Gibney Presents the New York Premiere of IN | REP: Introspection (An Evening of Works) by Sidra Bell
Performances mark 20th anniversary of Sidra Bell Dance New York and Bell’s first year as Gibney’s Artist-in-Residence
Corresponding Installation RETURN TO FORM presents costumes, video, drawings and performance ephemera highlighting Bell’s collaborative process
October 27 – 29
Gibney: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
NEW YORK, NY, September 19, 2022—Gibney, the New York City based dance and social justice organization, opens its 2022-23 presenting season at Gibney Center with the New York premiere of Artist-in-Residence Sidra Bell’s IN | REP: Introspection (An Evening of Works), October 27 through 29, 2022. Marking the 20th anniversary of her company, Sidra Bell Dance New York (SBDNY), the 65-minute program seamlessly connects excerpts from works choreographed by Bell for her company since its 2001 founding. IN | REP is presented as a cohesive new work offering audiences the opportunity to experience Bell’s evolution as a choreographer. An accompanying free multimedia installation, RETURN TO FORM: The Shape of Time, An Installation by Sidra Bell Dance New York and the SBDNY Design Team, features video, objects, ephemera, drawings and designs from the artists of Sidra Bell Dance New York and its collaborators over the past two decades.
Bell, who was named Gibney’s inaugural Artist-in-Residence in July 2022, is an acclaimed and prolific choreographer. Her work has been performed throughout the United States and abroad.
“Each of the works in this program holds a special place in the history of the company and in my life as an artist and choreographer. Woven together, these works create a tapestry of the past with hints of the future.I am thrilled to celebrate this milestone anniversary with New York audiences, who have supported my work over the past two decades,” said Bell.
“There is no better way to start Gibney’s 2022-23 in person presenting season than with this beautiful retrospective,” said Gibney Center Artistic Director Nigel Campbell. “These performances will give audiences an in-depth look at Sidra’s incredible talent. They’ll then have the opportunity to discover new works created here at Gibney Center over the course of her residency in the coming years.”
IN | REP: Introspection combines 11 excerpts into one composition including selections from TRIBUTE, 2013; Opening (slowly, subtly), 2021; your distance kept, 2008; Grief Point, 2011; Savage Birds, 2008; embraced, 2018; POOL, 2011; PRELUDE | IDENTITY, 2019; random stars, 2020; and Inside, 2013.
IN | REP: Introspection will be presented at 8:00 PM on October 27, 28 and 29 at Gibney: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center’s White Box Theater (Studio C). Tickets are $15-$35. An opening night reception will be hosted on October 27.
Accompanying the performance is the installation RETURN TO FORM: The Shape of Time, An Installation by Sidra Bell Dance New York and the SBDNY Design Team, featuring video, drawings and designs, costumes, texts, objects, and performance ephemera spanning the Company’s 20-year history and highlighting Bell’s collaborative process. The installation in curated by Sidra Bell, Alex Durrans (Video Design/Installation), Rory Golden (Exhibition Consultant), Alexandra Wells, Ernest Baker (Filmmaker) and Claudette Bell. Produced by Karen Kitchen.
Listings Details
Sidra Bell Dance New York
IN | REP: Introspection (An Evening of Repertory)
8:00 PM EDT
October 27, 28 & 29
Directed and choreographed by Sidra Bell
Lighting, Production & Décor: Amith Chandrashaker
Lighting Assistant: Abby Hoke Brady
Performing Artists: Mio Ishikawa, Madison Hicks, AJ Libert, Kimie Parker, Mady Thornquest, Uma Shannon, Christian Warner, Chance Williams
Costume Supervisor & Designer: Caitlin Taylor
Costume Pieces: Uma Shannon
Gibney: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
White Box Theater (Studio C)
280 Broadway, New York (Enter at 53A Chambers Street)
65-minutes with no intermission
Ticket prices: $15 – $35
Tickets available for purchase on Gibney website.
