HSO Masterworks: Breaking Beethoven

Friday, December 2, 2022 - Sunday, December 4, 2022
Belding Theater at The Bushnell
Friday and Saturday at 8 PM
Sunday at 3 PM
Beethoven Grosse Fuge, Op. 133
DBR Dancers, Dreamers, and Presidents
Beethoven Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36

Featuring

Carolyn Kuan conductor
BRKFST Dance Company

The Minnesota based breakdance group BRKFST takes the Belding stage. Founded in 2014, BRKFST is a collaborative ensemble that combines breaking movement with contemporary dance. You will be captivated by the group's new choreography set to Beethoven's Grosse Fuge, and DBR's eclectic Dancers, Dreamers, and Presidents- a piece that won the 2010 Sphinx commissioning prize. Despite being written while Beethoven was coming to terms with his terminal deafness, Symphony No. 2 exhibits joy and humor that will remind you why Beethoven is a true "master" of composition.

BRKFST DANCE COMPANY: collaborative breaking choreographers based in St. Paul, Minnesota and founded in 2014. BRKFST performs regionally, premiering work at Walker Arts Center, The Southern Theater, The Cowles Center and Orchestra Hall with The Minnesota Orchestra. They completed their first international tour in 2022, performing in Dublin, Ireland for Dance2Connect (D2C) Hip Hop Festival. Their film "Dreamers" (2019) was deemed an official selection in 11 international film festivals receiving "Grand Jury Award" (In/Motion Festival 2021) and "Best Experimental Film" (Tirana International Film Festival 2020). BRKFST has set repertoire and original work on dancers at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Carleton College, D2C Festival (Ireland) and Bates Dance Festival (Maine). BRKFST Dance Company is a 2022 recipient of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) National Dance Project (NDP) Production Grant.

Performers/Choreographers: Lisa 'MonaLisa' Berman, Joseph 'MN Joe' Tran, Renee Copeland, Travis 'Seqal' Johnson, Marie Thayer, Danielle Banovetz, Azaria 'AZ' Evans-Parham, Michael 'Myke the Titan' Romero

Dramaturge: Emma Marlar and Gabriel Anderson

Costume Design: Rhiannon Fiskradatz

The creation and premiere of this new work by BRKFST Dance Company set to "Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents" by Daniel Bernard Roumain was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Mellon Foundation.