E L I S A M O N T E D A N C E
CURRENT REPERTORY
Click here to watch an interview with Elisa Monte
and excerpts from selected repertory.
| Choreography | Premiere | Music | Design | |
| AUDENTITY | Elisa Monte | 1987 | Klaus Schulze Spielgocken |
Lighting: Craig Miller, recreated by Clifton Taylor Costumes: Sarita Allen and Dean South |
| This work, a celebration of life and physicality, was created shortly after the birth of Ms. Monte’s daughter, Elia. The music, by Klaus Schulze was “easy to relate to...its layering of sounds and levels opened my imagination to movement that is also layered and driven, rather like life”. - Elisa Monte | ||||
| LIGHT LIES | Elisa Monte | 2002 | Bang on A Can Acoustic Aphasia |
Lighting: Clifton Taylor Costumes: Karen Young |
| Commissioned by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Light Lies pays homage to visionary 20th Century artist Josef Albers and his theories on color. First performed at the Centre Georges Pompidou in June of 2002, this full-company piece showcases “the sensualization and vibration of color” through its dramatic lighting and pure white costuming. Joseph Albers (1888-1976) was a major theorist on the visual effects of color relations. A teacher at the Bauhaus, the German art school that pioneered principles of modern design, Albers came to the United States in 1933 and taught at Yale from 1950 to 1959. | ||||
| PIGS AND FISHES | Elisa Monte | 1982 | Glenn Branca Pigs and Fishes |
Lighting: Craig Miller Costumes: Elisa Monte |
| This full-company piece was the first major commission for Elisa Monte - commissioned by her dear friend Alvin Ailey for his legendary troupe. It is a powerful, driving piece focusing on the coming together of opposing forces in a communal triumph over adversity and struggle. Pigs and Fishes is one of the most popular works from the repertoire of over forty works created by Elisa Monte. | ||||
| RUN TO THE ROCK | Elisa Monte & David Brown | 1998 | Nina Simone Sinnerman |
Lighting: Clifton Taylor Costume: Natasha Guruleva |
| "Alvin Ailey played an important role in our lives as well as that of many other dancers and choreographers. This work is dedicated to him. It is our response to Nina Simone’s personal interpretation of the well-known gospel song used in Ailey’s masterpiece, Revelations.” - Elisa Monte & David Brown | ||||
| SHATTERED | Elisa Monte | 2000 | Michael Gordon Weather |
Lighting: Clifton Taylor Costumes: Karen Young |
| "Life throws its blows, we are stunned - thrown back and, sometimes, shattered. Life holds the unexpected. Embrace it and be strengthened." - Elisa Monte | ||||
| TREADING | Elisa Monte | 1979 | Steve Reich Music for Eighteen Musicians |
Lighting: Tina Charney Costumes: Marisol |
| Elisa Monte’s landmark duet and the company’s signature work was first performed in 1979 to critical and audience acclaim. This was Elisa Monte’s first piece (created as part of a choreography initiative to develop new work from artists of the Martha Graham Dance Company and helped Elisa Monte Dance to win as “best company” at the International Dance Festival of Paris in 1982. Hailed as “hypnotic” and “mesmerizing”, Treading shows off the artistry and technical virtuosity of this talented troupe. | ||||
| VOLKMANN SUITE | Elisa Monte | 1996 | Michael Nyman String Quartet #3 |
Lighting & Scenic Design: Clifton Taylor |
| "The extraordinary Roy Volkmann has been the Company’s photographer for many years and in going through his contact sheets one day, I was inspired to reverse the traditional relationship between photographer and choreographer. I set out to explore the paradox between the static image of a photograph and the continually self-transforming images of dance." - Elisa Monte | ||||