The Elgin Theatre in New York city, was a popular movie house in the 1940’s. When the venue located at Eighth Avenue and 38th Street began to change, from the revival movies towards a more questionable list of movies, more “adult” in content and nature, the community closed it down. In the early 1980’s, this building became home to the Joyce Theatre Foundation. Two years of renovations were necessary, to create the one of the most premiere and elegant venues for performances of not only more than three hundred dance companies throughout the city, and throughout the world, but one that supports and offers performance spaces to theatre productions and musical performances as well.
With just 472 seats, the theatre is the perfect venue for the smaller, and not quite well known companies. The mission of the Foundation has been to support and to serve the community of dance, as well as all of the performing arts, and promote the variety and the richness, allowing the companies to fully express themselves artistically, and allowing more opportunity for the people of the community the exposure to this world as never before. Hugh Hardy was the architect responsible for the building’s transformation. He expanded on the Art Deco theme of the building, and totally gutted and redesigned the inside of the theatre, from the dressing rooms to the stage to the seats in the auditorium.
This beautiful renovation inspired other projects of renewal in the neighborhood, such as the redesigning and rebuilding of many of the restaurants, apartment buildings, and some of the finest boutique hotels in Manhattan. The theatre brings together the cultural mix of the neighborhood, as well as the mix and the appreciation of that diversity through the various and different companies that have performed there over the last thirty years. Classical performances celebrating tradition, and more cutting edge performances celebrating this new and modern age are some of the shows you can expect to find. Should you be traveling through the city in 2010, some of the works you will have the chance to see are those by Bill T. Jones, Pacific Northwest Ballet Company, the John Jasperse Company, and the Lyon Opera Ballet. And true to many of the arts foundations in the city, The Joyce Theatre hosts forums and many educational programs. Stop by the Joyce this year, and enjoy the dance!
