Emily Carson Coates The Scattering, or the light (working title)
When, in 1933, Lincoln Kirstein recruited choreographer George Balanchine to move to America to lead the faculty of his fledgling School of American Ballet, it was not based in New York City. It was in Hartford. The studio relocated to Manhattan the next year and remains the official school of the New York City Ballet.
Dancer and choreographer Emily Coates’ new performance project sources Balanchine's brief history in Connecticut to reflect on how the body and spirit of a choreographer scatters, living on in unexpected places. She draws upon her background as a former member of New York City Ballet, and working with Ain Gordon (direction and dramaturgy), Derek Lucci (performer), Charles Burnham (musician-composer), and Melvin Chen (pianist), Coates and her collaborators collage misplaced and overlooked archival traces and transmissions of Balanchine and related artists into a new whole.
In this intimate performance experience, the audience will be seated on stage with the artists.
Emily Carson Coates has danced with New York City Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, Twyla Tharp Dance, and Yvonne Rainer. She teaches at Yale University, where she has directed the dance studies concentration since its inception in 2006.
Scheduled to premiere at Works & Process at the Guggenheim in fall 2025, The Scattering, or the light (working title) is commissioned by Works & Process. The iterative development has included a Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at The Church (2025) in Sag Harbor, home to George Balanchine’s grave. The project will continue to be supported with a Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at the Catskill Mountain Foundation in Hunter, New York. Additional developmental support is provided by the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, and New England Foundation for the Arts Dance Fund. The Scattering was created in part during a residency at the Pillow Lab at Jacob’s Pillow, with additional support from the O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation.