sjDANCEco For Every Season

sjDANCEco ANNOUNCES 8TH FALL SEASON PREMIERE October 21 & 22 Modern Dance Performances Feature Two World Premieres and Two José Limón Masterpiece Works SAN JOSE, Calif. Date. sjDANCEco presents its 8th season premiere entitled “For Every Season” this Thursday, October 21 and Friday, October 22, 2010 at 8:00 pm at the California Theatre in downtown San Jose. The Company will perform two works by José Limón ‘There is a Time’ and ‘The Waldstein Sonata’ in collaboration with San José Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Barbara Day Turner and guest pianist Helene Wickett. The performances will also feature two world premieres by company member Hsiang Hsiu Lin and sjDANCEco Artistic Director Maria Basile. Prior to each performance, there will be a special preshow Dance Talk by sjDANCEco Artistic Director Gary Masters. Limón’s ‘There is a Time’ is inspired by the biblical text in Ecclesiastes, ‘to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven”. This soulful work and a signature of the Limón Repertory premiered at the Juilliard School in New York City in 1956 to a commissioned score by American composer Norman Dello Joio. The ‘Waldstein Sonata’ to Beethoven’s breathtaking score is one of three works created during the last year of José Limón’s life and has never been performed by the Limón Dance Company. Daniel Lewis, Mr. Limón’s assistant, first staged the work for the Juilliard Dance Ensemble in the late 1970’s and in the years since it has been performed by several professional companies around the United States. Hsiang Hsiu Lin’s inspiration for ‘The Funeral’ comes from the unique and odd phenomenon of an old traditional Taiwanese funeral. Traditionally, there are professional weepers who are hired by the deceased’s family to cry loudly and sadly during the funeral ceremony. Tradition holds that the more people crying gives more respect to death and also helps to take away sorrow and provide comfort to the living. The music is by Japanese composer Yoshiki Hayashi, a musician, songwriter and producer primarily known for co-founding the popular rock band X Japan. Maria Basile’s ‘The Inner Edge’ is about overcoming human suffering, whether real or imagined, through receiving compassion from others or ultimately from within. The music by Michael Ching was originally commissioned by Barbara Day Turner and the San José Chamber orchestra and will also be played live. About sjDANCEco sjDANCECo was founded in 2003 by Gary Masters, Associate Professor of Dance at San Jose State University, Melanie Doerner and Maria Basile to meet the need for contemporary dance opportunities in the south bay. The mission of sjDANCEco is to nurture the creative spirit of professional and emerging dance artists and to inspire audiences to discover dance. In addition to their annual fall performance featuring works by José Limón, sjDANCEco hosts the annual Dancin’ Downtown Festival and presents the ChoreoProject Awards as a low-cost opportunity to present the talent of local, emerging and professional choreographers. For more information, please visit www.sjdanceco.org.