A Special Collaborative Performance: Choreographer Carolyn Dorfman and visual artist Carl E. Hazlewood Friday, November 1, 2013 6:30 – 8:30pm

Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art is pleased to present a unique performance by The Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company on Friday, November 1, 2013 from 6:30 to 8:30pm.  The evening also includes a gallery viewing and reception in addition to the performance,

Choreographer Carolyn Dorfman and visual artist Carl E. Hazlewood join forces for a convergence of the visual and performing arts in what promises to be a unique gallery experience. Together, the artists celebrate what Hazlewood describes as “the concrete poetry of seeing”, creating a personal and collective experience.

As Hazlewood’s art dances on and off the walls, the dancers both observe and become the art, joining the viewers in an internal and external experience taking on physical form. From extensions of the work, to beautiful additions and commentary, the dancers illuminate both abstract and narrative possibilities evoked by what Dorfman calls, “Hazelwood’s simple, yet complex, wall sculptures and visceral photography”. 

Hazlewood’s interest lies in paring down complexities to practical ideas that concern the visual, establishing an assertive abstract image. "I want to simplify, simplify, simplify," Hazlewood says. A great part of that simplifying is listening, noticing, acknowledging, feeling, engaging in a playful, almost innocent conversation with the world immediately before and around us, finally seeing, as it were, and therefore being. 

Also on exhibit is Birth of a Cypher: Works by Terry Boddie. Boddie’s work explores the relationship between hair and time, as hair carries genetic traits and is an index of the time it took to grow. The work utilizes fragments of hair to examine notions of time and its influence on individuals and collective growth. 

Temporality and Objects: New Installations and Photographs by Carl E. Hazlewood and Birth of a Cypher: Works by Terry Boddie will be on view at Aljira through December 21, 2013

Aljira 30th Anniversary Upcoming Exhibitions and Programs

December 12, 2013 6:30 – 9pm:

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company performance: Shadow Dance: Alone, But Not Alone

January 23, 2014  6 – 9pm: Opening Reception, Gallery Walk and Catalog Signing for Bending the Grid: Luis Cruz Azaceta: Dictators, Terrorism, War and Exiles, curated by Alejandro Anreus, PhD. On view through April 26, 2014.

February 6, 2014 6 – 8pm: Book Signing with Author Barbara J. Kukla for America’s Music: Jazz in Newark—a Comprehensive History of an American City. Exhibition of photographs by Bill May

March 29, 2014 to September 28, 2014: Aljira’s 30th Anniversary Retrospective exhibition at the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton: Aljira at 30. Dream and Reality; co-curated by Margaret O-Reilly and Carl E. Hazlewood.

About The Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company

The Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company (CDDC), described as “ingenious” (Star-Ledger) and “emotionally resonant” (New York Times), presents the works of Carolyn Dorfman and nationally known choreographers.

With bold athleticism, dramatic nuance, and musical range, CDDC’s high-energy and technically demanding repertory uses movement as metaphor to take audiences on intellectual and emotional journeys. Hailed, too, as a consummate storyteller, Dorfman, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, has also created a celebrated body of work that honors her Jewish legacy. Its trials and triumphs and, most importantly, its universal connections convey a treasured uniqueness.

The company’s ten multi-ethnic dancers (“with a four octave range” (Doug Elkins)) compose a uniquely talented contemporary dance ensemble, highly acclaimed for its artistic excellence and range as well as its extraordinary ability to communicate to audiences about dance and the creative process. CDDC appears at major theaters, dance festivals, universities and schools worldwide, and is lauded for its artistry and exceptional arts education and community programming.

About Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art

Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art fosters excellence in the visual arts through exhibitions and educational programs that serve as catalysts for inclusiveness and diversity, promote cross-cultural dialog, and enable us to better understand the time in which we live. Public understanding and support of the visual arts are strengthened through collaboration and community-based educational programming. Aljira seeks out the work of emerging and underrepresented artists and brings the work of more established artists to our community. Through the visual arts Aljira bridges racial, cultural and ethnic divides and enriches the lives of individuals.

Aljira’s operations and programs are made possible, in part, by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey Cultural Trust, The Kenneth Aidekman Family Foundation, Bank of America, Brick City Development Corporation, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Greater Newark Conservancy, Hyde and Watson Foundation, Joan Mitchell Foundation, Lambent Foundation, MCJ Amelior Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, PNC Bank, Prudential, The Prudential Foundation, PSE&G Foundation, RBH Group, Spire Group, State Farm Insurance, Telebrands, Tides Foundation, The Turrell Fund, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and many generous individual contributors.

Aljira is located at 591 Broad Street in downtown Newark. For directions visit our website at www.aljira.org. The Center is open Wednesday through Friday, 12–6 pm and Saturday, 11 am–4pm. Phone 973 622-1600, fax 973 622-6526, Website: www.aljira.org. On Facebook: www.facebook.com/aljira On Tumblr: www.aljirablog.tumblr.com On Twitter: @aljiratweets.                                                       

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