ARTS ON SITE PRESS RELEASE

Furloughed artists of the Met Opera collaborate to produce a socially distanced

performance series and film

Dancers of the Met, an independent collective of dancers who have performed with the Metropolitan Opera throughout recent seasons, is joining with furloughed members of the Met Orchestra and Met Chorus Artists to produce a socially distanced chamber series for a limited audience at the downtown Arts on Site studios. A digital rendition of the program will also be produced by dance filmmaker Angelo Vasta.

Performances will take place on March 6 and 7 at 6:30p.m. and 8:30p.m. The series is part of Arts on Site’s ongoing “Arts Alive” program, which follows all protocols for low-risk indoor art events to ensure the safety of audiences and performers. The film will be available on March 15 and can be accessed for $10 through the homepages of the Dancers of the Met, Met Chorus Artists, and Met Orchestra websites until March 31.

The performances will follow a week-long creative residency at Arts on Site, during which the artists will develop and rehearse pieces, most of which will give a nod to a narrative or musical theme from an opera. Instrumental and vocal selections will include French, German, and Italian art songs, opera arrangements, and flamenco music. Artists will follow stringent COVID-safety protocol - singers will be masked and behind a plexiglass barrier for the performances, and all dancers and musicians will be masked and distanced.

The creative direction and choreography will be led by Met dancers who are also acclaimed choreographers, including Emery Lecrone, whose work has been commissioned by the Joyce Theater and the Guggenheim Works & Process series; Bradley Shelver, who has choreographed on Ailey II; Shay Bland, whose work has been presented by the Parsons School; Broadway dancer Caleb Marshall-Villarreal; and Jose Moreno, who has choreographed for renowned flamenco artist Carmen Linares. Choreographers will collaborate and perform with Met musicians, including Met Opera staff pianist Brian Fitzsousa, Met Orchestra violist Mary Hammann, assistant concertmaster Bruno Eicher, violinist Qianwen Shen, and cellist Kari Jane Docter. Singers include Met Chorus Artists Anne Nonnemacher and Seth Malkin. The string players will also perform the second movement of Ravel’s String Quartet in F unaccompanied by dance.

Met dancers Mara Driscoll and Elizabeth Yilmaz-Dobrow are leading the production effort, along with a team of fellow Met dancers. They plan to bring the program to a range of outdoor, distanced venues during the Spring and Summer. Driscoll hopes that “especially while we remain furloughed, this is only the beginning of interdepartmental creativity among Met artists.”

Ticket and Venue Information

There are sixteen $30 tickets available for each performance.

Purchase tickets at https://artsonsite.ticketleap.com/arts-alive. All attendees will have their temperature checked at the door and must submit their name and information for contact tracing.

The film will be available March 15 - March 31 and can be accessed for $10 at www.dancersofthemet.com, www.metchorusartists.com, and www.metorchestramusicians.org.

Arts on Site is located at 12 St. Mark’s Place. Take the 6 train to Astor Place or the N,R trains to 8th Street-NYU. The performances are on the third floor of the building. There is an elevator available for those who need it.