On Sunday, Oct. 5, at 5:30 pm, join the Yard as it celebrates the finale of its 52nd season with a new work-in-progress by violinist Johnny Gandelsman and choreographers John Heginbotham, Caili Quan, Jamar Roberts, and Melissa Toogood.
The performance pairs Gandelsman’s unique interpretation of Bach’s “Cello Suites” — performed live on violin — with original choreography, celebrating the humanity and dance at the center of this exemplary music.
Bach’s iconic works are often discussed in the context of order, mathematical structure, and notions of perfection. While pleasure can be found in hearing them this way, focusing on perfection can also make them sterile, separate from us, and miss a beautiful
opportunity for connection. Because imperfection is something we all share as human beings. It’s what, at the end of a life, makes up the moments and meaning of the living of that life. In that way, imperfection is our gift, a treasure at our fingertips.
Bringing together communities of listeners and makers and performers, and leaning into the humanistic and folk qualities of the “Cello Suites,” the artistic team of “Johnny Loves Johann” invites audiences to an intimate encounter with Bach, offering listeners a memorable and deeply personal experience –– filled with joyful lightness of spirit, an embrace of our individual imperfections, and a renewed activation of dance at the music’s core.
Vineyard Arts Project, 215 Upper Main St., Edgartown. Tickets: $10 to $20 (on sale soon at dancetheyard.org). The Yard’s “Johnny Loves Johann” residency is presented in collaboration with the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, Works and Process at the Guggenheim, and Carolina Performing Arts.
