KEIGWIN FONTE FORSYTHE

KEIGWIN, FONTE,
& FORSYTHE
JUNE
1 1 -1 4
MERRIAM
THEATER
Study Guide
Cover 1
5/21/15 2:55 PM
CANVAS by Larry Keigwin
Grace Action by Nicolo Fonte
The Second Detail by William Forsythe
Keigwin, Fonte & Forsythe
Study guide
Larry Keigwin, Choreographer, Canvas
Larry Keigwin is a native New Yorker and choreographer who has danced his way from the
Metropolitan Opera, to downtown clubs, to Broadway, and back to the Met. He founded
KEIGWIN+COMPANY in 2003; as its Artistic Director, he has led the company as it has
performed at theatres and dance festivals throughout New York City, and across the country.
KEIGWIN+COMPANY presents Keigwin’s electrifying brand of contemporary dance on myriad
stages including, the Kennedy Center, the Joyce Theater, Works & Process at the Guggenheim,
and New York City Center, among others. Since his company’s premiere performance at Joyce
Soho in 2003, Keigwin has created dozens of dances for himself and his dancers, as well as for the
Royal New Zealand Ballet, the Martha Graham Dance Company, New York Choreographic Institute,
the Julliard School, Vail International Dance Festival, and many others. His work in musical theatre
includes choreography for the 2011 production of the musical Tales of the City at the American
Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and the new production of Rent, for which he received the 2011 Joe A. Callaway
Award from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation. In 2013, Keigwin choreographed the Broadway musical
If/Then, starring Idina Menzel. He was most recently selected as one of the first choreographers to be commissioned by
Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance.
Keigwin has designed and choreographed special events including Fashion’s Night Out: The Show in New York, which
was produced by Vogue Magazine and featured more than 150 of the industry’s top models. Keigwin has also mounted
several versions of Bolero, his acclaimed large-scale community project that has been commissioned by cities across the
country. Keigwin created Keigwin Kabaret, a fusion of modern dance, vaudeville, and burlesque presented by the Public
Theater at Joe’s Pub, as well as by Symphony Space. As a dancer, Keigwin has danced at the Metropolitan Opera in Doug
Varone’s Le Sacre Du Printemps and Julie Taymor’s The Magic Flute, in addition to his work with Mark Dendy (receiving a
Bessie Award in 1998 for his performance in Dream Analysis), Jane Comfort, John Jasperse, Doug Elkins, Zvi Gotheiner,
and David Rousseve. He appeared in the Broadway show Dance of the Vampires, the Off-Broadway show The Wild Party,
and the Julie Taymor Oscar-nominated film, Across the Universe. He is 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, as
well as provide creative residencies to young, emerging choreographers. Keigwin is a member of the Stage Directors and
Choreographers Society.
(Source: LarryKeigwin.com)
Nicolo Fonte, Choreographer, World Premiere of Grace Action
Choreographer Nicolo Fonte is known for his daring and original approach to dance. His work
has been noted by critics for a unique movement language as well as a highly developed
fusion of ideas, dance and design. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Fonte started dancing at the
age of 14. He studied at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York, as well as at the San Francisco
Ballet and New York City Ballet Schools while completing a Bachelor Degree of Fine Arts at
SUNY Purchase. Upon graduation he danced with Peridance in NYC, and later joined Les
Grands Ballets Canadians in Montreal, dancing in the works of Balanchine, Tudor, Kudelka,
and Spaniard Nacho Duato. Fonte subsequently joined Duato’s Campañia Nacional de Danza
in Madrid, and forged a strong identity in the Spanish company for seven years – for both his
dancing and his choreography. En Los Segundos Ocultos (In Hidden Seconds), one of the
three ballets Fonte made for the Spanish company, was hailed as a breakthrough work of great
impact with the poetic vision of a mature artist. Indeed, this ballet established his presence on the European dance scene.
In 2000 Fonte retired from performing to devote himself full-time to his choreographic career. Since that time he has
created or staged ballets for more than two dozen ballet companies, all over the world.
Fonte received a Choo San Goh award for his 2002 collaboration with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Almost Tango, about which
R.M. Campbell of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote, “Fonte is a thinker, an architect who creates the new rather than
reinvent the old. He is a master of manipulating space and creating relationships.” Almost Tango was also voted as one of
Dance Europe’s Best Premiere’s when it was re-staged for the Australian Ballet in 2004.
