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Dance Theatre

A new vision of contemporary dance


Carlos Fittante-Artistic Director, Islene Pinder-Founding Director

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Luhrs & Associates, Publicist, 201-592-9126, luhrsassocpress [at ] verizon.net


Carlos Fittante, Artistic Director, 646-361-9183

BALAM Dance Theatre Launches Spring 2011 Season with


BALAM Dance Theatre: From Bali to the Bronx
--A Free Performance Open to the Public –

Co-presented by the Freshman Year Initiative and City and the Humanities at
Lehman College's Lovinger Theatre Thursday, April 28, 12:30-1:45 p.m.

Carlos Fittante and Robin Gilbert in Tigerlily and the Dragonfly. Photo: Julie Lemberger.

(New York, New York—April 3, 2011) -- BALAM Dance Theatre: From Bali to the Bronx commences
BALAM Dance Theatre’s (BALAM) spring 2011 season with a FREE performance on Thursday, April 28 from
12:30-1:45 p.m. at Lehman College’s Lovinger Theatre. BALAM is a New York City-based company that offers
a new vision of contemporary dance by fusing ballet, modern and diverse cultural dance styles with Balinese
theatre.
BALAM Dance Theatre: From Bali to the Bronx celebrates the arrival of spring and the company’s recent
successful tour of Bali, Indonesia with the creation of a new program featuring the most popular works from
BALAM’s Bali Tour 2010. Signature pieces highlighted on this program include Tigerlily and the Dragonfly,
- more -
Dance Theatre
A new vision of contemporary dance
Carlos Fittante-Artistic Director, Islene Pinder-Founding Director

BALAM Dance Theatre Launches Spring 2011 Season


Page two of three

a fantasy courtship with BALAM’s principal dancer Robin Gilbert on point, and Ramayana-Abduction of Sita, an
action packed story ballet inspired by the Hindu epic with Broadway ballerina Dianna Warren debuting as the
alluring Golden Deer.
Toshinori Hamada’s dance trio, Sunda Upasunda, makes its New York premiere in the program. The
mysterious masked work is inspired by a myth from the Mahabharata about two warrior brothers with guest
belly dancer, Irina Akulenko, appearing as Tilottama in the role of the seductive celestial nymph. This
compelling dance drama features a recording of an original contemporary gamelan score created and performed
by the acclaimed Gamelan Semara Ratih of Ubud, Bali.
The captivating Nani Devi, BALAM’s resident Balinese guest artist, opens the program in an excerpt
from the exhilarating traditional Balinese fan dance solo, Teruna Jaya (Young Winner), dancing in a vibrantly
colored purple and golden scrolled Balinese costume to recorded gamelan music in the Gong Kebyar style, which
means bursting into flames!
New company members, Olsi Gjeci and Atsushi Yahagi, make their debuts with the company in
Primordial Embers, a tour de force duet representing powerful fire gods. This thrilling men’s duet combines the
skills of partnering, street dancing, release technique, and Balinese dance performed to driving jazz orchestral
music inspired by gamelan music.
This free performance, a part of BALAM’s community service Out & About series, is open to the public
and co-presented by the Freshman Year Initiative and City and the Humanities at Lehman College. A question
and answer session with the artists and the audience will conclude the program.

About BALAM
BALAM offers a new vision of contemporary dance that emanates from a cutting-edge fusion of diverse
cultural dance styles and movement techniques. The company’s fusion repertoire presents an opulent dance
theatre that blends contemporary choreography, eclectic music, striking masks, imaginative props, and vibrant
costumes to create a performance that appeals to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
Under the directorship of Spanish-American choreographer Carlos Fittante, BALAM’s fusion repertoire
blends boldly divergent dance styles and movements, including ballet, Spanish, belly dance, Lester Horton,
Baroque, Latin, hip-hop, Noh, and karate, as well as Balinese.
- more -
Dance Theatre
A new vision of contemporary dance
Carlos Fittante-Artistic Director, Islene Pinder-Founding Director

BALAM Dance Theatre Launches Spring 2011 Season


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BALAM has been featured at several distinguished festivals and venues, such as First Night New York;
Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors; La Mama Experimental Theatre, New York, New York; Jacob's Pillow Dance
Festival, Lee, Massachusetts; and many others. The company has also appeared internationally at the Bali Arts
Festival in Denpasar, Bali and the 2nd Encuentro Internacíonal de Danza Contemporánea in Cancún, Mexico.
The company’s work has received critical recognition from the New York Times and Village Voice. The
Governor and people of Bali and the Indonesian Consulate of New York have highly commended its
performances.

Location
Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College
250 Bedford Park Boulevard
(Take the D or 4 trains to Bedford Park Boulevard)
(Publicity by Luhrs & Associates)

For further information, please call 646-361-9183 or visit BALAM Dance Theatre on the web at
www.balamdance.org or its blog at www.BalamDanceTheatre.BlogSpot.com. Stay updated about the company's
new work, events, activities and announcements on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/pages/BALAM-Dance-
Theatre/332263244599.
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