Installation
RETURN TO FORM: The Shape of Time,
An Installation by Sidra Bell Dance New York and the SBDNY Design Team
6:00 PM-8:00 PM
October 27
6:00 PM-10:00 PM
October 28 & 29
Gibney: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
The Lab (Studio A)
280 Broadway, New York (Enter at 53A Chambers Street)
FREE WITH RESERVATION
COVID-19 Safety Policies
Upon arrival to Gibney Center for a performance, all audience members will need to show proof of full vaccination, a photo ID, and their tickets. Children under 17 will not need a photo ID, as long as they’re accompanied by an adult. Face masks are required.
Funding Credits and Special Thanks:
IN | REP: Introspection (An Evening of Repertory) has been supported by Gibney, NPN Documentation & Storytelling Fund, Yaddo, Yaddo Access Grant, Djerassi Resident Artist Program, The Pillow Projects, Robin Sarli & Kelsey Robinson, Dale & Alexander Djerassi, Jewel Carter, Alexandra MacDowell, Elaina Richardson, Christy Williams, Steve Michelson, Juno Obedin-Maliver, Debra Rose, Tisch Summer Dance Festival, Dance/NYC Dance Advancement Fund, New Music USA, University of the Arts Faculty and Academic Development Fund, and The Celia Wilson Scholarship Fund.
About Sidra Bell
Sidra was commissioned as the first black female choreographer to make works for New York City Ballet. Recent features of her historical work at NYCB include Essence Magazine, NY1 and Amsterdam News. Her career has spanned over 20 years and her choreography has been seen throughout the United States and in Denmark, France, Austria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Slovenia, Sweden, Germany, China, Canada, Aruba, Korea, Brazil, and Greece. Bell has created over 100 works notably for BODYTRAFFIC, Ailey II, The Juilliard School, Whim W’Him, Boston Conservatory at Berklee College, River North Dance Chicago, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Sacramento Ballet, Boulder Ballet, New Dance Partners Kansas City, Ballet Austin, Springboard Danse Montréal, and Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet Schools, University of Texas at Austin among many others.
Sidra Bell Dance New York (SBDNY, Inc.) her nonprofit dance troupe is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The company tours internationally collaborating with cutting edge institutions in dance, theater, and design. Its body of work has been presented in venues across the globe. Bell is the founder of the award-winning MODULE Laboratory™ an immersive platform centered in improvisation for intergenerational movement and theater artists.
About Sidra Bell Dance New York
Sidra Bell Dance New York has rapidly gained an international profile for work that reveals aspects of the human condition through a distinctly female lens. Bell’s creations have been described as “brainy, exuberant, and audacious” (San Francisco Chronicle). The work demands both physical power and tender expressiveness from her crack ensemble of “fearless and technically honed dancers” (Vancouver’s Georgia Straight). The Company has performed extensively throughout the USA, Europe, Canada, and South America. It was named “#1 in Contemporary Dance in 2014” by the Pittsburgh Examiner, as one of ArtsATL’s “Notable Dance Performances of 2012”, and in the “Top 10 for Best in Dance in 2010” by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. SBDNY was awarded a 2015 National Dance Project Award from New England Foundation for the Arts and was one of 25 inaugural companies to receive a Dance Advancement Fund Award from Dance/NYC in 2017. SBDNY has an extensive educational and mentorship program built on MODULE philosophy and works with institutions for dance and theater internationally with a particular emphasis on young artist development.
About Gibney
Founded by Gina Gibney in 1991, Gibney is a New York City-based performing arts and social justice organization that taps into the vast potential of movement, creativity, and performance to effect social change and personal transformation. Gibney deploys resources through three strategic and interwoven program areas: Gibney Center, a meeting ground for New York City’s artistic community comprising 23 studios and 5 performance spaces that provide critical space for training, rehearsal, professional development, performances, and convenings; Gibney Community, programs that use movement to help address a range of social issues with a focus on gender-based violence and its prevention; and Gibney Company, the organization’s resident dance ensemble. Gibney supports movement-based artists in every aspect of their creative development: classes, residencies, low-cost rental space, entrepreneurial training and incubation, presentation opportunities, commissioning, and operating a professional dance company.