While Carolyn and her ensemble of dancers tendu and leap their way through final rehearsals leading up to the annual gala celebration tonight, it takes a small army to bring this special performance and event to life led by a hardworking Gala committee and office staff! From the immediate tasks of seat selections (making sure the right people are seated next to the right people), final design of the Virtual Ad Journal, selling the few remaining theater tickets to selecting the menu, securing auction items and volunteers for the evening, we also look towards the individuals who have made a significant and/or long-term commitment to the Carolyn Dorfman Dance organization. Their contributions are honored each year with special awards given by the company recognizing their talents and commitment to the arts!

Here is one of the three 2017 recipients:

Meet Horacee Arnold, one of the best-known jazz fusion drummers in the world, who will receive the Keystone award on Friday evening. Not only has he performed and recorded with Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, Stan Getz, Alvin Ailey, Chick Corea and Return to Forever, he is also the composer of TWO works on our gala program, Dance/Stories and Sextet. Although Arnold gained recognition while recording and touring with Chick Corea during the late 1960s, it was his two critically acclaimed releases – Tribe (Columbia, 1973) and Tales of the Exonerated Flea (Columbia, 1974) that earned him five-star ratings from critics and a loyal following of fans. In the late 1970s, with drummers Billy Hart and Freddie Waits, Arnold formed the performance-based jazz ensemble, Colloquium III, which led workshops at the New York Drummers’ Collective.  In the early 1990’s Horacee began his relationship with Carolyn Dorfman Dance, and composed two works that highlight energy, rhythm and power both in music and dance.

Photo by Whitney Browne

Premiered in 1994, Sextet challenges the dynamic and technical range of the dancers. With images of quick darting actions and suspended moments at its core, the work follows an accumulation form, progressing from duet to trio, quartet, quintet and finally, the full ensemble.

Two years later, Horacee returned to the studio to help Carolyn Dorfman create Dance/Stories, which premiered in 1996. This work integrates a selection of folk tales from around the world—the narrative, movement, and composition by Arnold illuminate our common humanness, weaving together image and metaphor to create an enchanting and interdisciplinary work.

Photo by Whitney Browne

Thank you Horacee for helping to bring our vision to the stage.

“The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music. Bodies never lie.”- Agnes deMille

See you Tonight!