Directed by:*

Carole Alexis

Genre / Type of Show:*

Contemporary Ballet; AfroCaribbean Ballet

Language:*

English

Duration:*

01:50:00

Audience type:*

All

Synopsis:*

EVOCATIONS

Choreography: Carole Alexis – Music by Airto Moreira

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NE ME QUITTE PAS

Choreography: Carole Alexis – Music by Jacques Brel

NOS ICI ET D’AILLEURS

Musique: Yann Tiersen, Jonny Greenwood & The Klezmatics

Chorégraphie: Carole Alexis

As its title indicates, Carole Alexis’ choreography explores the complex interactions of our day-to-day lives in the urban environment and the sense of dislocation and displacement that the constant flow of traffic – the to and from of commuting, the crossing of paths and transitory meetings, exacerbated by the demands and distractions of electronic communication – imposes on us as subjects living in such an environment. The enormous pressure to be always “there”, The choreographer’s choice of movements in this piece derives from the angular and linear architectural structures of the City and of the Dogon masks.

LENTIL SOUP

Musique: Compositeurs Divers

Chorégraphie: Carole Alexis

An exploration of our human hunger and our search for spiritual nourishment, through a series of dances inspired by the journey of the choreographer, the journey of the traveler, the nomad, the exile, Africa and the Caribbean on music from various artists.

MACOUBA

Macouba: Pointe work : Carole Alexis- Music: Ali Akbar Khan and John Handy

This piece draws inspiration from a village in Martinique, where an East Indian culture remains predominant after centuries, while engaged in a fruitful symbiosis with the African and Latin European heritage. The contemporary choreography uses pointe work to give expression to this facet of Caribbean culture.

About the Company / directxr or directxrs:*

Carole Alexis—internationally-recognized choreographer and artistic director of the surging professional dance company Ballet des Amériques/Company Carole Alexis – is standing at the vanguard of her field of dance. As a groundbreaking female pioneer of mixed ethnic background, she continues to shatter societal stereotypes and prejudices. Having lived in Martinique, Brittany, West Africa, Paris, and the United States—thus exemplifying the principles of unity, diversity, and inclusion in her own personality and heritage—Alexis commands a unique, multi-faceted choreographic voice; a kind of luminous poetry written in movement and filled with an indelible humanistic vision that transcends the barriers of human differences. Inspired in part by the teachings of the three founders of the Negritude movement: Aimé Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and Léon-Gontran Damas, Alexis embraces dance as a universal language that can inspire hope, freedom, mutual recognition, and reconciliation. Drawing inspiration from various society, politics, and culture, as well as music, nature, history, and human interaction, Alexis takes us from the landscapes of the Caribbean to the plains of Africa and the skyscrapers of New York City; from satirical reflections on modern-day society to refugee ships, swaying sugarcane fields, and brilliant flowers of spiritual resilience; from a glimpse into the profundity of a shared communal meal, to militaristic culture encountering humanity’s hope-filled pleas for love and peace… Alexis believes that art melds with societal-reflection, and should grapple with universal themes. Consequently, her compositions remind us of the infinite potential and boundless possibilities of humankind.

About the company

In 2011, Carole Alexis founded Ballet des Amériques /Carole Alexis Ballet Theatre, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization operating a professional dance company as well as a pre-professional ballet conservatory in Westchester, NY.

In the first ten years since the founding of Ballet des Amériques, the dance company gave nearly 200 performances of Carole Alexis’s work from stages throughout the greater New York City area to the national stage of France.

In the same time period, numerous pre-professionally trained students of the ballet conservatory were admitted to highly competitive summer programs at the Ballet School of the Opéra national de Paris, at the Royal Ballet in the United Kingdom, English National Ballet, the Julliard School, American Ballet Theatre and Bolshoi Ballet Academy, San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and Ballet West.

Partly in response to the closure of theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, Carole Alexis created the Dancing Caravan Project, an itinerant dance theater, complete with a portable sprung dance floor, sound and lighting system, costume-change tents and chairs, which has already brought her choreographies into communities in outdoor settings from Westchester to New York City.

Carole Alexis and the Company has received numerous accolades for her work, including government proclamations honoring Ballet des Amériques as the“Premier Dance Company”and “Best Ballet Company and School” as well as regular press coverage.