From 2002 to 2006 Fonte enjoyed an ongoing creative partnership with the Göteborg Ballet in Sweden, creating and
staging numerous works that helped establish the company’s distinct profile. While in Göteborg, he created his first fulllength ballet, based on the life of Tchaikovsky. Widely acclaimed in the international press for Fonte’s marriage of narrative
skill and a contemporary choreographic language, Re: Tchaikovsky appeared on the “Best of 2005” lists of international
dance magazines, Ballett-Tanz and Dance Europe. Fonte has also played an important role in the ongoing development
of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet as one of the company’s most popular guest choreographers. To date he has created eight
highly successful works for ASFB that have toured throughout the United States and overseas. Nicolo Fonte is currently
the Resident Choreographer for Ballet West, in Salt Lake City, a role he took on first in the 2012-2013 season.
(Source: NicoloFonte.com)
William Forsythe, Choreographer, The Second Detail
Raised in New York and principally trained in Florida with Nolan Dingman and Christa
Long, Forsythe danced with the Joffrey Ballet and later the Stuttgart Ballet, where he was
appointed Resident Choreographer in 1976. Over the next seven years, he created new
works for the Stuttgart ensemble and ballet companies in Munich, The Hague, London,
Basel, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Paris, New York, and San Francisco. In 1984, he began a
20-year tenure as director of the Ballet Frankfurt, where he created works such as Artifact
(1984), Impressing the Czar (1988), Limb’s Theorem (1990), The Loss of Small Detail (1991,
in collaboration with composer Thom Willems and designer Issey Miyake), A L I E/N A(C)
TION (1992), Eidos:Telos (1995), Endless House (1999), Kammer/Kammer (2000), and
Decreation (2003).
After the closure of the Ballet Frankfurt in 2004, Forsythe established a new, more independent ensemble. The Forsythe
Company, founded with the support of the states of Saxony and Hesse, the cities of Dresden and Frankfurt am Main, and
private sponsors, is based in Dresden and Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and maintains an extensive international touring
schedule. Works produced by the new ensemble include Three Atmospheric Studies (2005), You Made Me a Monster
(2005), Human Writes (2005), Heterotopia (2006), The Defenders (2007), Yes We Can’t (2008), and I Don’t Believe in Outer
Space (2008). Forsythe’s most recent works are developed and performed exclusively by The Forsythe Company, while his
earlier pieces are prominently featured in the repertoire of virtually every major ballet company in the world, including the
Kirov Ballet, the New York City Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, England’s Royal Ballet, and
the Paris Opera Ballet.
Awards received by Forsythe and his ensembles include the New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award (1988,
1998, 2004, 2007) and London’s Laurence Olivier Award (1992, 1999, 2009). Forsythe has been conveyed the title of
Commandeur des Arts et Lettres (1999) by the government of France, and has received the German Distinguished Service
Cross (1997), the Wexner Prize (2002), and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Venice (2010).
Forsythe has been commissioned to produce architectural and performance installations by architect-artist Daniel
Libeskind, ARTANGEL (London), Creative Time (New York), and the City of Paris. His installation and film works have
been presented in numerous museums and exhibitions, including the Whitney Biennial (New York), the Venice Biennale,
the Louvre Museum, and 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo. His performance, film, and installation works have been featured
amongst others at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the Migrosmuseum für Gegenwartskunst in Zurich, the
Deichtorhallen Hamburg, The Museum of Modern Art New York and the Hayward Gallery in London.
In collaboration with media specialists and educators, Forsythe has developed new approaches to dance documentation,
research, and education. His 1994 computer application Improvisation Technologies: A Tool for the Analytical Dance Eye,
developed with the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, is used as a teaching tool by professional companies,
dance conservatories, universities, post-graduate architecture programs, and secondary schools worldwide. 2009 marked
the launch of Synchronous Objects for One Flat Thing, Reproduced, a digital online score developed with the Ohio State
University that reveals the organizational principles of the choreography and demonstrates their possible application
within other disciplines.
As an educator, Forsythe is regularly invited to lecture and give workshops at universities and cultural institutions. In
2002, Forsythe was chosen as the founding Dance Mentor for The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. He currently
co-directs and teaches in the Dance Apprentice Network Across Europe (D.A.N.C.E.) program, an interdisciplinary
professional insertion program based at Dresden’s Palucca Schule. Forsythe is an Honorary Fellow at the Laban Centre for
Movement and Dance in London, and holds an honorary doctorate from the Juilliard School in New York.
(Source: WilliamForsythe.de)
Adam Crystal, Composer, Keigwin’s Canvas
Adam Crystal is a composer and musician based out of New York City. His versatile work spans
scoring films, documentaries, modern dance and ballet pieces, commercials, and videos. He has
created works for the Vail International Dance Festival, Noemei Lafrance, the Royal New Zealand
Ballet, Guggenheim Museum, the Joyce Theater, and brands such as Dove, Marc Jacobs,
Sephora, Nike, ESPN, Bacardi, and H&M.
