlights ARD’s composer-in-residence, David Homan. Homan’s work aims to be approachable, to better inspire vulnerability within the audience and act as a guide through the hypnotic choreography.
Homan’s music has been performed in the US, Europe, Israel, and in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall/Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, CAMI Hall, the Thalia at Symphony Space as well as major dance venues like NYLA, Joyce SoHo, the Di Capo Opera Theatre, MMCA, and the Joyce. He has also composed music for the award-winning 2001 Fringe Festival Production Einstein’s Dreams, and written theatrical scores for As You Like It, Hamlet, King Lear, and Great Expectations, among others. Major groups such as the American Symphony Orchestra have performed his works, as well as dance commissions and choreographers around the US.
Suggested Pieces: Rust, For Her, Undertow, If I Forget You, Rhapsody in K, No Words, Variations on a Box, Ori, Book of Esther and Four Concerned
Photo by David Gonseir
Choreographic & Teaching Residencies
With a wide range of offerings, ARD Artistic Director Ariel Grossman and her company dancers offer technique classes, create new works, and/or select relevant repertoire for students of all ages and levels. This past season included a weeklong workshop at Peridance Capezio Center, a choreographic residency for Fiorello LaGuardia High School’s Senior Spring Concert and a continued teaching and choreographic residency at Moving Youth Ballet in Cranford, NJ.