CUNY Dance Initiative and John Jay College present the World Premiere of Rites of Passage on September 24, 2016 at 8pm at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater, 524 W. 59^th Street, NYC, in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Admission is $30 ($25 for CUNY students, faculty and staff and $10 for John Jay College students, faculty and staff). Tickets are available at dzul.eventbrite.com.

Dzul Dance fuses multiple dance forms with aerial and circus arts as a means to communicate pre-Hispanic, Latin and Mexican culture. By transforming his company into earthbound and airborne forces of nature Dzul creates bridges between contemporary art and historical heritage while breaking physical and cultural boundaries.

Artistic Director and Choreographer Javier Dzul grew up immersed in Mayan culture and later trained and performed with the Martha Graham Dance Company. His new work will focus on several pre-Hispanic rites of passage and explore the idea of ritual as a transformative experience.

Joining Javier Dzul and his company of dancers, aerialists and contortionists for the premiere of Rites of Passage are Katherine Crockett, the Queen from Queen of the Night and principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, former Limon Dance Company principal Kurt Douglas and former Cirque du Soleil soloist Anna Venizelos. Masks and body paint created by visual artist Darrell Thorne and lighting design by Kate Ashton.

A free preview featuring excerpts of Rites of Passage will take place on September 23, 2016 at 11am at Gerald W. Lynch Theater followed by a question and answer session.