A classically trained violinist who studied at Interlochen Center for the Arts, Syracuse University,
Royal Conservatory of Music, and Mannes Conservatory, Adam has also performed piano and
keyboards for various bands including Fischerspooner, My Chemical Romance, The Citizens Band, The Pierces, among
many others.
(Source: AdamCrystal.com)
Philip Glass, Composer, Fonte’s Grace Action
Through his operas, his symphonies, his compositions for his own ensemble, and his wideranging collaborations with artists ranging from Twyla Tharp to Allen Ginsberg, Woody Allen to
David Bowie, Philip Glass has had an extraordinary and unprecedented impact upon the musical
and intellectual life of his times.
The operas Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, Akhnaten, and The Voyage, among many others,
play throughout the world’s leading houses, and rarely to an empty seat. Glass has written music
for experimental theater and for Academy Award-winning motion pictures such as The Hours and
Martin Scorsese’s Kundun, while Koyaanisqatsi, his initial filmic landscape with Godfrey Reggio
and the Philip Glass Ensemble, may be the most radical and influential mating of sound and vision since Fantasia. His
associations, personal and professional, with leading rock, pop, and world music artists date back to the 1960s, including
the beginning of his collaborative relationship with artist Robert Wilson. Indeed, Glass is the first composer to win a
wide, multi-generational audience in the opera house, the concert hall, the dance world, in film, and in popular music -simultaneously.
He was born in 1937 and grew up in Baltimore. He studied at the University of Chicago, the Juilliard School and in Aspen
with Darius Milhaud. Finding himself dissatisfied with much of what then passed for modern music, he moved to Europe,
where he studied with the legendary pedagogue Nadia Boulanger (who also taught Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, and
Quincy Jones) and worked closely with the sitar virtuoso and composer Ravi Shankar. He returned to New York in 1967 and
formed the Philip Glass Ensemble – seven musicians playing keyboards and a variety of woodwinds, amplified and fed
through a mixer.
The new musical style that Glass was evolving was eventually dubbed “minimalism.” Glass himself never liked the term
and preferred to speak of himself as a composer of “music with repetitive structures.” Much of his early work was based
on the extended reiteration of brief, elegant melodic fragments that wove in and out of an aural tapestry. Or, to put it
another way, it immersed a listener in a sort of sonic weather that twists, turns, and surrounds as it develops.
There has been nothing “minimalist” about his output. In the past 25 years, Glass has composed more than twenty
operas, eight symphonies (with others already on the way), two piano concertos, and concertos for violin, piano, timpani,
and saxophone quartet and orchestra. Glass has composed soundtracks to films ranging from new scores for the stylized
classics of Jean Cocteau, to Errol Morris’s documentary about former defense secretary Robert McNamara, and created
music for string quartets, as well as a growing body of work for solo piano and organ. He has collaborated with Paul
Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Yo-Yo Ma, and Doris Lessing, among many others. He presents lectures, workshops, and solo
keyboard performances around the world, and continues to appear regularly with the Philip Glass Ensemble.
(Source: PhilipGlass.com)
Thom Willems, Composer, Forsythe’s The Second Detail
Thom Willems was born in 1955 in the Netherlands. He studied electronic and instrumental
composition at the Koninklijke Conservatorium of music in Den Haag. Up to now, his work as
a composer has been mainly focused on electronic music for the stage. He is a very frequent
collaborator with William Forsythe, and together they have created more than 25 ballets.
Thom Willems has composed music for other choreographers, including Daniel Ezralow, Daniel
Larrieu, Marcia Haydee and Kristina de Chatel. He has also created music for films and TV. His work
forms part of the repertory of Frankfurt Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, New
York City Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Company, National Ballet of Canada, and many others.
(Source: Last.fm/music/Thom+Willems)
History and Synopsis of Larry Keigwin’s Canvas
Canvas premiered on July 28, 2013 at Vail International Dance Festival in Vail, Colorado. It was commissioned by Vail
International Dance Festival with additional support from Works and Process at the Guggenheim, Green Box Arts Festival,
and the National Endowment for the Arts. The collaboration with composer Adam Crystal was generously supported by
O’Donnell – Green Music & Dance Foundation.
The Company premiere of Larry Keigwin’s Canvas explores the fusion of classical and contemporary dance. Created with a
group of dancers from both New York City Ballet and KEIGWIN+COMPANY, Canvas features witty choreographic phrases
and a bright, cinematic score.
