Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company performed its beloved dance, The Summertime Suite, at Battery Dance Festival on Thursday, August 16, 2018.
This suite of dances choreographed by Daniel Gwirtzman, held together by a narrative arc and a range of popular music, contains a few of the numbers from its hit-show Encore (which premiered in 2007), and which has been re-contextualized to exist outside the script of that show. It is a stand-alone piece that grows from a solo, to a duet, to another solo, to three ensemble pieces for a cast of twelve. The story follows a girl who is spending her first summer away from her home.
Tisket—A solo set to a different version of the well-known A-Tisket, A-Tasket; performed by Vanessa Martínez de Baños
Ain't She Sweet—A brief duet set to the 1920s hit; performed by Daniel Gwirtzman and Madeline Hoak
Character—A signature solo from Encore, Character, choreographed in 2005, depicts the complex emotions of an entertainer, the attraction to and separation from an audience, questioning the boundaries between performing and not performing. Performed by Daniel Gwirtzman.
The last three dances were choreographed over a period of years. The first section was the first, in 2006 and is part of the finale of Encore. The second was commissioned by the Broadway foundation DanceBreak and premiered in 2010. The last was commissioned by Nazareth College's Summer Dance Festival and premiered in 2011.
In The Good Old Summertime
In The Summertime
Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer
CAST (Battery Dance Festival)
by character
Girl: Madeline Hoak
Uncle: Daniel Gwirtzman
Boy: Derek Crescenti
Friends: Larissa Asebedo, Dwayne Brown, Jeff Davis, Julia Gold, Vanessa Martínez de Baños, Honza Pelichovsky
Wedding Party Woman (related to Groom): Ashley Carter
Final Dancers: Kenzie Haynes, Daniel Morimoto
Ensemble (alphabetical order)
Larissa Asebedo, Dwayne Brown, Ashley Carter, Derek Crescenti, Jeff Davis, Julia Gold, Madeline Hoak, Daniel Gwirtzman, Kenzie Haynes, Vanessa Martínez de Baños, Daniel Morimoto, Honza Pelichovsky
Costumes: Jennifer Brightbill Lee and the
Company
Character costume: Marion Clendenen
Battery Dance Company Assistant: Lauren O'Brien
Videographer: Claudio Rodriguez
Previous outdoor performances of the work:
Bryant Park Presents Modern Dance Series in Bryant Park, Manhattan, New York City, July 2015. Co-presented by ITE (Inception to Exhibition).
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, July 2012.
All choreography is by Daniel Gwirtzman and is copyrighted. © Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company 1998-2019
