For Immediate Release: February 26, 2008

Contact: Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects
Press reservations: 212-777-6227 or press@jodyoberfelder.com
For info & tickets: www.jodyoberfelder.com

"Both beautiful and dangerous" Gia Kourlas, Time Out

DIDO & AENEAS WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION, an ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE'S COMMISSION

Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects

March 19, 2008 at 7:30 PM
LaGuardia High School of Music, Art, and the Performing Arts
100 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10023
SPECIAL EVENT - ONE NIGHT ONLY

Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects, in collaboration with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, will present Dido & Aeneas, a new spin on the 1689 opera composed by Henry Purcell with libretto by Nahum Tate. Featuring eight dancers, chamber orchestra, six vocal soloists and the LaGuardia High School Senior Chorus, Oberfelder's contemporary piece examines, through the prism of fame, universal themes of love and fate.

General Admission is $25, Students $10. Tickets may be purchased at the door and online at www.jodyoberfelder.com.

In this updated interpretation of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (based on Virgil’s Aeneid), Dido and Aeneas, a celebrity couple, are torn apart by the media machine. With a modern plot twist, Dido questions her circumstances and reveals true heroism. Employing rich visual elements (set by Juergen Riehm (principal/co-founder, 1100 Architect), visual design by Will Arnold, photography by Jillian Patterson, lighting by Kathy Kaufmann, costumes by Wade Jensen and Katrin Schnabl), Oberfelder’s surprising physicality reinvigorates this ancient narrative. Dancers include Gina Bashour, Aditi Dhruv, Jill Frere, Elise Knudson, Rebekah Morin, Jake Szczypek, Ed Rice, and Carlton Ward. The six solo vocalists are Lucia Bradford, Adrienne Danrich, Michael Lockley, Greg Purnhagen, and Trina Renay.

Commissioned by the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Dido & Aeneas was created during a residency provided by The Joyce Theater Foundation, New York City, with major support from The Andrew Mellon Foundation. This work is made possible with additional support from the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, The Fund for Creative Communities, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the generous support of individual donors.

Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects (JODP) performs Jody's athletic/ expressive choreography, finding an international audience at venues in Europe and Asia, from the Centre National de la Danse in Paris, Die Werkstatt in Dusseldorf, The Pusan National Theater in Korea, The 20th Annual International Festival of Modern Dance in Seoul, to The Belgrade Dance Festival with performances at The Belgrade State Theater in Serbia and the State Theater of Montenegro in Podorica. The company has performed at Jacob's Pillow, The Ailey Center, Dance New Amsterdam, MASS MoCA, Washington College in Maryland, and The Yard in Martha's Vineyard. Oberfelder has presented her work at numerous locations throughout New York City, including DNA, Lincoln Center's Clark Studio Theater, Dixon Place, Symphony Space, The Jewish Museum, The Flea Theater, Joyce SoHo, and PS 122. JODP has been aired on Serbian National TV, ABC's Nightline, and Metro Arts 13. Her collaborations in film and television include the Emmy Award winning Brave New World for ABC Nightline In Primetime, a perfume commercial with Hillary Swank, and numerous dance films including LineAge, which received a People’s Choice Award in 2007 from Cinedans in Amsterdam. This is Oberfelder's first opera.

Since its inception in 1978, Orchestra of St. Luke's has earned a reputation as America's foremost and most versatile chamber orchestra. Works commissioned by OSL's highly innovative Arts Education Program extend beyond music to several new dance pieces, including works choreographed not only by Oberfelder but also by Bill T. Jones and Pascal Rioult.