World-renowned cellist Maya Beiser, legendary dancer Wendy Whelan, and seminal choreographer Lucinda Childs join forces to present the new music/dance work THE DAY, with music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. A collaboration among legends, THE DAY is an evening-long sensory exploration of two journeys – life and the eternal, post-mortal voyage of the soul. This bold, highly collaborative work explores universal themes through the shared language of music and dance.
Cellist Maya Beiser, who conceived the piece, has been described by the Boston Globe as “a force of nature” and by Rolling Stone as a “cello rock star,” and is a veteran of the world’s most revered stages. Wendy Whelan, widely considered one of the world’s leading dancers, spent 30 years as a principal dancer with New York City Ballet and originated numerous roles in new works by the world's most esteemed choreographers. The two will be onstage all evening, embodying the iconic choreography of Lucinda Childs (a Commandeur in France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and 2018 inductee in Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Dance) to the original music of Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lang.
Maya says, “THE DAY is a response to two solo cello works written for me by the composer David Lang – the day and world to come. During the time I recorded these two pieces for an album, I kept seeing images of a woman, a dancer, emerging from the notes of the cello – embodying the voices, recounting these stories, inhabiting these memories, possessing those lives.”
THE DAY was co-commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow (world premiere, July 31-August 4);Théâtre de la Ville, Paris; Carolina Performing Arts at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; The Joyce Theater; and Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, all of which will present performances in 2019-2020. This season, THE DAY will also be presented by theKennedy Center, San Francisco Performances, Williams Center for the Arts, OZ Arts Nashville and TPAC in partnership with Nashville Ballet, The O’Shaughnessy co-presented with the Walker Art Center, The Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College, and theICA Boston.