Press

ALBANY, NY – The Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company (ESDC) will premiere a dance created exclusively for the New York State Museum’s carousel during Family Fun Weekend’s celebration of dance May 15-16 at the Museum.

“Dancing in the Museum” is the theme of the free event, which will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. both days. It also will include other dance programs, participatory creative movement, storytelling workshops and arts and crafts activities.

The event will kick off with a performance of “Celtic Footprints,” in the Clark Auditorium at 1:15 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Choreographer and Artistic Director Ellen Sinopoli, storyteller Bairbre McCarthy and ESDC dancers will take visitors on a journey, weaving stories with song and dance. They will follow the footprints of the Celts from Central Europe to Scotland, Wales and Ireland and then across the Atlantic to Appalachia. Stories will include the “Legend of the Swans”; the “Adventures of Jack” (beyond the beanstalk); the “Tale of Norouas,” the Northwest Wind; and the humorous yarn of “How Marika Got Her Story.” “Celtic Footprints” is made possible through support from Capital Region Living Magazine/Melissa and Douglas Hahn Charitable Trust, Stewart’s Shops, City of Albany, L&P Media and the Egg.

On both days, from 2:30-3 p.m. and 3:15-3:45 p.m., Sinopoli and McCarthy will offer participatory creative movement and storytelling workshops for children at the Huxley Theater. There will also be three performances, both days, of the carousel dance at the Carousel, on the Museum’s fourth floor, at 2:30, 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

The performances and programs of the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company are made possible, in part, through support from the New York State Council on the Arts.

The Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company is in its 18th season as the resident company of The Egg. ESDC shares its work with diverse audiences through concerts, residencies, workshops and educational outreach, seeking to enrich the community by enhancing the appreciation, understanding and experience of contemporary performing arts.

Ellen Sinopoli has choreographed 65 new works since ESDC’s formation in 1991 and has received choreographic commissions from The Arts Center of the Capital Region (Troy), The Egg, St. Cecilia Orchestra, Saratoga City Ballet, Schenectady Symphony Orchestra, The Arts Center (Saratoga), Schenectady Museum and Union College. Sinopoli is on the teaching faculty of Russell Sage College and Siena College.

The New York State Museum is a program of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. Started in 1836, the museum has the longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey in the United States. Located on Madison Avenue in Albany, the State Museum is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission is free. Further information about programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

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