Our 2008-2009 season will close with four ballets by Miro Magloire and Lauren Toole, including two world premieres.

The music of Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino sets the tone for Magloire's two new ballets, and what a tone it is: from some of the softest sounds ever heard at our performances to some of the most majestic.

The composer's Capriccio for solo violin is a tour the force that is at times barely audible; in Magloire's setting, a dancer (Lauren Toole) will perform an equally intricate solo - perilously close to the violinist on stage.

The Second Sonata, on the other hand, is a wild ride of a piano piece, to which Magloire choreographed a restless, majestic trio - "furioso!"

Lauren Toole's ballet Cascade, which premiered last September, will receive its long-awaited repeat performance, with new company dancer Alan Alberto (see article below) joining the cast. Set to a violin sonata by Hindemith, this fast-paced quartet skillfully embraces the music's ever-changing moods.

Miro Magloire's Echoes will complete the program, a ballet in which Anton Webern's ultra-short Pieces for Violin and Piano figure like brief islands of sound resonating in a sea of silent choreography for the entire company.

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During the current rehearsal period, company member Lauren Toole (photo) is wearing two hats. As a choreographer, she is restaging her ballet Cascade, which premiered last fall. As a dancer, she will perform in Echoes and in a new solo Magloire is creating for her to music by Salvatore Sciarrino.

Unusual music , like the whispering sounds of Sciarrino's violin Caprices, doesn't faze Toole. "The way that I dance is a physical manifestation of the emotional response that the music elicits from me," she says.

An avid art fan, Toole draws inspiration from paintings or sculpture. "There are four canvasses by Kandinsky, entitled Panels for Edwin R. Campbell 1-4," she explains. "In their abstraction they are overflowing with excitement and vibrancy. This is just like dancing - energy and attack that is funneled into a controlled and precise movements."

This quality of Toole's dancing - Pointe Magazine's Elizabeth McPherson once described her as moving "with explosive force, yet subtle control" - has served her well at New York City Ballet, the Berlin Staatsballett and Los Angeles Ballet. And now at New Chamber Ballet, where she is thriving in the individuality the company encourages: "I am very interested in the role that dancers play as an intermediary between the choreographer and the audience. It's a difficult balance to achieve - how much are we servants of the choreography, and how much should we offer our own interpretation of the choreographer's intentions?"

Last summer, sidelined by an injury, she had the opportunity to examine this question from a different angle. She choreographed Cascade for NCB's season opening performance, a ballet that combines high velocity choreography with a calm demeanor. Not surprisingly, the ballet was an audience favorite. In the NY Times, Alastair Macaulay called it "an attentive response to Hindemith's sonata... [the choreographer] indicates much of the music's power."

Nine months later, the ballet is back for the company's season finale. And Toole the choreographer will for the first time share the stage with Toole the performer - subtle control and explosive force.

In August, NCB dancers Emily SoRelle Adams and Lauren Toole will head to Bermuda to perform at the Mid-Ocean Amphitheater. The occasion: Bermuda's Mambo Nights, a four-day festival of Latin dancing.

NCB will become the first ballet company to appear at the festival, with two short works by Miro Magloire, choreographed for the occasion to traditional Venezuelan music. The performances are on August 14 and 15, at the Fairmont Southampton Mid-Ocean Amphitheater.

Roslyn Sulcas reviewed NCB's March performance in the New York Times. Describing the performances, she pointed out that the company "is consistently able to offer new work, performed by an excellent, dedicated band of dancers and musicians."

After discussing the two world premieres, Echoes ("the mood is contemplative, the alternation of music and dance an interesting touch") and Two ("...suggests Ms. Lohse's gifts for creating theatrical atmosphere"), Sulcas closes with this appeal: "What might [Magloire] do with a full orchestra, a lighting designer, a real theater? Someone should give him the chance to find out."

We agree.

Unexpected change is one of the few constants in dance. A few weeks ago our long time company member Damien Johnson was given an opportunity which required him to move to London in literally a matter of days (see "The Buzz" below). In his place, Alan Alberto (photo) will join NCB for the upcoming performances, taking over Damien's role in the ballet Cascade.

