The Joyce Presents Cuban Contemporary Dance Troupe MALPASO DANCE COMPANY

The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) is thrilled to present the return of the critically acclaimed Cuban contemporary dance troupe Malpaso Dance Company from January 17-21 on The Joyce Theater stage. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$56, can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information, please visit www.Joyce.org.

Founded in 2012 by Fernando Sáez and former members of Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, Osnel Delgado and Daileidys Carrazana, Malpaso Dance Company is made up of 10 of Cuba's most mesmerizing dancers. Known for its refreshing, contemporary aesthetic, the company returns to The Joyce with an exciting program featuring the New York premiere of Aszure Barton's Indomitable Waltz. Commissioned by The Joyce Theater for Malpaso, the work is set to the music of Alexander Balanescu, Michael Nyman and Nils Frahm. The company will also perform Osnel Delgado's 2013 duet Ocaso, featuring the music of Autechre, the Kronos Quartet, and Max Richter. The evening will close with Face the Torrent, a new work by Emmy Award-nominee Sonya Tayeh.

In the five short years since its establishment in 2012, Malpaso Dance Company has already become one of the most sought after dance companies with a growing international profile. Emphasizing a collaborative creative process, Malpaso is committed to working with top international choreographers while also nurturing new voices in Cuban choreography. The company tours with 10 dancers and is led by its original three founders: resident choreographer and Artistic Director Osnel Delgado, Executive Director Fernando Sáez, and dancer and co-founder Daileidys Carrazana.

An Associate Company of Joyce Theater Productions, Malpaso - together with The Joyce - has commissioned original works from a number of prominent North American choreographers including Ronald K. Brown(Why You Follow), Trey McIntyre (Under Fire), Aszure Barton (Indomitable Waltz) and - most recently -Sonya Tayeh (Face The Torrent). Face The Torrent, praised for its "genuine raw emotion" (Los Angeles Times) was commissioned by and world premiered at Los Angeles Music Center in December 2017. Touted as "totally engrossing" (Palm Beach Arts Paper), Barton's work Indomitable Waltz was supported with a production and touring grant from The National Dance Project and made its world premiere in Havana, Cuba in Fall 2016. The company has also recently premiered Dreaming of Lions, a new full-length commission choreographed by Osnel Delgado, featuring an original score composed by Grammy award-winning, Cuban-American composer Arturo O'Farrill, performed by the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble. The work was inspired by the classic Hemingway novella "The Old Man and the Sea" and had its US premiere at Duke Performances in Durham-NC in Feb. 2017 followed by a NYC premiere at The Brooklyn Academy Of Music's Harvey Theater. Other active rep includes: 24 Hours and a Dog, also by Delgado and featuring music by O'Farrill, Bad Winter by Trey McIntyre.

Osnel Delgado (Founder, Artistic Director and Choreographer) danced with Danza Contemporanea de Cuba from 2003 to 2011, before founding Malpaso. He has worked with choreographers Mats Ek, Rafael Bonachela, Kenneth Kvarnström, Ja Linkens, Itzik Galili, Samir Akika, Pedro Ruiz, Isidro Rolando and George Cespedes, among others. Delgado has created works for DCC, Rakatan and Ebony Dance of Cuba. Delgado is a 2003 graduate of the National Dance School of Havana, where he is also a professor of dance studies.

Aszure Barton (Choreographer, Indomitable Waltz), an award-winning Brooklyn based choreographer, was born and raised in Canada. She has created many works for her own company, Aszure Barton & Artists, and in addition to works for Mikhail Baryshnikov, Bolshoi Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, The English National Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, The National Ballet of Canada, Bayerisches Staatsballett, and Ballet du Rhin, among many others. Other work includes choreography for the Broadway revival production of The Threepenny Opera directed by Scott Elliott (translation by Wallace Shawn) and over a dozen international film projects. Aszure is an official Ambassador of Contemporary Choreography in Canada and has received numerous accolades including Canada's prestigious Arts & Letters Award. Her works have been performed on prestigious stages including Palais Garnier, The Kennedy Center, The Stanislavsky Theater and Sadler's Wells.

