(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Nimbus Dance presents Firebird & Other Sagas, a program of three works to be performed at the Nimbus Arts Center from May 1-3, 2025 at 8:00pm each night. The performances follow the March 2025 world premieres of Firebird and Dark Water in collaboration with New Jersey Symphony at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
Those performances in March were met with awe and critical acclaim, NJArts.net praised Nimbus for its "effective and sensitive storytelling" and called the reinterpretation "a radical departure from The Firebird's traditional storyline... poignant and absorbing all the same."
Nimbus’ company of international dancers culminates the organization’s 20th anniversary season with encore performances of Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Samuel Pott’s most ambitious works to date. These performances are presented with support from SILVERMAN, Spring Season Sponsor.
The program includes Firebird, set to Igor Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird, and Dark Water, choreographed to Qasim Naqvi’s God Docks at Death Harbor. Both works were created through a commissioning partnership with New Jersey Symphony. Also on the program is Afterburner, a contemporary work by Brooklyn-based choreographer Kristen Klein.
Performance take place at Nimbus Arts Center (329 Warren Street) in Jersey City, New Jersey on Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 8:00pm; Friday, May 2, 2025 at 8:00pm; and Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 8:00pm. Tickets are available for purchase online.
“SILVERMAN is proud to support Nimbus Dance as they bring bold new dance works to the stage while remaining deeply rooted in Jersey City,” said Paul Silverman, Co-Founder at SILVERMAN. “It's an honor to help make this kind of powerful, homegrown art accessible to the community.” –Paul Silverman of SILVERMAN
Commissioned by New Jersey Symphony, the two works by Artistic Director Samuel Pott were developed to accompany orchestral performances conducted by Xian Zhang. In a dramatic departure from traditional renditions of Firebird, Pott’s new creation imagines the Firebird as an Icarus-like figure who, along with a young girl from a modern-day family in turmoil, escapes a world of violence and conflict in search of freedom. The choreography weaves together mythological storytelling and the emotional landscape of contemporary youth, with themes of self-discovery, dreamlike escape, and reconciliation emerging through large-scale scenic elements and bold movement language.
“Stravinsky’s score carries an emotional weight that feels as urgent and deep today as it must have a century ago. In Firebird, we wanted to find a new story inside that music—one that reflects what young people are navigating now: fear, hope, and the possibility of transformation and liberation.” –Samuel Pott, Founder & Artistic Director of Nimbus Dance
Dark Water is the third and final installment of a multiyear collaboration between Pott and composer Qasim Naqvi. Featuring set design by Guggenheim Fellow Nicola López, the work explores the depth, mystery, and power of water—both as a natural force and a metaphor for human vulnerability. Naqvi’s ambient score serves as a fluid backdrop to choreography in which dancers appear submerged, transformed, or swept up in unseen currents. López’s responsive set design, composed of fabric and projected video, adds layers of motion and dimensionality that reflect the instability and force of the ocean environment.
Following the Jersey City performances, Nimbus will present selections from Firebird & Other Sagas at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas on May 9, 2025—continuing the company’s national touring initiative as part of the Center’s acclaimed 10x10 Series.
All photos by Rob Davidson
