Professional dance company Nimbus Dance will return to The Putney School for an 11th season, where they will perform a major work as well as a piece with Putney students. They will take the stage Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Calder Hall.

In the first piece, The New Tide, noted choreographer Dawn Marie Bazmore brings to life a visionary new work exploring the iconic 1940s-50s era photography of Gordon Parks, incorporated as part of the scenic design for the work, and set to the transcendent music of the legendary Sam Cooke. Drawing on the insight, implicit activism, and universality of these giants of 20th century American culture, the performance is rooted in history, storytelling, and just plain irresistible dancing!

Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, & the Gordon Parks Foundation, The New Tide will be shown in preview at The Putney School followed by its premiere at the Nimbus Arts Center in March 2023.

In the second piece, Spring, Putney students will perform with Nimbus Dance professionals who, leading up to the show, have been teaching master classes and providing valuable insight on the inner workings of a professional dance company.

Commissioned and premiered as part of New Jersey Symphony’s 100th Anniversary Season in October 2022, Spring, choreographed by Nimbus Founding Artistic Director Samuel Pott, honors Martha Graham’s seminal Appalachian Spring (1944). Pott conveys notions of American hope and optimism embedded in Aaron Copeland’s vibrant and iconic score, expressing a contemporary perspective on the continuity of spirit through cyclones of seasons in nature and through generations of Americans.

This year marks Nimbus Dance’s 11-year anniversary of its partnership with The Putney School. The company has previewed many of their most acclaimed dances at Calder Hall, and collaborates closely with Director of Dance Jessica Batten, a former Nimbus Dance professional.

“The Dance Program at the Putney School is excited,” Batten has said, “to continue our long relationship with Nimbus Dance who have brought their incredible, diverse group of artists to our school to perform, teach and choreograph on our students and incubate new work.”