NEWSLETTER
Featuring A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, and Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana for the World Premiere of QUINTO ELEMENTO
Saratoga Springs, NY (July 9, 2024) — Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) announces its 2024-2025 dance season in Spa Little Theater featuring modern dance troupes A.I.M by Kyle Abraham (NOV 9 & 10) and Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana (MARCH 8 & 9) for the world premiere of its new work QUINTO ELEMENTO.
“Our year-round home in Spa Little Theater has truly become a vibrant hub for all genres of music, dance, and theater. In addition to the presentation of and education in the arts, we are also proud of our role as a commissioner and incubator of new and exciting works,” says Elizabeth Sobol, President and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Kicking off the series is A.I.M by Kyle Abraham with two performances that feature the company’s signature tapestry of Black and Queer stories, intertwined with a sensual and provocative vocabulary and a strong emphasis on music, text, video, and visual art. The performances mark the SPAC debut of the company, following the success of Kyle Abraham’s two New York City Ballet works The Runaway and Love Letter (on shuffle), which held their SPAC debuts in 2019 and 2023, respectively.
Also highlighting the season is SPAC debut of Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, which will showcase the world premiere of its new evening-length work QUINTO ELEMENTO (Fifth Element) with this appearance. Set to an original score of live music and choreographed by Patricia Guerrero, internationally acclaimed flamenco dancer-choreographer, the new work explores the fifth element of the earth, ether, the essence that makes up the space around us. In QUINTO ELEMENTO, Guerrero embraces chaos through choreography, building from flamenco’s expressive movement language while venturing beyond its current aesthetic bounds.
The news follows the announcement of SPAC’s inaugural McCormack Jazz Series in the Spa Little Theater and is part of SPAC’s mission to present year-round programming. Additional programming for the 2024-2025 Spa Little Theater season will be announced soon.
The programming is as follows:
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham
Saturday, November 9 | 7 PM
Sunday, November 10 | 2 PM
The celebrated contemporary dance company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, renowned for their captivating performances, consistent boundary-pushing, educational programming, community-based workshops across the globe and its work deeply rooted in Black culture, will bring two performances to Spa Little Theater for its Saratoga Performing Arts Center debut.
Of Artistic Director Kyle Abraham, Rebecca Bengal of Vogue wrote, “What Abraham brings … is an avant-garde aesthetic, an original and politically minded downtown sensibility that doesn’t distinguish between genres but freely draws on a vocabulary that is as much Merce and Martha as it is Eadweard Muybridge and Michael Jackson.”
This program has received grant funding from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and DanceForce in addition to support by Skidmore College.
Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana
Saturday, March 8, 2025 | 7 PM
Sunday, March 9, 2025 | 2 PM
Considered the most prominent flamenco dance company in the United States, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana will make its SPAC debut with the world premiere of QUINTO ELEMENTO (Fifth Element), a new evening-length work set to an original score of live music. Choreographed by Patricia Guerrero, the new work explores the fifth element of the earth: ether, the essence that makes up the space around us. Hailed as a master of tradition who dares to deconstruct the art form, Guerrero draws on her deep knowledge of traditional flamenco but pushes past the restriction of its rules. In doing so, she seeks to extract the essence of flamenco itself, its invisible fifth element, and make it tangible to audiences.
Tickets will be available for purchase on July 10, 2024 for members (tiered by level), and on July 12, 2024 for the general public. Visit spac.org for additional details.
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PHOTOS:
Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), located in the historic resort town of Saratoga Springs in upstate New York, is one of America’s most prestigious outdoor amphitheaters. Its tranquil setting in a 2,400-acre park preserve surrounded by hiking trails, geysers, and natural mineral springs draws lovers of arts, culture and nature for performances by resident companies New York City Ballet, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Saratoga Jazz Festival, and concerts by Live Nation. SPAC also hosts imaginative programming such as Caffè Lena @ SPAC and initiatives in culinary, literary, healing and visual arts.
SPAC is a 501c3 charitable organization. Donations and proceeds from fundraising events benefit the Center’s thriving education program, community outreach efforts, and the vibrancy of its programming. For more information visit spac.org.
Press Contact:
Kristy Godette Ventre
518-316-1435 (m.)