Dzul Dance Presents “Rooted”
At The Merce Cunningham Studio 
     Thursday, March 24 through Saturday, March 26 

Dzul Dance returns for its spring performance -- “Rooted” – featuring the premiere of “From a Wounded Heart” as well as the reprisal of the Company's acclaimed pieces -- “An Encounter with Picasso” and “Itzkanil” -- on Thursday, March 24 and Friday March 25 at 9 pm and Saturday, March 26 at 8 pm at the Merce Cunningham Studio – 55 Bethune Street, 11 th floor (@ Washington Street – A,C,E,L to 14 th Street and 8 th Avenue ) . Ticket prices are $20 general admission $15 student/senior. Tickets will be sold at the door prior to each performance.

Performing artists for the evening are: Ruth Kaltenbach Arena, Todd Grace, LaShonna Holloway, Louis Jones, Nicole Lichau, Naomi Relnick, Robin Taylor, and Javier Dzul

Drawing on artistic director/choreographer Javier Dzul's characteristic examinations of the human condition in the most basic yet poetic language, the evening will begin with “An Encounter with Picasso” (1997). Recalling “Martha Graham's 'Penitente' in its conscious use of theatricalized ritual” (Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times ), the work uses Picasso's ‘Guernica' as a platform to explore man's innate desires and driving forces surrounding power's temptation.

Strong connections to Dzul's Hispanic heritage will also be demonstrated in “Itzkanil” (2000). Employing a “strong presence” and “intricate and sometimes risky-looking partnering,” (Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times ), this work examines the Mayan concept of a person's relationship and resultant life experience with a God.

The final piece, “From a Wounded Heart”, addresses man's fundamental quest for love – despite its trials and tribulations, pains and complexities. Joining Dzul Dance for this work will be Colombian singer Lucia Pulido, who will perform popular, heart-wrenching Latin American love songs from her album Dolor de Ausencia (Pain of Absence), accompanied by violinist Sergio Reyes, guitarist Sebastian Cruz, and bassist Pedro Giraudo.

Dzul founded Dzul Dance in 1997. The Company has performed in New York and abroad and Dzul's numerous works have been presented at many esteemed venues including The Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, El Museo del Barrio, and Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, garnering reviews along the way that laud Dzul's “acrobatic wizardry” and “artful intermarriage of forms.” (Lori Ortiz, Attitude) as well as his ability to turn his dancers of “remarkable elasticity” into “creatures of the air as well as of the earth” (Jack Anderson, The New York Times ).