SPECIAL COLLABORATION

Igal Perry, Founder and Artistic Director of Peridance Contemporary Dance Company and Peridance Center, is a world-renowned choreographer, ballet master, and dance educator. Mr. Perry's elegant choreography, often in collaboration with contemporary composers, has been described as "blessedly inventive" (Jennifer Dunning, NYTimes). 

His works have been set on prestigious companies and performed at renowned festivals including Florence Dance Festival and Invito Alla Danza (Italy), Batsheva and Bat-Dor Dance Companies and the Karmiel Dance Festival (Israel), Ailey II and Complexions Contemporary Ballet (NYC), Companhia de Danca de Lisboa (Portugal), and Alberta Ballet (Canada).   Born in Israel, Igal Perry began his dancing career with Karmon, a folk dance company. He later joined the Bat-Dor Dance Company, where he worked with leading teachers and choreographers including Alvin Ailey, Benjamin Harkarvy, John Butler, Rudi Van Dantzig, Inesse Alexandrov, Paul Sanasardo, and Lar Lubovitch. 

In 1983, he launched his dance school, Peridance Center, now one of New York City’s leading dance institutions. A year later he founded Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, for which he has choreographed over 50 works, with performances at BAM, The Joyce Theater, and City Center.  

Mr. Perry serves as guest faculty/choreographer at The Jacob's Pillow Festival, The Ailey School, and Marymount Manhattan College, The Juilliard School, Scapino Ballet, Het National Ballet (Holland), Laterna Magica and the National Ballet (Prague), Architanz (Tokyo), The Royal Ballet of Sweden and Balettakademien (Sweden), the National Ballet of China, and the Kwang-Ju City Ballet Company (Korea).

New York City's Peridance Contemporary Dance Company (PCDC), led by Founder and Artistic Director Igal Perry, has been a powerhouse of expressive and innovative dance since 1983. The Company made its New York City debut in 1985 at the Riverside Dance Festival, and over the next 40 years has held NY seasons at venues including the Joyce Theater, the Kaye Playhouse, Lincoln Center, and the KnJ Theater at Peridance, commissioning over 75 new dance works. 

Currently, the Company is based at the renowned Peridance Center in Union Square and presents an annual New York Season at the KnJ Theater at Peridance. In addition to Perry's signature works, described by the NY Times as "blessedly inventive," PCDC is passionate about commissioning and presenting works by both emerging and established choreographers in this annual season: Over the last decade, the Company has premiered new works by 21 choreographers, and, in line with Perry's commitment to commissioning new and live music for dance, the Company has employed over 48 musicians and composers. 

The Company's annual performances serve as a launchpad for new works and touring performances both nationally and internationally. In the past six years, PCDC's domestic and international tours have brought contemporary dance to over 48,000 audience members around the globe at festivals and venues such as Jacob's Pillow, the Ent Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs, Spring to Dance St. Louis, the Staller Center at Stonybrook University, the Butler Arts Center in Indianapolis, the Suzanne Dellal Dance Centre for Dance and Theater in Tel Aviv, Ballet Internacional de Buenos Aires, Florence Dance Festival, Seoul International Dance Festival, and many more.