ECU faculty member to dance with New York Theatre Ballet in upcoming Tarboro performance
Dirk Lumbard, teaching instructor in the School of Theatre and Dance at East Carolina University, will perform with the New York Theatre Ballet when the company visits Tarboro for the Edgecombe Community College Performing Arts Series.
The New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB), which has performed in the series for the past five years, will bring a program of mixed repertoire at 7:30 p.m. on March 22 in Keihin Auditorium on the Tarboro campus of Edgecombe Community College.
Sponsored by the Furman-Mathewson Trust of Edgecombe County Memorial Library, the performance is free, but reservations are required. To reserve free tickets, call Eric Greene, cultural arts director, at 252-823-5166, ext. 187.
Dirk Lumbard (contributed photo)
Lumbard, a Tarboro resident and veteran of seven Broadway shows, is a master tap dancer and has performed leading roles at Barton College, Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences and the Edna Boykin Cultural Center. He will perform in David Parker’s “Two Timing,” a piece set to Steve Riech’s “Clapping Music,” with NYTB dancer Elena Zahlmann. Lombard will perform elaborate clapping music with Zahlmann tapping on pointe.
In a review of “Two Timing” in Dance Beat, Deborah Jowitt wrote, “In the score, a single twelve-count phrase of claps and pauses is methodically altered (the first note keeps becoming the last one). The two performers move close together, always in counterpoint, and eventually the sound-making includes smacks on the floor and other forms of body percussion. It’s a virtuosic number, executed at a good clip.”
Other works will include Jerome Robbins’ “Septet,” “Petroushskates” by William Whitener, “The Flames of Paris” by Pas de Deux, Frederick Ashton’s “La Chatte,” and Antony Tudor’s “Dark Elegies.”
The mission of the Furman-Mathewson Trust is to provide programs of cultural, literary, educational or scientific presentations for Edgecombe County Memorial Library patrons. The trust has previously helped bring Maya Angelou, Nicholas Sparks and B.B. King to Edgecombe County, and has sponsored free performances of Jasmine Guy, the Avery Sharpe Trio and the Regina Carter Quintet.
About the New York Theatre Ballet
With its ever-expanding repertory, New York Theatre Ballet’s cutting-edge programming brings fresh insight to classic revivals paired with the modern sensibilities of both established and up-and-coming choreographers. Going strong after 38 years, the theatre ballet’s diversity in repertory explores the past while boldly taking risks on the future. Diana Byer is the founder and artistic director of New York Theatre Ballet and Ballet School NY.
-by Crystal Baity, ECU News Services