Queens Theatre in the Park (QTP) presents a performance by Jeanne Ruddy Dance on Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 3pm at Queens Theatre in the Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, NY. Tickets are $33 (discounted tickets for groups, seniors and students at $28, $31, $20) and are available at www.queenstheatre.org or by phone at 718-760-0064. The performance is sponsored by TD Bank.
 
Jeanne Ruddy Dance presents an evening of original work choreographed by the company’s founder (and former Martha Graham principal dancer) Jeanne Ruddy, that illustrates the growth and evolution of this noted troupe over the past decade, in celebration of its 10th Anniversary season. Known for its innovative collection of works by leading contemporary choreographers and Ruddy herself, combining intelligence and spiritually danced poetry, as well as elements of traditional and cutting-edge methodologies, historic and contemporary references and often utilizing multi-media, Jeanne Ruddy Dance has been described as a dazzling contemporary dance company. The Philadelphia-based company focuses on work that celebrates the joys of dance using theatricality, inventive technique and elegance. A free post-show talkback with the Company will follow the performance.
 
Marking Jeanne Ruddy Dance’s milestone 10th Anniversary, the program will feature three works showcasing a retrospective that spans the decade from the Company’s inception through today, both highlighting the growth of the Company’s depth and range, and revealing the repertory legacy developed over the last ten years by Ruddy herself. "SIGNIFICANT SOIL", Ruddy’s signature piece and the first – now iconic -- work created for her own company that was developed out of her celebration of survival from breast cancer, illustrating how life takes on new meaning after faced with the possibility of death. "BREATHLESS", the powerfully haunting work that brings the issue of domestic violence from the newsroom to the stage. Born out of Ruddy’s exploration of the ominous qualities of water influenced by Theodore Dreiser’s classic masterwork, "An American Tragedy", the work was informed and inspired by the real life stories of murder victims Laci Peterson, Stefanie Rabinowitz and Anne-Marie Fahey, and the similarities between the three cases. "BREATHLESS" explores the dark side of the American Dream that has become a harsh reality of contemporary life, and lays bare these women’s doomed pursuit of love and success. "LARK", Ruddy’s abstract work of lightness and elegance that premiered to rave reviews last season, based on a re-imagined new score by composer/collaborator, Ellen Fishman-Johnson, of Joseph Haydn's masterwork String Quartet No. 5 in D Major, that seeks to define “what we can all relate to in our universal longing to connect.” In a departure from her pure narrative work, Ruddy sought to explore movement that delves into both the negative and positive space between us in an abstract form. Responding to the intricacies of the music, "LARK" bridges the gap from the 18th century of Hayden’s time to Ruddy’s 21st century world.
 
The performance is appropriate for ages 13 and up.