April 23-25: New York Premiere of Rising Presented by CUNY Dance Initiative at Baruch Performing Arts Center – Featuring GRAMMY-Nominated Neave Trio, Pigeonwing Dance, and Music by Robert Sirota
Photo of Rising by Jeremy Kyle Gruner available in high resolution here.
Rising has New York Premiere
Choreography by Gabrielle Lamb and Music by Robert Sirota
Performed by Pigeonwing Dance and the Neave Trio
Presented by CUNY Dance Initiative at Baruch Performing Arts Center
April 23, 24, 25, 2026 at 7pm
Baruch Performing Arts Center | 55 Lexington Ave | NYC
Tickets and Information
NeaveTrio.com | PigeonwingDance.com | www.RobertSirota.com
New York, NY – On April 23, 24, 25, 2026 at 7pm at Baruch Performing Arts Center, CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI) presents the New York premiere performances of Rising –– an evening-length dance work featuring a score by composer Robert Sirota and choreography by Gabrielle Lamb, performed by Lamb’s company Pigeonwing Dance and the Neave Trio. The performances are the culmination of Lamb’s residency with CDI this spring.
Dances about water –– rivers and oceans –– are among the oldest human forms of expression; but in this time of climate change and rising sea levels, Rising takes on much more heightened significance. An exploration of our connection to Earth's oceans, Rising intertwines Robert Sirota's emotive, lyrical music, performed live by the GRAMMY-nominated Neave Trio, with Gabrielle Lamb's evocative and articulate choreography for her chamber company, Pigeonwing Dance. The score includes recorded text from oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer (Flotsametrics and the Floating World) and naturalist Craig Foster (My Octopus Teacher). Rising was developed over three years with the Neave Trio, who selected both the composer and choreographer. The musicians and dancers, who perform together onstage, shaped the work's vision.
The artists wish to bring attention to the impacts of climate change and rising sea levels on marine ecosystems, while leaving space for the hope that, in the words of naturalist Craig Foster, “we can all learn to walk a little more lightly on this planet.”
Of his score for Rising, Robert Sirota says, “There is nothing more essential to our survival than the preservation of our oceans and the tenuous balances that foster life on earth. Collaborating on this major work with the extraordinary choreographer Gabrielle Lamb and the brilliant Neave Trio has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my life. I think that together, we have made a useful contribution to the conversation.”
Gabrielle Lamb describes Rising’s choreography and its connection to the images of its oceanic theme: “A single dancer is onstage, moving to spoken text by an oceanographer describing oceanic gyres. Words give way to the piano’s rippling arpeggios, and more dancers enter with sinuous oscillations suggestive of sea creatures. Soon, their five bodies combine into fluent living sculptures. Eye contact connects dancers, transforming abstract movement into human interaction and hinting at multiple interrelated stories.”
Rising premiered on September 27, 2024 at Oregon State University as a co-presentation by the Patricia Valian Reser Center for Art and Creativity (PRAx) and the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Rising was made possible by a commissioning grant from the O'Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, with additional support from Ballet Vero Beach, the Riverside Dance Festival, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the Arts Center at Governors Island.
About the Artists
Robert Sirota: www.robertsirota.com
Gabrielle Lamb: www.pigeonwingdance.com/gabrielle
Pigeonwing Dance: pigeonwingdance.com
Neave Trio: www.neavetrio.com
For Calendar Editors:
Description: CUNY Dance Initiative presents the New York premiere performances of Rising, an exploration of our connection to Earth's oceans intertwining Robert Sirota's emotive, lyrical music, performed live by the GRAMMY-nominated Neave Trio, with Gabrielle Lamb's evocative and articulate choreography for her chamber company, Pigeonwing Dance.
Performance details:
What: Rising
Who: Choreographer Gabrielle Lamb, Composer Robert Sirota, Pigeonwing Dance, and the Neave Trio
Presented by CUNY Dance Initiative
When: April 23, 24, 25, 2026 at 7pm
Where: Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Ave (25th Street between Lexington and Third Aves) , New York, NY 10010
Tickets and Information: https://ci.ovationtix.com/36688/production/1265274