(Source: LarryKeigwin.com; paballet.org/keigwin-fonte-forsythe)
History and Synopsis of Nicolo Fonte’s Grace Action
This world premiere is anchored with music by Philip Glass that is both startlingly intimate, and full of sweeping emotion.
Glass’ music inspired Fonte to envision a work for 12 dancers, which pairs athletic exuberance with a touching humanity,
to create an uplifting and exciting experience. Fonte is known for his daring and original approach to dance, and
Pennsylvania Ballet is thrilled to present this American choreographer’s new work for the very first time.
(Source: paballet.org)
History and Synopsis of William Forsythe’s The Second Detail
The Second Detail premiered in 1991 with 13 dancers. As one of the most sought-after contemporary ballet
choreographers, Forsythe broke the barriers of ballet, challenging its traditional look and feel. This piece, set to a
composition by Thom Willems, is a quintessential William Forsythe piece: full of attitude, a pulsating electronic score, and
vigorous, unexpected movement.
(Source: paballet.org)
Fun Facts
1. William Forsythe’s body of work, which displays both abstraction and forceful theatricality, deconstructs the classical
ballet repertoire by incorporating the spoken word, experimental music, and elaborate art installations.
2. Nicolo Fonte generally begins the choreographic process by being inspired by music first, and then begins to create a
phrase in the studio.
3. Larry Keigwin typically works in two different ways to generate movement material; the first is by improvising and
creating phrase work, and the second is by allowing his dancers to create vocabulary.
4. When Philip Glass first started composing many people thought his music was crazy. He had to work as a plumber and a
taxi driver to earn a living, and he had to play his music for free.
5. Willems and Forsythe use music and dance as absolutely self-sufficient entities. The dynamics and general length
coincide, but neither the dance nor the music are an illustration of the other.
Suggested Curriculum
Recommended for grades 6-12
Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan #1
In this lesson, students will combine two genres of literature to create an original story. This relates to Larry Keigwin’s
Canvas, as he combined two different dance companies for the creation of his piece.
• Students will research various styles of literature. Consider what has been discussed in the classroom and what has not
been discussed. Examples include fiction, nonfiction, horror, fantasy, romance, etc. Students will pick two genres that
are of personal interest to them. Create small groups for deeper discussion. What styles are your favorites? Why? When
did you learn about these genres? What’s your favorite example of each style? Why? What have you read in class that is
similar? Review ideas and concepts that were presented in previous material.
• Following the guidelines of the teacher, students will create an original story that combines their two favorite styles of
writing. The final product could be in the form of a short story, a poem, a journal exercise, a blog, an essay. Choose the
most appropriate version for the grade level and student.
• Create a movement phrase that embodies your narrative. What did you choose to embody? Why? How does your
character fit into your story? How does your character move? Why? If you could create this into a full length dance piece,
what would be your additions? What costumes would the dancers wear? Why? What type of music would they perform to?
Why? What style of movement would the piece be? Why? How many dancers would you choreograph? How long would
the piece be? Where would you want them to perform the piece? In a theatre? Outside? In your school? In a park? Why?
Lesson Plan #2
In this lesson, students will research recent premieres of various artist in their community. This
relates to the premiere of Nicolo Fonte’s new work.
• Conduct research on various artists within your community. This could include visual artists, musicians, composers,
choreographers etc. Students will choose an artist of their liking and develop a presentation based on this artists’ work.
• Questions to consider while working on research materials. Who is the artist? What medium do they work in? What
is their most well-known artwork? What is their latest work? Who is their audience? Why were you drawn to their work?
Where is their work presented? How do you relate to the work? Have you seen their work in person? Can you speak to this
artist? What is their creative process? How does their community and environment influence their work?
• Compare and contrast the artist to the students own interests and talents. What similarities exist? What are the
differences?
• Create guidelines and requirements for the presentation. Challenge the students to create a movement based learning
exercise to present to the class that relates to their artists’ work.
Lesson Plan #3
In this lesson, students will engage in analytical/mathematical problem solving. This relates to
William Forsythe’s choreographic tool, Improvisation Technologies. You can watch the videos at
YouTube.com.
• Review mathematical principles and equations that were previously presented in the classroom. As a class, choose 3-4
equations to explore.
• Using the students as representations of the various equations, create problem solving exercises that can be explained
via movement of the body. Create problems that can be solved on paper while also finding a way to demonstrate the
concept through movement of the students’ bodies.
Lesson plans created by Jenna Wurtzberger