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DANCE NEWS: New York City Center Celebrates NYC PRIDE with Encore Presentation of Lar Lubovitch’s "Concerto Six Twenty-Two"

New York City Center is celebrating NYC PRIDE with a free encore presentation of Lar Lubovitch’s enduring and timely male duet from Concerto Six  Twenty-Two featuring NYCB principal dancers, and partners in real-life, Adrian Danchig-Waring and Joseph Gordon from the 2020 Fall for Dance Festival. The piece will be available to view on-demand through June 30 on City Center’s YouTube page and at NYCityCenter.org. 

“In 1985, when the dance was created, the AIDS epidemic was upon us, and one of the emerging themes in this time of crisis was the depth of friendship expressed as friends helped friends to die. The dance essays the joyousness of the subject in its outer ensemble movements  and its tenderness in the central adagio for two men.” —Choreographer Lar Lubovitch  

Adrian Danchig-Waring and Joseph Gordon in Lar Lubovitch's Concerto Six Twenty-Two at  New York City Center; photo by Christopher Duggan

Concerto Six Twenty-Two received its world premiere at Carnegie Hall on April 9, 1986. The duet was subsequently performed in October 1987 at the David H. Koch Theater (then called the New State Theater) at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts at “Dancing for Life,”  the first-ever response to the AIDS crisis by the dance community. The event, conceived and initiated by Lubovitch, united 13 different companies to raise money for AIDS care,  research, and education.  

Although men dancing together has existed in modern dance almost from the beginning, Concerto Six Twenty-Two brought a new freedom of expression to this concept.  While the piece does not tell a literal story, it does indelibly portray men as caring and supportive of one another. In the mid-80s, this aspect gave the piece a special resonance in the face of the AIDS crisis, even though its theme is timeless.  

Adrian Danchig-Waring and Joseph Gordon in Lar Lubovitch's Concerto Six Twenty-Two at  New York City Center; photo by Christopher Duggan

Since its premiere, Concerto Six Twenty-Two has been filmed by the BBC and broadcast throughout the UK, and performed around the world both by the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and by more than 20 other companies.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER (Arlene Shuler, President & CEO) has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943. The distinctive neo-Moorish theater welcomes over 300,000 annual visitors to experience internationally acclaimed artists on the same stage where legends like George Balanchine,  Leonard Bernstein, and Barbara Cook made their mark. Its landmark 75th Anniversary Season (2018 – 2019) paid tribute to this rich history and celebrated the institution’s singular role in the arts today. City  Center’s Tony-honored Encores! series has celebrated the tradition of American musical theater for over  25 years. In 2013, City Center launched the Encores! Off-Center series, which brings today’s innovative artists into contact with groundbreaking musicals from the more recent past. Dance has also been integral to the theater’s mission from the start and programs like the annual Fall for Dance  Festival, with all tickets $15, remain central to City Center’s identity. Home to a roster of renowned national and international companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (City Center’s  Principal Dance Company) and Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City Center is Manhattan’s first performing arts center, founded by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia with the mission of making the best in music, theater, and dance accessible to all audiences. That mission continues today through its dynamic programming, art exhibitions, studio events, and masterclasses, which are complemented by education and community engagement programs that bring the performing arts to over 11,000 New York City students, teachers, and families each year. 

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