ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´

ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts features an internationally recognized dance ensemble and an important jazz trio appearing in back-to-back performances this weekend. At 8 p.m., Friday, October 4, t he Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, founded by one of America’s most versatile, popular and highly acclaimed choreographers, performs. There is also a post-performance discussion with Artistic Director Lar Lubovitch. The next night, three of the most important female instrumentalists in the jazz world today, Geri Allen on piano, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, and Esperanza Spalding on bass and vocals, perform as ACS: Allen, Carrington, Spalding , at 8 p.m., Saturday , October 5.

Over the past 45 years, the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company has gained an international reputation as one of America’s top dance companies. Founded by renowned choreographer Lar Lubovitch in 1968, the New York City-based company has created more than 100 new dances and performed throughout the United States and in more than 30 foreign countries.‌ Known for its radiant, highly technical choreography and deeply humanistic voice, Mr. Lubovitch’s work is renowned for its musicality, rhapsodic style and sophisticated formal structures. The Company consists of Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Jonathan E. Alsberry, Attila Joey Csiki, Brian McGinnis, Laura Rutledge, Nicole Corea, Reed Luplau, Clifton Brown, and Anthony Bocconi. Pictued: the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company in "Crisis Variations." Dancers: Katarzyna Skarpetowska and Brian McGinnis. (Photo by Paula Lobo).

The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company ’s program at the Quick Center features new choreography as well as pieces from throughout the company’s history. These include “Two Duets,” consisting of “The Time Before the Time After” (1969), the first duet created by the choreographer one year after the inception of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, and a new work, “Vez” (2013), which is a reimagining of an earlier duet entitled “Fandango,” originally created in 1989 to the accompaniment of Ravel’s “Bolero,” presented now with reinvented choreography and a newly commissioned score by Randall Woolf. Other works on the program include: “Crisis Variations” (2011), a suite for five players based on Franz Liszt’s “Transcendental Etudes” for piano and “Transparent Things”(2012),  inspired by Pablo Picasso’s 1905 painting "Family of Saltimbanques," with music by Claude Debussy. Tickets are $45, $35, and $30 .

Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington and Esperanza Spalding formed ACS: Allen, Carrington, Spalding , after working together on Terri Lyne Carrington Carrington’s GRAMMY ^® Award -winning album “The Mosaic Project.”

Geri Allen ‌‌‌‌‌‌ is an internationally recognized composer, pianist, and educator, who has been recording and performing for over 30 years. She has released a number of recordings under her own name, most recently, the critically acclaimed “Timeless Portraits and Dreams.” She is a 2008-2009 Guggenheim Fellow for Musical Composition. She is also a graduate of Howard University where she later served as Assistant Professor of Music. She also holds a master's degree in ethnomusicology from The University of Pittsburgh. Professor Allen is an active jazz educator. She currently teaches at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance as an Associate Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation.

‌American drummer Terri Lyne Carrington (pictured, center) has been at the top of the music industry for almost 25 years. After an extensive touring career, she was recently appointed professor at her alma mater, Berklee College of Music. She also received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 2003. She has performed on many recordings throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s thru today, and “ The Mosaic Project” from 2011, marked her fifth recording overall. Earlier this year, she issued “ Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue ,” her much-anticipated homage to Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach, to coincide with the 50 ^th anniversary of the release of their iconic 1963 “ Money Jungle” album.

Bassist, vocalist and composer Esperanza Spalding , (pictured, right) in one of the most startling achievements in jazz history, captured the world’s attention when she was named Best New Artist at the 53rd Annual GRAMMY ^® Awards. At 16, Spalding left high school and enrolled in the music program at Portland State University on scholarship. Shortly thereafter, she transferred her talents to the Berklee College of Music, and following three years of accelerated study, she not only earned a B.M., but also signed on as an instructor in 2005 at the age of 20, making her the youngest faculty member in the history of the college. A gifted composer with a hypnotic voice, Spalding stretches the boundaries of jazz and continues her evolution with her latest release of “Radio Music Society,” a 2012 recording filled with funky, contemporary original material.

Tickets are $55, $40, $30. The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is located on the campus of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´. Tickets are available through the Quick Center Box Office: (203) 254-4010, or toll-free 1-877-ARTS-396.  (1-877-278-7396).  Tickets can also be purchased online at