Woodruff Arts Center presents...Dance @ the Rialto welcomes
CORE Performance Company and Atlanta Baroque Orchestra
in a collaborative performance of Messiah

“The theatre, and Handel's music, were still perceived by many ecclesiastics as profane and subversive Jonathan Swift, a cranky old man with Gulliver's Travels long behind him, almost prevented the Dublin performance. Swift relented, but the contention Messiah aroused was still considerable enough to persuade Handel that the London premiere should be advertised under the title "A Sacred Oratorio", thus avoiding any charge of blasphemy.” -David Vickers from www.gfhandel.org

Atlanta –March 1, 2006 – Several Dancers Core has initiated an artistic collaboration between its dance company, CORE Performance Company, and Atlanta Baroque Orchestra to present George Frideric Handel’s Messiah on Saturday, April 1, 2005 at 8:00 p.m. at the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts. The contemporary dancers and Baroque musicians together have embraced the score of Handel’s master work to create an intimate and passionate performance. The melding of contemporary dance and Baroque music will result in a reflective work particularly appropriate for the Easter season. This performance will be the closing show in the first season of the “Woodruff Dance @ the Rialto” series, which is a collaboration among Woodruff Arts Center, The Rialto Center and Several Dancers Core.

Sue Schroeder, Artistic Director of CORE Performance Company, describes her choreographic work on Messiah as “an illuminated manuscript, where the dance adds color, movement and meaning to an already rich text and score.” Schroeder’s Messiah originally premiered with taped music in 2001 as part of Several Dancers Core’s 20th Anniversary Season. Since then, the work has been updated and expanded, incorporating more of Handel’s score and integrating musicians and singers into the stage performance. Canadian-born Antoine Plante, Artistic Director of Houston’s early music ensemble, Mercury Baroque, will be conducting the musicians and chorus of the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra in the performance at the Rialto.

Much controversy at the time of Handel’s premiere of the Messiah revolved around its sacred text being performed in a theatrical setting. Schroeder’s adaptation of the sacred work for dance, particularly contemporary dance, is equally innovative and provocative. The combination of an intimate, authentic period performance with the unorthodox movement approach of contemporary dance challenges the conventions of performance of this musical masterpiece. Audiences will be delighted and inspired by this unique re-envisioning of the classic they know and love. CORE Performance Company, under the artistic direction of Sue Schroeder, and the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra have collaborated to re-envision this classic work with contemporary sophistication.

The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra was founded in 1997 by a group of musicians, specialists in the performance of 17th- and 18th-century music on period instruments, to fill a major gap in the musical life of the Southeast. Believing that the heart of a musical style lies in its unique sound, the ABO employs actual surviving instruments and reproductions of Baroque- and Classical-period instruments in recreating the music. They have been responsible for many noteworthy musical performances in Atlanta, including the first performances on historical instruments of Bach’s Magnificat and Passion according to St. John, Handel’s Messiah and Water Music, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Haydn’s Paris Symphonies, and other Baroque and Classical masterworks. In January 2006 they named to be their new Artistic Director the eminent cellist, gambist, and conductor, John Hsu.

The ABO’s choir will also be performing, and vocal soloists will be: Ana Treviño-Godfrey, soprano.

About the Woodruff:
The Woodruff Arts Center opened its doors in 1968 and has grown into the largest performing and visual arts center in the nation. As home of the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta College of Art, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the High Museum of Art, Young Audiences and the 14th Street Playhouse, the Woodruff is dedicated to excellence in the performing and visual arts. The Woodruff Arts Center offers its patrons a unique, multi-faceted experience of many distinctive arts institutions on a single campus and offers visitors a bold variety of performing and visual arts exhibitions.

About the Rialto:
Georgia State University’s Rialto Center for the Performing Arts, an intimate, cultural centerpiece in downtown Atlanta, inspires, educates and entertains diverse audiences by presenting innovative and exceptional arts programming and cultivating community partnerships. Rising from the shell of a once-popular movie theater dating to 1916, the Rialto is the result of an ambitious, state-of-the-art, $14 million renovation and a firm, forward-thinking commitment on the part of the University to the revitalization of the city’s central business district. Each year, the Rialto offers its own unique and extensive subscription series featuring world-class artists, focusing primarily on the best in world music, jazz, contemporary dance, and intimate vocal performance. Throughout the year, the Center is also home to numerous other local performing arts organizations as well as visiting companies and has become a center for independent film in Atlanta. The Rialto also offers an innovative educational outreach program to students and the general public alike.

About Several Dancers Core:
For 25 years, Several Dancers Core has been building its international reputation and success by centering on a commitment to deepening the experience and education of movement for communities and audiences. Several Dancers Core creates, performs, and presents multi-layered contemporary dance expressions with an intentional collaborative process that integrates risk and innovation. The organization promotes dance awareness and education through professional performances, artists’ forums with interactive dance presentations, workshops, and classes in contemporary approaches to movement. Several Dancers Core is home to CORE Performance Company, the first Atlanta dance company to present in the Rialto’s season.

Tickets are now on sale through the Rialto Center Box Office by telephone at 404.651.4727; by fax at 404.651.0966; online at www.rialtocenter.org; or by mail at P.O. Box 2627, Atlanta, GA 30301-2627. Starting at $16, ticket prices vary by seat location. Free parking is provided for all Rialto Series events at the Equitable Building deck on Fairlie Street. Paid valet parking is also available.

Photo URL: http://www.severaldancerscore.org/press/photos/messiahgroup.jpg

Note: For interview requests, contact Claire Horn, 404-373-4154 or claireh at severaldancerscore.org.