The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), an expansive program providing New York City choreographers and dance companies with creative residencies on CUNY college campuses, announces the New York premiere of Rising by Pigeonwing Dance and The Neave Trio at Baruch Performing Arts Center (55 Lexington Avenue -entrance on 25th Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenues- New York, NY 10010) on April 23, 24, and 25, 2026 at 7PM. Tickets are $35, $20 with a CUNY ID, and can be purchased at https://ci.ovationtix.com/36688/production/1265274.

Dances about water – rivers and oceans – are among the oldest human forms of expression; but in this time of climate change and rising sea levels, Rising takes on heightened significance. An exploration of our connection to Earth’s oceans, this evening-length work intertwines Robert Sirota’s emotive, lyrical music, performed live by the GRAMMY®–nominated Neave Trio, with Gabrielle Lamb’s evocative and articulate choreography for her chamber company, Pigeonwing Dance.

The score includes recorded text from oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer (Flotsametrics and the Floating World) and naturalist Craig Foster (My Octopus Teacher). Rising was developed over three years with The Neave Trio, who handpicked both the composer and choreographer. The musicians and dancers, who perform together onstage, shaped the work’s vision.

Rising premiered on September 27, 2024 at Oregon State University as a co-presentation by the Patricia Valian Reser Center for Art and Creativity (PRAx) and the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Rising was made possible by a commissioning grant from the O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, with additional support from Ballet Vero Beach, the Riverside Dance Festival, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the Arts Center at Governors Island.

The program runs approximately 60 minutes with no intermission.

PIGEONWING DANCE

“to cut a pigeon wing”: Dictionary of American Regional English. To execute intricate dance steps gracefully…to dance in a fancy way

Described by The New Yorker as “eccentric…playful…curious”, Pigeonwing Dance (PWD) seeks the coordinates where beauty turns to awkwardness and tension dissolves into ease. Whirlwinds, accidents, and chance encounters are caught, preserved, and folded into dance. This improvisatory abandon is counterbalanced by meticulous calculation, revealing intricate architectures where fleeting moments of resolution open into new wonderings.



Pigeonwing, named for its blend of airiness and NYC grit, was founded in 2016 and has been presented by New York City Center, the MIT Museum, 92Y, the New York Botanical Garden, Garth Newel Music Center, and Jacob’s Pillow. They were the first dance company commissioned by Symphony Space’s beloved “Selected Shorts” and have been featured in SCIENCE Magazine.

During the pandemic, their artistic model was transformed by the 2020 premiere of The Carpet Series, a compact outdoor performance taking place on an 8×10 Persian carpet in public spaces throughout NYC. It has been performed 100+ times in all 5 boroughs and has been featured in the NY Daily News and DANCE Magazine, which observed, “the geometric patterns of the Persian rug echo and amplify Lamb’s idiosyncratic movement vocabulary, which is both intensely intricate and unusually syncopated.”

Pigeonwing’s dance film, “The Choreography of CRISPR”, illuminating and embodying CRISPR gene-editing technology, was on display in the galleries of the MIT Museum from 2022-2025. Recent residencies and performances include Princeton University’s Lewis Center for Arts, Oregon State University’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Harvard University, the New York Botanical Garden, and Rice University’s Moody Center for the Arts. www.pigeonwingdance.com

GABRIELLE LAMB

Gabrielle Lamb, choreographer and 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, is based in New York City, where she directs Pigeonwing Dance, described by The New Yorker as “eccentric…playful …curious.” Her work has also been presented by, among others, the American Ballet Theatre Incubator, New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute, the MIT Museum, BalletX, the Juilliard School, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ballet Collective, Whim W’HIM, Jacob’s Pillow, and Dance on Camera at Lincoln Center.

She has won fellowships and competitions at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Milwaukee Ballet, and the Banff Centre, as well as the S&R Foundation’s Washington Award and a Princess Grace Award.

A native of Savannah, GA, Ms Lamb trained at the Boston Ballet School and was a longtime soloist at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, later performing with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and Pontus Lidberg Dance in NYC. Her performing repertoire also included works by Jiri Kylian, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, Nacho Duato, Sylvie Guillem, and George Balanchine. She has been lauded by DANCE Magazine as “a dancer of stunning clarity who illuminates the smallest details — qualities she brings to the dances she makes, too”.

A committed and inquisitive dance educator, Ms. Lamb is also a graduate of the four-year Feldenkrais Professional Training Program. She was a 2024 Hearst Choreographer in Residence at Princeton University. http://pigeonwingdance.com/gabrielle

ROBERT SIROTA

Over five decades, composer Robert Sirota has developed a distinctive voice, clearly discernible in all of his work – whether symphonic, choral, stage, or chamber music. Writing in the Portland Press Herald, Allan Kozinn asserts: “Sirota’s musical language is personal and undogmatic, in the sense that instead of aligning himself with any of the competing contemporary styles, he follows his own internal musical compass.

