The Knickerbocker Suite December 4, 2010

Manhattan Movement & Arts Center presents The Knickerbocker Suite on December 4 at 2 and 7pm, and December 5 at 2 and 6pm, at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, 248 W. 60th Street, NYC (between 10th and 11th). Tickets are $35 for adults and $20 for students. Tickets are available by visiting manhattanmovement.com/calendar.

The Knickerbocker Suite features New York City landmarks, such as The Statue of Liberty, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and NY sports teams, weaved into the time-honored holiday tale of "The Nutcracker". Classic "Nutcracker" scenes like “The Land of the Snow” will be transformed to a snowy frenzy of shoppers dancing in and out of stores like Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s for last minute gifts, while “The Land of Sweets” will be accompanied by street vendors and roasted chestnuts. Perhaps one of the more well-known scenes, “Mother Ginger and her Polichinelles,” will be played by the Statue of Liberty and dancing immigrants who just arrived from Ellis Island.

The piece is a true collaboration between former dancers of the New York City Ballet; Rose Caiola, executive artistic director of Manhattan Movement & Arts Center; and noteworthy artist Elliott Arkin, whose sculptures have been seen in galleries and museums around the world. They are currently in several permanent collections, including the Louvre Museum’s Musee des Arts Decoratifs and the New York Public Library. Arkin’s solo exhibitions have garnered reviews in publications such as the Village Voice and Art in America, and he has created work for numerous fundraising projects, including the New York City Ballet’s anti-AIDS campaign; Muhammad Ali’s World Healing Project; The Nelson Mandela Foundation Project for Human Rights and Amnesty International. In keeping with his refusal to adhere to traditional hierarchies, Arkin has also spearheaded several art-entrepreneurial projects while his sculptures made as cartoonist-in-residence for artnet.com have gained a large following and are collected by prominent curators, critics and artists, including Robert Storr and Maurizio Cattelan. He is currently working on “Mister Artsee,” an ice-cream truck turned mobile art laboratory. Noted art critic Charlie Finch is co-writer of the verse with Mr. Arkin.

“Knickerbocker Suite whisks the audience away into a world of dance, music and holiday spirit. It has all of the classic music from the original "Nutcracker", but also allows the audience to become enthralled in the excitement of New York City – the Macy’s Day Parade, Rockefeller Center, street performers and Central Park covered in snow,” said Francois Perron, Managing Artistic Director of Manhattan Youth Ballet.