Nimbus Dance premieres Spring

Date: Sunday, October 9, 2022

Time: 3:00 pm E.D.T.

Nimbus Dance premieres Spring, a new dance by Founding Artistic Director Samuel Pott, set to Aaron Copland’s masterpiece, Appalachian Spring, and accompanied by the full 70-piece New Jersey Symphony, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on October 7 and at Morristown’s Mayo Center on October 9th.

Commissioned for the New Jersey Symphony’s 100th Anniversary Season, Pott’s new work honors Martha Graham’s seminal ballet from 1944 by exploring the sense of hope and optimism in this timelessly American music, while also conveying a contemporary perspective on the continuity of spirit through changing cycles of seasons in nature and through generations of Americans.Samuel Pott says about the new dance and Copland score: “When a sound takes hold of you the way this music does – conveys the exquisite fragility of hope, the anguish that grips your spine – it carries you way back, like a familiar family recipe – to childhood, or across generations into the past. I knew there was a story to tell here – different from Martha Graham’s, but descended from it. This music, like an inheritance, taps a well of meaning and emotion related to American hope for the future, and brings it to the surface for a new generation of audiences and artists.”

The sense of community and commonality is present throughout Spring: the dance is performed by a standout cast of Nimbus’ celebrated company dancers, joined by 18 accomplished youth performers from the Jersey City-based School of Nimbus Dance.

Xian Zhang, Artistic Director of New Jersey Symphony said, “For humans, there is no better way to celebrate than to dance and, in the New Jersey Symphony’s centennial season, we are pleased to collaborate with Nimbus Dance in the presentation of Copland’s masterpiece. The storytelling of this score will surely bring joyous and unexpected insights and inspiration to our audiences statewide as we launch this festive 100th anniversary season.”

Costume designs by Erica Johnston indicate influence from Graham’s original costumes but introduce a new, meaningful, component: the design of each costume incorporates a print of a painting by Jersey City alcohol ink artist, Bryant Small. Vibrant and complex, the pattern from Small’s painting ties together each of the characters, to a common thread: the fabric of time, family, community.

Don’t miss this milestone convergence!

Collaboration between two of New Jersey’s leading arts organizations, presentations at two of the State’s most esteemed theaters, New Jersey Symphony’s 100th Anniversary season, Samuel Pott’s return to Copland’s famous score after performing Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring across the country with the Martha Graham Dance Company, and for everyone: an opportunity to lift up our common heritage of American hope for the future.

Performed By:

Xavier Alexander • Tyler Choquette • LeighAnn Curd

Shayla Hutton • Caleb Mansor • Victoria Santaguida

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