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Artpark presents The Power of Niagara by the Jon Lehrer Dance Company

July 17, 2021

Artpark announces a performance of The Power of Niagara by the Jon Lehrer Dance Company on July 17, 2021 at 8pm on the site of Artpark Gene Davis “Niagara 1979” Painted Lot. The internationally renowned Jon Lehrer Dance Company (JLDC) will bring edge-of-your seat excitement to Artpark with a world premiere performance inspired by the power and majesty of Niagara. With JLDC’s trademark combination of artistry, athleticism, and accessibility, this breathtaking performance will inspire and entertain, speaking to audiences of all backgrounds and dance experience. Tickets for the event are $10 and are available at the Artpark Box Office (Fri/Sat 10AM-4PM) and ticketmaster.com.

Collaborating on The Power of Niagara with Jon Lehrer will be set designer Dyan Burlingame and costume designer Laura Vanner. Both artists have worked extensively with JLDC and together they will create a true spectacle on the outdoor stage at Artpark. Music inspired by the Niagara region as well as music that evokes the strength and beauty of water will create a luscious soundscape that the performers and audience will be swept up in. The combination of all these elements along with Artpark’s natural beauty and commitment to producing one-of-a kind art, will bring about a truly awe-inspiring event.

“JLDC is so excited to return to Artpark with a world premiere tribute to the power, beauty, and awesomeness of Niagara,” said Jon Lehrer. “The choreography, set design, costumes, and music will all come together to create a truly epic event that only Artpark could produce. We are so proud to continue our creative and collaborative partnership with Artpark, and to reconnect with all of our friends, fans, and supporters throughout the region.”

Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test are not required for this event. Patrons will just be required to maintain social distance and wear a mask if they are not fully vaccinated.
The Artpark summer season runs through September 15, 2021. Visit https://www.artpark.net/ for a current schedule.

Artpark’s 2021 season is supported by M&T Bank and Cullen Foundation. This performance is supported by the Regional Economic Development Council.

About the Artist
Jon Lehrer started his company in 2007 in Buffalo, NY and has received critical acclaim nationally and internationally. Under his artistic direction, the company showcases Jon’s unique choreography and embodies his definitive style. His extensive background in both the modern and jazz dance idioms fosters choreography that is organic, artistic, accessible and often humorous, reflecting life experience and the human condition. 

The company’s expressive style is based on three main elements of movement – Circularity, 3-Dimensionality, and Momentum – which combine to create a form that is best described as “Organically Athletic”.  With creativity, athleticism, and the ability to make new and innovative modern and jazz dance accessible to all audiences, the company has made quite a name for themselves in the dance world. Striking the elusive balance between art and entertainment, Jon Lehrer Dance Company showcases unique choreography and a fun, distinctive style which fuses jazz and modern dance, creating a true spectacle onstage which can be enjoyed by dance experts and novices alike. Now based in NYC, the company continues to tour extensively, bringing their trademark artistic, athletic, and accessible style to audiences worldwide. Dance Magazine praised “the company took the house not so much by storm as by quantum physics,” and Galerie Ortenau in Offenburg, Germany declares, “Dynamic, Powerful, Elegant – brings an absolute passion for the dance.” The company toured to Europe in 2013, 2016, 2018, and will return in 2022. They toured to Russia in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016, sponsored by the US State Department in order to, “bring the best in American modern dance to the people of Russia.”

ARTPARK is a park and a cultural institution located in Lewiston, NY along the Niagara Gorge, USA. Established in 1974, Artpark is a collaboration between the New York State Parks and the cultural nonprofit institution Artpark & Company. The picturesque 150 acre performing and visual arts park is located along the historic Niagara River Gorge on land rich in Native American, pioneer and early American history. Approximately 12,000 years ago the majestic Niagara Falls began to work its way upriver from this site to its current location. Artpark’s Mainstage theater opened in July of 1974 on land that was once the Lower Landing of the nine mile Niagara Portage that skirted the unnavigable Gorge and Falls. Designated as a National Historic Landmark (in 1998), Artpark includes several archeological sites, including a Hopewell Mound from one of the earliest Native American mound building cultures and the remnants of the much more recent Oak Hill Mansion. Artpark is a National Wildlife Federation Backyard Wildlife Habitat, & National Audubon Society birding site (along the Niagara River Corridor), Artpark is also a popular destination for hiking, picnics, and fishing. As a cultural institution, Artpark attracts over 150,000 audiences over the course of its’ summer season (June-August) and serves a population of approximately 1.2 million Western New Yorkers and over 1 million Canadian residents. Over the course of it 40-year history, over 2.5 million persons have attended musical and theater performances at Artpark. In addition to being widely regarded as one of the top rock music Amphitheater stages, under the artistic leadership of President Sonia Kozlova Clark, Artpark has presented a increasingly diverse program including major North American premiers by companies like the Plasticiens Volants (France) with their unique giant inflatable puppetry; the Brazilian modern dance sensation Bale de Rua mixing the traditions of capoeira and B-boy; music acts varying from Boy George to George Clinton and Thievery Corporation; the Native-American DJ duo A Tribe Called Red and Ukranian folk-punk band DakhaBrakha. A new Strawberry Moon Festival has been established in 2019 to celebrate the global influence of the indigenous arts. In 2016 Artpark has developed a unique Artpark Percussion Garden, a new place for sound and nature explorations with interactive installations created by collaboration of visual artists and musicians. Same year we launched a long-term initiative Artpark Laboratory under curatorship of Mary Miss and her City as Living Laboratory, focusing on the exploration of intersections of art, nature, science and technologies and creating awareness on the global climate change crisis. For more information, visit artpark.net.

Details

Date:
July 17, 2021