Repertoire

 (All photos are by Gerry Goodstein unless otherwise noted.)

LIGHTNING

Choreography: Felice Lesser/Music: Borut Krzisnik

LIGHTNING reflects on some of today's most important issues: borders, global warming, equity, inclusion, racism, terrorism, technology, artificial intelligence, and the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

Premiere: February 8, 2017, The Duke on 42nd Street, NY

Above: Breakthrough (Global Warming).  Dancers: Acée Francis Laird (on floor), Kat Files, Chihwan Kim, Danielle Shupe, Dona Wiley, Chanmee Jeong  

__________________

CONNECTIONS

Choreography: Felice Lesser/Music: J.S. Bach

Picking up where 2BZ4U left off, this dance in three sections (Texting, Searching, Selfies) to music from Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, is about how people communicate (or fail to communicate) today. 

Premiere: October 7, 2016. Commissioned by Friends University Ballet, Wichita, KS

Photo: Joseph Myers

________________________________

THE SIRENS' SONG

Choreography & Video: Felice Lesser/Music: Philip Glass

A ballet about the mythical Sirens and one of their victims.

Premiere: 1991 Tokyo International Choreography Competition (to a score by A. Odaka), 1995 Symphony Space (to a score by Philip Glass), 2015 Revised for New 42nd Street Studios performance, NYC
Dancers above: Asha Sienkiewicz & Darius Crenshaw 

____________________ 

2BZ4U

Choreography & Video: Felice Lesser/Music: Seymour Barab

A dance in three parts (ZUP, 2BZ4U, can u hear me now?) about communication and relationships today.

Premiere: LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Long Island City, NYC (2013)
Dancer above: Kristin Licata in "can u hear me now?" at New 42nd Street Studios, NYC, 2015                                                                                                         

____________________ 

"Menousis" from SEIRENES

Choreography: Felice Lesser/Music: Greek folk dances

Premiere: Symphony Space, NYC (1988)
Dancers: (l-r) Danielle Shupe, Kanae Kusu, Asha Sienkiewicz, Savannah Lee, at New 42nd Street Studios, NYC, 2015 

 ____________________

"Tango" from SLED                         

Choreography: Felice Lesser/Music: Seymour Barab                                                                              

Premiere: Symphony Space, NYC (1988)
Dancer above: Dona Wiley, at New 42nd Street Studios, NYC, 2015

____________________

I AM A DANCER

Choreography & Video: Felice Lesser/Music: Johannes Brahms

Lesser's "live documentary" about the lives of freelance dancers. Winner of two Accolade Awards.

Premiere: Baryshnikov Arts Center, NYC (2006)
Dancer above: Lauren Toole

____________________

IN ANOTHER ROOM

Choreography: Felice Lesser/Music: Philip Glass

A ballet about a serial killer and his victims.

Originally commissioned by C.W. Post/LIU Dance Ensemble in 2008, and rechoreographed for Felice Lesser Dance Theater in 2012 at Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater.
Dancers above: Elise Giannotti & Christian Serrano-Godén with Taylor Gordon in background at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Long Island City, NY
Photo: Rodney Zagury

_____________________  

FUNDING THE ARTS

Choreography, Script, Video & Animation: Felice Lesser/Music: Délibes, Tchaikowsky

Lesser's "living cartoon" about two ex-CIA agents & their KGB counterparts who overthrow corrupt governments around the world and use the booty to fund their first love -- their ballet company. But nothing prepares them for what they find when they return to the U.S. post 9/11 and attempt to run a "non-profit" organization. (Please see our company's BLOG for more information on the creation of this work.)

Premiere: Baryshnikov Arts Center, NYC (2010).
Dancers above: Victor Gonzalez & Djassi Johnson

______________________________

RUNNING BACKWARDS ON THE TREADMILL

Choreography, Script, & Computer Animation: Felice Lesser

"Felice Lesser’s “Running Backwards on the Treadmill” is good hokey Hollywood fun of a sort that is in woefully short supply in dance today...the ambitious full-evening presentation...had unexpected depth and complexity. In the piece, half play and half dance, Francesca, a hapless choreographer, is trying to put together a program of new works. Her dancers are disdainful and lackadaisical. Inspiration comes slowly. She has a brief fling with the gorgeous dancer who seems to drop out of the heavens when her male lead bails out. The big night finally arrives, against all odds, bringing with it new and insurmountable-seeming disasters. But the show does go on. Ms. Lesser knows her dance world, and her ear for dialogue is acute. She also has a delicious sense of humor. And she makes fascinating use of computer-generated dance figures, projected on a panel hanging midstage in moments of fantasy..."  --Jennifer Dunning, THE NEW YORK TIMES