Alan, who hails from Miami, received his training at the Harid Conservatory. He continued his training at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St Petersburg, Russia. After graduating, he joined Nashville Ballet under Paul Vasterling. He moved to New York City last fall, and we are delighted to welcome him at NCB!

Scheduling quirks have given us the opportunity to work with four different, equally wonderful violinists this year. In our June performances, it will be the turn of Miranda Cuckson.

"A brilliant young performer who plays daunting contemporary music with insight, honesty, and temperament," is how Anthony Tommasini described her in a recent NY Times review - and we wholeheartedly agree. A "fiercely gifted" (TimeOut NY) musician, she has collaborated with major composers like Elliott Carter, John Adams and Salvatore Sciarrino, whose Caprices for solo violin she will perform in our performance.

Miranda received her doctorate from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Robert Mann, Dorothy DeLay, and Felix Galimir. She has appeared internationally as soloist with many orchestras, including her 2008 debut with the Jerusalem Symphony, and made her recital debut at Carnegie Hall as winner of the Presser Award. A passionate champion of new music, she is involved in groups including the Argento Chamber Ensemble, ACME, and Sequitur, has made four solo CDs for Centaur Records with music by Ralph Shapey, Donald Martino and Ross Lee Finney.

A fortnight before NCB's season finale, Artistic Director Miro Magloire and Elizabeth Brown will be on a plane to Lake Tahoe, CA, for a special occasion. Former company member Christin Hanna recently founded Tahoe Youth Ballet (photo), which will launch with a performance on June 13th in Tahoe City, and Brown and Magloire will both perform.

Tahoe Youth Ballet grew out of NCB's Lake Tahoe Project, which Hanna initiated, and is now a self-sustained youth ensemble. For the opening program, the young dancers will tackle Magloire's Preludes (to music by J.S. Bach) and Deborah Lohse's Just Holding On (created for NCB in 2006, and here performed with Brown as a guest soloist and Magloire playing Phillip Glass' score live.) More collaborative projects are planned for the future - stay tuned.

Here's what New Chamber Ballet's artists have been up to since the last show:

Damien Johnson was offered a contract with Ballet Black in London, prompting him to pack his bags virtually overnight and head to the UK. Congratulations, and we miss you!... Company member Emery LeCrone choreographed a ballet for the Columbia Ballet Collaborative, which premiered at NYC's Miller Theater and received a rave review in the NY Times. Since the piece was nominated for the Joyce Theater's A.W.A.R.D.S Festival in June, on the weekend of our season finale, Emery will not perform with us this time - but we will root for her from afar... Filling in for Emery will be Amy Brandt (photo), who previously performed with us in 2006... Back to the choreographers: Deborah Lohse recently premiered a full length work, Her, at the Joyce SoHo. Loosely based on her most recent creation for NCB, Two, the ballet featured a riveting performance by Candice Thompson (also known as our inspired costume designer) ... On the West Coast, pianist Melody Fader played a recital at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with violinist Mac Kim, and a trio concert in Saratoga, CA... Meanwhile, Emily SoRelle Adams performed here in NYC with Rebecca Kelly Ballet... And finally, violinist Erik Carlson, who is still busy performing around the country, will be back with us for our September performances.

Yes, the economy, the economy, and always the economy - and here we are asking for your money! Why? Ticket sales still cover only about 20% of the costs of each performance. Since long before the current financial woes we have aimed to keep our costs as low as possible. But some costs are unavoidable: rehearsal studio fees (a big item here in the city), performance space fees, music royalties, performer fees, printing costs, costuming and costume maintenance, sheet music costs, stamps, banking fees, advance ticket sale fees, PR costs...

All of these items are just bare necessities to produce our no-frills performances. Instead of cutting back, we try to perform more to keep our art alive and you, our audience, happy. Not an easy task, and we can only do it with your help! Please take a moment to go to our website and find out how you can support our work...