Photos: Joshua Beamish And MOVETHECOMPANY Present @GISELLE

Choreographer Joshua Beamish and MOVETHECOMPANY gave New York audiences a modern reimagining of the beloved classic ballet romance, Giselle.

This technology-driven, contemporary reinvention, titled @giselle, featured Betsy McBride (ABT), performing the title role of Giselle; Harrison James (National Ballet of Canada), dancing the role of Albrecht; Sterling Baca, (Philadelphia Ballet) as Hilarion; Fangqi Li (ABT) as Bathilde, and Beverley Bagg as Berthe, as well as all-star ensemble.

Joanna Fisher sponsored an opening night reception in partnership with Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA). Guests included Joseph Doherty, Richard Feldman, Darrell George, Joe Hickey, ABT's Catherine Hurlin, Denise Hurlin, Loretta Lachner, Jim McConnell, Elizabeth O'Keefe, Rajika Puri, Josh Prince, Yolanda Santos Garza, Irene Shen, Catherine Scheinman, Larissa Saveliev, and Barbara Tober. As a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, DRA supports the essential programs of The Entertainment Community Fund, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative and The Dancers' Resource, as well as more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide.

Beamish directed and choreographed @giselle to explore connections between the original classical ballet and our modern understandings of love, sex, and relationships in a world filled with dating apps, social media, and fleeting encounters. He shared, "@giselle is a careful examination of the evaporation of romance in our culture, and the isolation, narcissism, and lack of accountability that social networks have fueled. By reimagining this story with motion capture technologies and a social media framework, I want to challenge audiences to consider the ways technology is changing the very nature of modern love and relationships."

@giselle opened May 18, co-presented by The CUNY Dance Initiative and The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College. More information at www.joshuabeamish.com.

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