Prepare for "Le Grand Continental"

This just in from Andy Horwitz, curator, River to River Festival:

Dear Colleagues,

As you probably know, I curate and produce the River To River Festival, Lower Manhattan’s largest, free, multidisciplinary summer arts festival. This summer the River To River Festival, together with The Joyce Theater, will be presenting the U.S. premiere of Le Grand Continental by Montréal-based choreographer Sylvain Émard at the South Street Seaport. This exciting performance brings together 200+ participants of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds – dancers and non-dancers alike – to perform a contemporary re-imagining of a traditional festive line dance. The piece has been performed in Montreal and Mexico City, and in each case the dancers have formed a community unto themselves. We look forward to bringing together a diverse and dynamic group of New Yorkers from all five boroughs to show off what makes our city so great! And we need your help.

We want our call for participants to reach as far and wide as possible and we’d be thrilled if you could help us spread the word. We are looking for people of all ages, ethnicities, orientations and backgrounds, with or without formal dance training – all they need to have is a creative spirit and a sense of fun and adventure! We will be holding information and recruitment sessions on April 4th and 5th. Rehearsals will be two nights a week from April 25th–June 19th with performances June 22-24 on Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport.  Attached is a PDF with all info which we'd love for you to forward to your friends, family, audiences, email lists, Facebook pages, Twitter, etc.–whatever and wherever you feel comfortable–we’d really appreciate it. This is going to be a fun and fantastic project and we look forward to bringing together a great group of people.

Get the info session sign-up form here.

Visit our Facebook event page here.

View videos:

from Montreal
http://www.fta.qc.ca/en/shows/2011/le-continental-xl

http://www.sylvainemard.com/en/creations/le-grand-continental/

from Mexico
http://www.festival.org.mx/fmx/evento.php?i=120

http://fmx-festivaldemexico.blogspot.com/2011/03/el-gran-continental-el-poder-social-de.html

If you have questions, please feel free to email Production Assistant Santino Lo at slo@lmcc.net.

Thanks and all best,
Andy Horwitz