The Orchestra of St. Luke’s is happy to team up with Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects on the opera DIDO and AENEAS. With Jody’s help, we take a contemporary look at universal themes of love and fate through the lens of fame. For our purposes, Dido is an older movie star who falls for the handsome young rock star, Aeneas. As they are encouraged to make this splashy celebrity relationship work by their entourages, Aeneas' record label plots to tear them apart.
Oberfelder’s athletic and expressive choreography for eight dancers, 6 opera singers, and a 30-person chorus from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Of Music & Art and Performing Arts compliments the Orchestra of St. Luke’s as they collaborate on this production. Ms. Oberfelder’s company, employing rich visual elements and physicality, have engineered a presentation perfect for audiences of all ages. We are excited to offer dance, instrumental and choral music lovers alike the chance to have a shared experience, where there really is something for everyone.
Costumes will be created by Wade Jensen, with lighting by Kathy Kaufmann, and set by Juergen Riehm. Dancers include: Gina Bashour, Aditi Dhruv, Jill Frere, Elise Knudson, Rebekah Morin, Ed Rice, Jake Szczpek, and Carlton Ward. This commission is also supported by a Joyce Residency 07-08 Grant, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects presents sensual, acrobatic work that distills the movement of every day life, and creates dances that are emotionally and intellectually provocative. Recognized as “one of the funniest modern-dance choreographers in New York”, (Jennifer Dunning NY Times June 15, 2007), Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects combines strength with levity, and virtuosic movement with innate cleverness.
Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects has toured nationally and internationally, and has received funding from New York Foundation for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Puffin Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, JP Morgan Chase, Harkness Dance Foundation, The Tides Foundation, The Starry Night Foundation, The Titus Foundation, and generous individual donors. See the company website at www.jodyoberfelder.com for more information.
