Island Moving Co. Opens 31st Season at Rosecliff

Newport, RI’s contemporary ballet company,  opens its 31st season with performances at Rosecliff. 

A weekend of performances includes a Saturday evening performance of works from the repertory, Opening Connections, including the premiere of a new ballet by Mark Harootian, on Saturday, March 2.  The charming children’s ballet, Mother Goose at Rosecliff, will be presented on March 2 and March 3 at  3 p.m..  The weekend closes with a performance by Island Moving Co.’s Junior Companyat 6pm on Sunday, March 3rd.  Tickets are available at www.islandmovingco.org. 

Opening Connections at 7 p.m. on March 2 celebrates the future of the Company with an evening of works from the repertory, including dances by Artistic Director Miki Ohlsen and a new ballet by Providence choreographer Mark Harootian, at on Saturday evening at 7pm. 

In the Beginning, danced to music by Vivaldi, is a ballet inspired by a quote from physicist Brian Cox: “We are the cosmos made conscious and life is the means by which the universe understands itself.”  The program also includes Pheremone, choreographed byCompany member Shane Farrell.

The Opening Connections evening includes a celebration toast and intermission hors d’oeuvres and drinks catered by Blackstone Caterers.

On Saturday and Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., the dancers, joined by a children’s cast, will perform Mother Goose at Rosecliff, a lively retelling of the familiar nursery rhymes using movement and live music. 

Audience members will be led by a minstrel and the effervescent Mother Goose herself through the spectacular rooms of Rosecliff for an interactive and entertaining performance for children as young as three.  IMC dancers will perform Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, Little Miss Muffett and more, including a new piece, Sing a Song of Sixpence. 

The Company is joined by musician Naseer Ashraf and Newport actress and educator Lisa Reimer overseeing the action and reciting the familiar rhymes as Mother Goose. Would you like the chance to dance with The Old Woman from France? That and more could happen to you at Mother Goose at Rosecliff.

On Sunday evening, March 3 at 6 p.m., Island Moving Co.’s Junior Company takes the stage for their spring performance, Make (Me) Believe.  The 35 young dancers of the Junior Company will present work choreographed especially for them by Chrissy Korney, Island Moving Co. dancer Christine Sandorfi and JuniorCompany Director Danielle Genest.  Tickets to the Junior Company’s performance are $20 for adults and $10 for students and seniors and are available at www.islandmovingco.org.

Tickets for Mother Goose are $25 for adults; $15 for children under 12.  For Opening Connections, tickets begin at $80 and include a celebration toast and a Blackstone-catered intermission with cash bar.  Sponsorships for the evening are also available.  To purchase tickets to Mother Goose at Rosecliff or the Opening Connections show, visit www.newportmansions.org.  Information is also available by calling 401 847-4470.  Rosecliff is located at 548 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI.