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kitchenlogoRachel Lampert’s newest movement/theater piece, Summers at Rock’s Edge (working title - Dancing in the Kitchen with the CCO), is a collage of dances and scenes. Rock’s Edge is a glorious artists’ retreat ruled over by Madame Tumkovsky, a passionate teacher of dance and “all things necessary to make your way in the world.”

The usual mix of painters, writers, dancers and musicians who take up residency at Rock’s Edge for the summer are not so sure about the newest addition to the summer guest list, eleven year-old Clarice. The piece moves back and forth in time as Clarice and her friend Stefan recall summers spent at Rock’s Edge.

"I set a majority of the piece in 1927," says Lampert.  "The music will include short pieces by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Joplin, Gershwin, Kreisler, as well as Mozart, Chopin, Paganini, Beethoven and American composer Amy Beach. This is a labor of love. Not only am I working in dance and movement with a delightfully creative cast, but we will also have Cayuga Chamber Orchestra musicians Linda Case and Andrea Merrill playing at all the performances. We had a little taste of the way live music will sound in our new lobby when Linda played for a small gathering we had while the space was under construction. I cannot wait to hear music in our intimate new theater space."

The performers in the piece include Stephen Nunley, who wears many hats at the Kitchen Theatre, and with Rachel Lampert toured the U.S. for fifteen years as a member of her dance company. Ithaca College dance instructor Lindsay Gilmour and modern dancer and teacher Maren Waldman add their professional experience to the project and are joined by Ithaca-based dancers Meredith Conroy (last seen at the Kitchen in Scoot, Sizzle & Slide), Nicholas Barb (who appeared at the Kitchen in STRANGERHORSE and Emmett & Ella’s Big Apple Escapade), James Potter (Scoot, Sizzle & Slide) and Erin Hilgartner (Losing Myself, Scoot, Sizzle & Slide, Adventure in Apartment G# among others). Kitchen Theatre Company chameleon Lesley Greene, former KTC Artistic Director Norm Johnson, local actor/teacher/clown Holly Adams, and Rachel Lampert round out the cast.

"It’s a band of very talented people," Lampert adds. "Some are professional dancers and others terrific movers. I am making pieces that use a variety of approaches to creating movement. Some sections have choreography with strict steps and sequences, other sections are combinations of pedestrian movement, improvisation and narrative. I have always enjoyed all kinds of movement. And I love watching both highly trained and natural movers work together. In this piece I am able to explore simple gesture, skips, runs, and falls as well as highly structured material. And, one thing for sure, the music will be wonderfully performed."

Summers at Rock’s Edge has only six public performances. Wednesday, September 22 at 7:30pm, Thursday, September 23 at 2pm and again at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday, September 24 and 25 at 8pm, and Sunday, September 26 at 4pm. There is a special matinee sponsored by Purity Ice Cream for after school programs at GIAC and Southside Community Center.

All performances are in the new Kitchen Theatre Company location at 417 West State / W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Street.

The Kitchen Theatre Company's new home will welcome the public at 10:30 a.m. Thursday September 30th with a ribbon cutting ceremony. We hope you will join us in opening the doors to our Bold New Space for the 20th Anniversary Season. Tours for the public will be held following the ceremony.

Performance Dates:
Wed., Sept. 22, 2010 at 7:30pm (Preview 1 of 3)
Thurs., Sept. 23, 2010 at 2:00pm (Matinee)
Thurs., Sept. 23, 2010 at 7:30pm (Preview 2 of 3)
Fri., Sept. 24, 2010 at 8:00pm (Preview 3 of 3)
Sat., Sept. 25, 2010 at 8:00pm (Press Opening)
Sun., Sept. 26, 2010 at 4:00pm (Closing)

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