One of Rochester’s greatest jazz events this year is happening a few blocks from the festival, behind closed studio doors at Garth Fagan Dance.
Tony winning choreographer Garth Fagan is starting to put together a new dance.
He knows what it’s going to look like, at least in broad strokes. But he doesn’t know what it’s going to sound like yet. That’s because he’s asked a friend of his to write an original piece for the dance. The friend is Grammy winning jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, and he’s not finished yet.
The pair has worked together before - but that was 20 years ago. Garth says he’s in the lead on this one. He says last time Wynton came armed with a whole score, then saw the dance and ripped it up. He sat down and started over right on the spot.
The result was one of Fagan’s most well-known dances - Griot New York. He’ll be bringing that back for this year’s season opener at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in September. And that’s where he’ll unveil the new piece he’s working on now - with his dancers on stage and Marsalis down in the orchestra pit.
Marsalis is expected to come to Rochester this summer to work in the studio with Fagan and his dancers, but he’s not expected to be on hand when the dancers perform the work at Nazareth College in November. Audiences here will get the recorded version.