Sonya Tayeh (Choreographer, Face the Torrent) is a NYC based choreographer and director. Her work has been characterized as a blend of powerful versatility and theatrical range. Tayeh's selected credits include: you'll still call me by name, a dance-symphony directed/choreographed for her commission from Bill T. Jones' institution New York Live Arts; Martha Graham Dance Companies Lamentation Variation Series; Foresight/Hindsight for Cape Dance Festival; Hundred Days (Public Theater / Dir. Anne Kauffman); The Skin of Our Teeth (Theatre For A New Audience / Dir. Arin Arbus); Andrew Lippas' The Wild Party (City Center Encores! / Dir. Leigh Silverman); Iphigenia in Aulis (Classic Stage Company / Dir. Rachel Chavkin), Kung Fu (Signature Theatre / Dir. Leigh Silverman), The Last Goodbye (Old Globe / Dir. Alex Timbers). She has gleaned accolades for her versatile work, including two Emmy nominations for Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, and the Lucille Lortel and Obie Awards for "Outstanding Choreography In Theatre." Upcoming projects include: Hundreds Days (Winter 2018 / New York Theatre Workshop / Dir Anne Kaufman); The Lucky Ones (Spring 2018 / commissioned and produced by Ars Nova, directed by Anne Kauffman); Moulin Rouge! (Spring 2018 / Dir Alex Timbers).

The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a nonprofit organization, has proudly served the dance community for over three decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and The Joyce renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also presented dance at Lincoln Center since 2012, and launched Joyce Unleashed in 2014 to feature emerging and experimental artists. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K-12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce's annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 150,000.

Performances of Malpaso Dance Company will be January 17-21 at The Joyce Theater (175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street) according to the following schedule: Wednesday at 7:30pm; Thursday and Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 2 & 8pm; Sunday at 2 & 7:30pm. There will be a post-performance Curtain Chat with Malpaso Dance Company on Thursday, January 18, which is open to all patrons attending that evening's performance. The Joyce Theater School & Family Programs will host a Family Matinee performance at 2pm on Saturday, January 20. Tickets range in price from $10-$56 and can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information, please visit www.Joyce.org.

Joyce Theater Productions (JTP) is a producing initiative of The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. and Sunny Artist Management, Inc. It was formed to create and tour works by some of today's most exciting dancers and choreographers. Through the partnership, JTP supports new productions created outside of a traditional dance company model, such as Daniil Simkin's INTENSIO and Wendy Whelan and Brian Brooks' Some of a Thousand Words; as well as the work of existing troupes through its Associate Company program, which currently includes Malpaso Dance Company from Cuba and L.A. Dance Project.Joyce.org

Lead support for The Joyce Theater Foundation has been received from LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust.

The presentation of Malpaso Dance Company was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Underwriting support for The Joyce's presentation of Malpaso Dance Company provided by Jane E. Goldberg. Support for The Joyce's presentation of international dance provided by the R. Britton Fisher and Family Gift for International Dance. Additional support has been provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Endowment Fund to encourage the performances of out-of-town companies at The Joyce Theater.

Face The Torrent, choreographed by Sonya Tayeh, was co-commissioned by The Music Center in Los Angeles; and created in part during the Vivienne Jones Residency at Jacob's Pillow as well as during a 2017 creative residency provided by DANCECleveland.

Indomitable Waltz, choreographed by Aszure Barton, was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts. It was co-commissioned by DANCECleveland and the Cleveland Foundation; and the Executive Director's Fund at The Joyce Theater Foundation. A technical residency was generously provided by Duncan Theatre at Palm Beach State College for the U.S. premiere.

The Joyce Theater's Dance Presentation Program is supported by a grant award from the National Endowment for the Arts; made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council with special thanks to Council Member Corey Johnson.

Major support for The Joyce has been provided by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The SHS Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation. Key support has been provided by First Republic Bank, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The Pasculano Foundation, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, and Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.