Dance Out East: The Scattering by Emily Coates

Dance Out East: The Scattering by Emily Coates

The Church in Sag Harbor with Works & Process at the Guggenheim
Dancer and choreographer Emily Coates’s new performance project sources George Balanchine's brief history beyond the metropolis to reflect on how the body and spirit of a choreographer scatters, living on in unexpected places, starting with his arrival in America in 1933. Coates draws upon on her background as a former member of New York City Ballet, and working with Ain Gordon (direction and dramaturgy), Derek Lucci (performer), Charles Burnham (musician-composer), and Melvin Chen (pianist), she and her collaborators collage misplaced and overlooked archival traces and transmissions of Balanchine and related artists into a new whole.

The poignancy of Coates’ residency at The Church responds to the art center’s own embrace of Balanchine’s history. Upon the windows of the building is a likeness of the famed choreographer, featured among a series of portraits known as ‘The Saints of Sag Harbor’ – replacing the stained-glass windows of churches with a series of etchings by artist and The Church co-founder Eric Fischl. These portraits pay homage to icons from Sag Harbor’s vast history of artists and makers who have inspired people the world over -- including Balanchine, whose grave is located in the storied village.

The Scattering is commissioned by Works & Process. This iterative presentation culminates a Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at The Church (2025) in Sag Harbor, home to George Balanchine’s grave. The project will continue to be supported with a Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at the Catskill Mountain Foundation in Hunter, New York where Jacques d’Amboise lived for seven decades. Additional developmental support is provided by Jacob’s Pillow, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University, and New England Foundation for the Arts Dance Fund.

Tickets $25/$20 members

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