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Community invited to participate in new group dance performance at Vail Dance Festival

"Rhapsody" will be performed at The Amp on July 30 as part of Dance for $20.24

Larry Keigwin and young student dancers at the Green Box Arts Festival.
Tom Kimmell/Courtesy photo

Everyday citizens and neighbors of the Vail Valley are invited to become part of a large cast of dancers coming together in the local premiere of “Rhapsody,” a dance work choreographed by award-winning New York based choreographer Larry Keigwin, artistic director of KEIGWIN + COMPANY.

The dance is a site-specific community-driven work that will harness the unique talents of its diverse cast of local Vail Valley residents as performers to create a moving celebration of humanity, art-making and shared space. The work will feature pop and disco music, with a large cast of up to 40 individuals of all ages, abilities and experience levels. No professional dance experience is required to participate. “Rhapsody” will be performed on-stage at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater as part of the internationally acclaimed Vail Dance Festival on Tuesday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m.

For nearly two decades, choreographer Larry Keigwin has been creating community driven dance works, starting in 2007 with “Boléro,” a work originally inspired by the diversity and density of his native New York City. The work featured the iconic Maurice Ravel score and a cast of 50 everyday citizens ranging from toddlers to individuals 80 years old. “It was created with the community, about the community and for the community,” recalls Keigwin. “In the end, it turned out that the creative process was bonding and to this day, I am still friends with those in the original cast and they are friends with each other. The bonding experience that comes from the creative process can bring people together and closer to the art form.”



Following its world-premiere in New York, Keigwin’s “Boléro” project went on to be adapted and performed in more than a dozen other cities and communities around the country including Santa Barbara, California, Akron, Ohio, Chicago, Denver and more. During the pandemic, a new iteration of the project took shape, going outside the theater and into the park where it would be called “Rhapsody.” “During the COVID-19 lockdown, I found peace and refuge in Central Park,” Keigwin recalls. “I found tranquility there and in doing so, I constantly saw the park as choreography — roller bladers, joggers, badminton, all these activities — and thought, wouldn’t that be great if we could orchestrate that to music and then end up in a dance party?” 

The “Rhapsody” project had its premiere in 2022 in Brooklyn’s Domino Park followed by a recent version staged in Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2023. Now, the exuberant community-driven dance work will make its regional premiere in the heart of the Rockies as part of the Vail Dance Festival. Local citizens are invited to participate in the unique one-of-a-kind dance experience that will include an open call on July 21, followed by a rehearsal period from July 22-29 ahead of its premiere on July 30 as part of the Dance for $20.24 performance. The large cast will include Vail Valley citizens and neighbors of various ages and abilities. All are encouraged to join, says Keigwin.

“We’re looking for individuals who have a sense of curiosity, a sense of play, and the ability to let go of judgment and to allow themselves freedom of expression and joy,” he says. “If you are someone who wants to revisit dance in your life or you’ve never danced and want an introduction, we want you to join in this exciting experience that will be uniquely Vail. Everyone is a player in not just the dancing but also in the creation of it and so the rewards are physical, mental and spiritual. I want to get everybody dancing because I believe in the endorphin rush that comes from the positive vibrations that dance can bring to not just the individual, but to the whole group.”

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Open Call

July 21 from 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Manor Vail Lodge Piney Ballroom
595 Vail Valley Drive, Vail

Come as you are! Participants will be guided through a short, playful choreographic process with Larry Keigwin using games and guided improvisation. Those interested can sign up at VailDance.org/Event/Dance-for-2024.  

Rehearsal Schedule

July 22 – 24 from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
July 25 – 28 from 1 – 4 p.m.
Manor Vail Lodge Piney Ballroom 
595 Vail Valley Drive, Vail


Dress Rehearsal
July 29, Time TBD

Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater 
520 Frontage Road, Vail

Performance

Dance For $20.24
July 30 at 7:30 p.m., Call Time TBD

Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater  
520 Frontage Road, Vail 

The Vail Dance Festival, a project of the nonprofit Vail Valley Foundation, begins its 36th season on July 26 with performances through Aug. 5. Under the artistic direction of Damian Woetzel, the 2024 summer season will bring together renowned and emerging dancers, musicians, composers, and choreographers for 13 performances and numerous events throughout Vail and the surrounding communities. Tickets are on sale now at VailDance.org.

About Larry Keigwin

Larry Keigwin is a native New Yorker, choreographer and curator who has danced his way from the Metropolitan Opera to downtown clubs to Broadway and back. As a choreographer, Keigwin is celebrated for his electrifying and refreshing vision of dance that embodies a theatrical sensibility of wit, style and heart. The New York Times has described his work as “witty, kinetic and musically responsive, mixing the stretched lines of ballet with the more weighted, blunt quality of contemporary dance.”

He founded KEIGWIN + COMPANY in 2003 and as artistic director, Keigwin has led the company as it performed at theaters and dance festivals throughout New York City and around the world. Over nearly 20 years, KEIGWIN + COMPANY has presented Keigwin’s distinct brand of contemporary dance on a myriad of premier stages including, The Kennedy Center, The Joyce Theater, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, New York City Center among others. Keigwin has created 24 works for KEIGWIN + COMPANY, in addition to the celebrated large-scale community project, “Bolero,” which has been commissioned in 16 communities across the country and is soon to be a dance film in “Bolero Seniors.” Commissions include Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance, Royal New Zealand Ballet, The Martha Graham Dance Company, New York Choreographic Institute, The Juilliard School, Vail International Dance Festival and many others. Keigwin’s work in musical theater includes choreography for the 2011 production of the musical “Tales of the City” at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, the off-Broadway production of “Rent,” for which he received the 2011 Joe A. Callaway Award from the Stage Directors & Choreographers Foundation and the Broadway musical “If/Then,” starring Idina Menzel.

He is the Director of Dance and a co-founder of the Green Box Arts Festival in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, a multi-disciplinary festival designed to increase cultural opportunities in the region. To learn more about Mr. Keigwin and his work visit KeigwinAndCompany.com or VailDance.org/artists.


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