Robert Sirota’s works have been performed by orchestras across the US and Europe; ensembles such as Alarm Will Sound, Sequitur, yMusic, Chameleon Arts, and Dinosaur Annex; the Chiara, American, Ethel, Elmyr, Blair and Telegraph String Quartets; the Peabody, Concord, and Webster Trios; and at festivals including Tanglewood, Aspen, Yellow Barn, and Cooperstown; Bowdoin Gamper and Bowdoin International Music Festival; and Mizzou International Composers Festival. Recent commissions include Jeffrey Kahane and the Sarasota Music Festival, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Palladium Musicum, American Guild of Organists, the American String Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, the Naumburg Foundation, and yMusic, Thomas Pellaton, Carol Wincenc, Linda Chesis, Trinity Episcopal Church (Indianapolis), and Sierra Chamber Society, as well as arrangements for Paul Simon.

Grants include the Guggenheim and Watson Foundations, NEA, Meet the Composer, and the American Music Center, Sirota’s works are recorded on Legacy Recordings, National Sawdust Tracks, and the Capstone, New Voice, Gasparo and Crystal labels. His music is published by Muzzy Ridge Music, Schott, Music Associates of NY, MorningStar, Theodore Presser, and To the Fore.www.robertsirota.com

NEAVE TRIO

Since forming in 2010, the twice GRAMMY®–nominated Neave Trio– violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura – has earned enormous praise for its engaging, cutting-edge performances. New York’s classical music radio station WQXRexplains, “‘Neave’ is actually a Gaelic name meaning ‘bright’ and ‘radiant’, both of which certainly apply to this trio’s music making.” Gramophone has praised the trio’s “taut and vivid interpretations,” while The Strad calls out their “eloquent phrasing and deft control of textures” and BBC Music Magazine describes their performances as balancing “passion with sensitivity and grace.” The Neave Trio continues to serve as the inaugural Ensemble-in-Residence at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Neave Trio strives to champion new works by living composers and reach wider audiences through innovative concert presentations, regularly collaborating with artists of all mediums. These collaborations include the premiere of Robert Paterson’s Triple Concerto with the Mostly Modern Orchestra under the direction of JoAnn Falletta; D-Cell: an Exhibition & Durational Performance, conceived and directed by multi-disciplinary visual artist David Michalek; as well as performances with the Blythe Barton Dance Company; with dance collective BodySonnet; with projection designer Ryan Brady; in the interactive concert series “STEIN2.0,” with composer Amanuel Zarzowski; in the premiere of Klee Musings by acclaimed American composer Augusta Read Thomas; in the premiere of Eric Nathan’s Missing Words V, sponsored by Coretet; in Leah Reid’s Cloud Burst for piano trio and electronics; in Dale Trumbore’s Another Chance; and in a music video by filmmaker Amanda Alvarez Díaz of Astor Piazzolla’s “Otoño Porteño.” The Trio’s critically acclaimed discography includes Rooted (Chandos Records, 2024); A Room of Her Own (Chandos Records, 2024); Musical Remembrances (Chandos Records, 2022), which was nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble category; Her Voice (Chandos Records, 2019); Celebrating Piazzolla (Azica Records, 2018), featuring mezzo-soprano Carla Jablonski; French Moments (Chandos Records, 2018); and Neave’s Chandos debut, American Moments (2016). neavetrio.com

ABOUT THE CUNY DANCE INITIATIVE

The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI) marked a decade of supporting the NYC dance field in 2024. The program was developed in response to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s 2010 report, “We Make Do,” which cited how destabilizing the shortage of affordable rehearsal space in New York City is to the dance sector. A successful pilot supporting residencies on four CUNY campuses in 2013 led to CDI’s formal launch in 2014. Since then, CDI has become a key player in New York City’s performing arts ecosystem, leading a consortium of 14 CUNY colleges and four arts organizations to host 20+ residencies for NYC choreographers and dance companies each year. In the past 11 years, CDI has granted 275 residencies to emerging and established choreographers, providing invaluable resources to artists, while enhancing CUNY students’ education and cultural experiences.

Baruch Performing Arts Center

The Baruch Performing Arts Center is a two-theatre complex offering a range of performances for the school community, the Flatiron/Madison Square neighborhood, and all of New York. Located at 55 Lexington Avenue (25th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues) in the Baruch College Vertical Campus, it has showcased such diverse performances and artists as Grammy-winner Sullivan Fortner, Wakka Wakka’s “Dead as a Dodo,” the annual seasons of the acclaimed Heartbeat Opera, the debut of the company Queer The Ballet, and recitals by baritone Joseph Parrish, accordion virtuoso Hanzhi Wang, the team of Krakauer and Tagg, and the ensembles Empire Wild and Chromic Duo. Baruch PAC is dedicated to reflecting the diversity of the Baruch community through its varied presentations and is committed to events that are accessible to all New Yorkers.

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