Photo by Joe Velez
(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Following ten years of creation and collaboration, Nimbus Dance presents the world premiere of ANIMA, Samuel Pott's evening-length work that confronts our most primal and precarious bond: humankind's relationship with the natural world. The tumult of environmental crises, human impact on the planet's cycles, and, most intrinsically, the disorientation and disconnect from nature, are the themes that drive this powerful and epic trilogy of dances. By turns, achingly evocative and visually astounding, ANIMA offers audiences an immersive, visceral experience that questions and reimagines our place in the natural world.
ANIMA's three chapters, Falling Sky, Patch of Turf, and Dark Water, have been developed over ten years by Nimbus Artistic Director Samuel Pott and acclaimed composer Qasim Naqvi. The upcoming performances mark the first time that audiences will experience the completed 3-part cycle as it was originally envisioned. The result is a cinematic journey that is by turns intense, poignant, and expansive, featuring Naqvi's original music, immersive projections by internationally known artists Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger, and sets by Guggenheim Fellow, artist Nicola López.
"Over the 10 years ANIMA has been in development, we've been exploring how we can create a deeply immersive experience where performers and audiences all have something at stake in the outcome of these dances," reflects Artistic Director and Founder Samuel Pott. "The program feels at times animalistic, other times intensely human. The dancers reach majestic heights in what they are able to express. Seeing it complete and whole for the first time is overwhelming - this is the work I've been building toward for a decade."
Photo by Megan Maloy
Performances take place at the Nimbus Arts Center in Jersey City on Friday, January 30 @ 8:00pm (with site-specific installations); Saturday, January 31 @ 8:00pm; Friday, February 6 @ 8:00pm (post-performance event: Young Patrons' Night with a post-performance networking event for Jersey City professionals ages 21+.); Saturday, February 7 @ 8:00pm (with site-specific installations); and Sunday, February 8 @ 3:00pm. Tickets range from $30-$42 and are available for purchase online.
Following its Jersey City premiere, ANIMA will be presented at The Bickford Theatre at Morris Museum in Morristown on Friday, February 27 @ 8:00pm. Tickets for this performance are available for purchase online.
Founded in 2005 by visionary Artistic Director Samuel Pott, Nimbus Dance bridges the gap between world-class performance and community engagement. Nimbus Dance is nationally recognized for its distinctive, highly physical concert dance that reveals poignant insights into contemporary life. The company's aesthetic "splits the difference between traditionalism and modernism... A Nimbus Dance piece can pivot from ballet to Broadway to Beyoncé in a few beats" (Tris McCall, Jersey City Times).
The company tours nationally, impacting over 16,000 people annually, maintains its home base at the Nimbus Arts Center in Jersey City's Powerhouse Arts District—a 14,500 sq ft venue supporting interdisciplinary arts and housing the School of Nimbus– and recently opened a second facility in Summit, NJ.. Recent collaborations include work with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, the New Jersey Symphony at NJPAC, the Gordon Parks Foundation, and the Bar Harbor Music Festival at the Acadia Dance Festival, which Nimbus produces. The organization's education programs serve 6,500 youth across New Jersey annually.
