Our colleague David Persky captured the team's bliss after the December 3rd's rehearsal.

From left to right: Wendy Whelan, Brian Brooks, Ilter Ibrahimof (producer)

"This is exciting news indeed. Whelan, now in the latter part of her career at NYCB, is one of the most intriguing, soulful dancers around. Watching her, one sees the mental impulse that makes dance into more than a mere physical exercise, as well as the hunger to explore new territory." 

A few words from Marina Harss on Restless Creature, premièring in August at Jacob's Pillow. Read the full article here:

http://marinaharss.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/wendy-whelan-and-dance-theatre-of-harlem-at-jacobs-pillow/

Enjoy a few images of Wendy and Josh, working on their piece together earlier this week. 

Dear All, 

I am writing to let you know how incredibly lucky I feel to be connected and working with each and every one of you. I am so grateful and honored to have such a stellar group of artists, managers and presenters working with me. I am so grateful for your excitement and focus toward this project. What a fantastic feeling of joy filled energy I have already gotten from just the first few months of our process.

My guys... Brian, Alejandro, Josh and Kyle,  I love my time in the studio with each of you. I have such respect and awe for your artistry, and I love the unique chemistries we are each building together !

With this, I wanted to share the title I have chosen for the project. I am simply calling it Restless Creature. I have had the word "creature" in mind for years about this project because I look so forward to CREATE-ing something living and different and crackling with it's own personality, toward morphing myself, the best I can into each of your specific designs without fear or vanity. The word "restless" comes into the title because not only has that word described me to a tee for ALL of my life ( my mom first took me to a dance class at age 3 in hopes of finding an outlet for me ), but more importantly now because my creativity (body and soul) after 28 years as a ballerina is feeling this restlessness,  there is  a deep level of crazy/ beauty yet to be tapped in me :)

 I am ready to jump off the high dive with you into our Restless Creature. 

let the games begin! 

With love and admiration,

Wendy

I Love set of pictures ... It makes me think of how strong I am ! 

It also makes me smile as soon as I see it because Alejandro and I had so much fun playing and coming up with ideas in the studio. We spent 21 hours labor day weekend working together at the Hubbard Street Studios in Chicago. We knew we had only 4 days to get to know each other and figure each other out artistically as much as we could so it was literally a creative crash course which ended up being more fun and invigorating than I could have ever hoped for ... We wound up making a supremely fun little dance,  just a few minutes long,  to get our piece on its path - we have a ton of other material to build on - for what it will eventually become, but to start we made one of the most fun and happiest little dance numbers I've ever experienced. 

- Wendy 

A few words from Wendy on her first day of work with Alejandro Cerrudo in Chicago.

Day 1 ... Got picked up at 9am by this tall, dark stranger at Chicago airport ... He was very shy and took amazing care of me, then he danced with me for 5 hours ..... We ended Day 1 laughing and trying crazy things - talking over ideas and sharing a few life stories ..... 

 New friends and artistic collaborators -

All in all,  it was a pretty awesome day ! 

XO 

Ww

Watch a great caption of "Fall Falls", premiering at Vail's International Dance Festival, and short interview with Brian Brooks and Wendy Whelan, by Nel Shelby Productions. 

"Mr. Brooks’s poetic talent is evident throughout."

                      -Alastair Macaulay, New York Times

Read the full review of the "Now" evening in Vail, CO here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/arts/dance/vail-international-dance-festival-presents-4-premieres.html

Wendy Whelan & Brian Brooks rehearse "FALL FALLS" - 2012 Vail International Dance Festival

Sneak a peak at a rehearsal with Brian Brooks in June 2012. 

Fall Falls is premiering tonight in Vail International Dance Festival, during the "NOW; Premieres hosted by Damian Woetzel" evening at Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater.

https://www.vaildance.org/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=513D618F-4E4D-4614-BE83-519A04D87C35&sessionlanguage=EN

Project description

America’s greatest contemporary ballerina

— The New York Times

For over 25 years, Wendy Whelan has been captivating audiences of New York City Ballet with her elegant yet thrilling movement and her exacting, intelligent approach to performing. With a serious and complete commitment to artistic exellence, Wendy has built a repertory that spans great classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Balanchine’s neo-classical masterpieces, and works by contemporary choreographers, who have been inspired by her ability to create a compelling and unique beauty in her performances.

Along with her ongoing work with New York City Ballet, Wendy has undertaken a challenge that will stretch her in unexpected ways and show audiences new aspects of her art. She is collaborating with four young choreographers to create a suite of duets that will be performed by Wendy and each choreographer in turn. Because the choreographers have distinct vocabularies and styles, the works will be fascinating experiments in how Wendy can adapt to another’s vision while maintaining and even amplifying her own vivid individuality.

© Nisian Hughes

“Taking on a project like this has been on my mind for many years. Throughout my career, some of my most exciting moments have happened while I’m in the studio, creating a new work with a great choreographer. I thrive on the challenge, the exchange, the collaboration, and the discovery, and these experiences have shaped my artistic evolution and kept me motivated and fulfilled. So this new project is a feast of riches for me—the opportunity to work with four choreographers, each with a distinctive and strong vocabulary that is extremely different from my own. I can’t wait to get into the studio and explore some exciting new territory.”                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                 - Wendy Whelan