Koresh Dance Company
“emotionally direct, physically intense, and ostentatiously eccentric”— The New Yorker
September 7th | 2 pm Matinee | Pulaski Technical College
The Center for Humanities & Arts (CHARTS)
3300 W. Scenic Dr., North Little Rock
Artistic director and choreographer Ronen Koresh – known for inventive choreography that is at once tender yet passionate, humorous and rhythmic – takes us on a fantastical adventure with a program created especially for Arkansas audiences. Accompanied onstage at times by composer and operatic soprano Sage DeAgro-Ruopp, the dance company’s superb precision and dazzling mastery of ballet, modern and jazz promise an unforgettable performance of both the familiar and the new. www.koreshdance.org
“Koresh’s choreography is full of fluid strength and controlled dynamism. He knows how to handle the full company of dancers without movement or person feeling extraneous.”
RONEN KORESH
CHOREOGRAPHER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Ronen (Roni) Koresh was born and raised in Israel. He received early dance training from his mother, a folk dancer in the Yemenite tradition, and from teachers Alida Gera, Micha Deri, Nira Paz and Moshe Romano. Koresh joined Martha Graham’s Batsheva 2 Dance Company before enlisting for 3 years in the Israeli army. In 1983, he moved to New York to study with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He began performing with Shimon Braun’s Waves Jazz Dance Company in Philadelphia, and in 1991, founded Koresh Dance Company in Philadelphia, followed by the Koresh School of Dance in 1993. Koresh has established a repertoire of over 60 works and develops 2 to 3 new works each year. These have included commissions for the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Giordano Dane Chicago, GroundWorks Dance Theatre, Las Vegas Contemporary, Odyssey Dance Theatre, Spectrum Dance Theater, the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, Dance Celebration, the dancers of MADCO (commissioned for St. Louis’ New Dance Horizons series), Point Park University, Jacksonville University, East Carolina University, and Giordano Dance Chicago, as well as mentoring students at performing arts high schools across the country. Koresh had been on the faculty at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts for 30 years since 1986, teaches master classes across the country, and participates in festivals including Jacob’s Pillow and the Northwest National Dance Project. Recipient of a Philadelphia dance community Rocky Award from FringeArts and Dance/USA Philadelphia, Koresh is an avid collaborator and supporter of emerging artists. His interdisciplinary works have been supported by multi-year fellowships and grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome Robbins Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
He is a voting member of the Recording Academy, better known for its annual Grammy Awards, and is the artistic visionary behind the DSQ Electric ensemble. He holds a graduate degree in Music Performance from Southern Methodist University. A native of Romania, Ion hails from a long lineage of musicians. He currently resides in Dallas with his wife, Estera, and his son Julian.
SAGE DEAGRO-RUOPP
COLLABORATOR & SOPRANO
American soprano Sage DeAgro-Ruopp has been praised for transfixing her audiences with her “combination of subtlety and burgeoning eroticism” (DC Theater Arts), as well as bringing to her roles “strong credentials and splendid vocal flexibility” (Cleveland Classical). Sage holds a Diploma from the Oberlin Conservatory along with a Bachelors and Masters degree from the Curtis Institute of Music where she held the Gianna Rolandi fellowship.
During her time at Curtis, Sage debuted roles such as Mellisande (Impressions of Pelleas), Monica (The Medium), and Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia). In addition to mainstage performances she has performed in concerts across the country with Curtis on Tour and was featured in a Curtis Symphony Orchestra concert of Mozart opera ensembles under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. At both Oberlin and Curtis Sage has performed as a soloist with the contemporary and early music ensembles. Sage has appeared in concert with the Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey, the Water Island Music Festival, and has an upcoming performance with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.
Alongside traditional operatic practices Sage composes and produces music electronically as well as for live performance. Her compositions defy one genre and integrate different rhythms, harmonies, and cultural influences to create imaginative and contrasting worlds of sound, intended to be brought to life by dance. Sage is a 2022 Astral Artist competition winner and based in Philadelphia where she continues her work as a singer, a composer, and collaborative artist.