Born Forever, a new ballet featuring music from Fame - The Musical and its sequel, Fame Forever - Talent Springs Eternal, will make its television debut this Friday, January 6, 2012 on CUNY TV. The presentation, which was commissioned by Fame creator David De Silva for the Father Fame Foundation and includes a never-before-seen interview with ballet choreographer Jacqulyn Buglisi, will air at 7am, 1pm and 10:30pm. The program will be re-aired on Sunday, January 8 at 4:30pm.
The video special, which is produced and directed by Frank Basile, was created by Buglisi with members of Buglisi Dance Theatre. Jason Jordan and So Young An are the principal dancers who play the spirits of Schlomo and Carmen, characters in Fame - The Musical who return to their 20th high school reunion at New York’s High School of Performing Arts. Born Forever had its workshop performance in the spring of 2011 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.
“The theme of the ballet is one of reincarnation,” said De Silva, the man known as "Father Fame" who conceived and produced the classic MGM film Fame as well as Fame - The Musical and Fame Forever - Talent Spring Eternal, the two stage musicals inspired by it. “Life is eternal and our creative spirit never really dies.”
Buglisi Dance Theatre was founded in 1994 by four principal artists of the Martha Graham Dance Company. They have been honored with the American Dance Guild Award for Artistic Excellence and regularly perform both in New York and internationally.
Jason Jordan began his dance career at the age of seven when he won five dollars for being the best dancer at a Brooklyn house party. He has since danced with Feld Ballets/NY, Ballet Tech, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, Armitage Gone, Twyla Tharp, Ballet Noir, Gleich Dances, Rubberbandance, Cedar Lake, Peridance Ensemble, Battery Dance and 360 Degrees Dance Co. and, since 2005, with Buglisi Dance Theatre appearing in featured roles in Sand, Rain and Interplay No. 9-1.
So Young An received her BFA from Dong-Ah University. She is the recipient of the International Seoul Arts Award and the Grand Prize at the Korea National Ballet Grand Prix. She has danced with the Korea National Ballet, OBT, Duzl Dance and has performed works by Yuri Grigorovich, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Mats Ek. So Young joined Buglisi Dance Theatre in 2008, appearing at The Joyce in 2009 in Wild Mannequins & Wing Walkers, Interplay No. 9-1, and Suspended Women.
CUNY TV is the cable television station of The City University of New York. In New York City it can be viewed on channel 75.
About the Creators
David De Silva is known as Father Fame. He conceived and produced the classic 1980 MGM movie Fame and two stage musicals inspired by it: Fame – The Musical and Fame Forever - Talent Springs Eternal. He has also formed The Father Fame Foundation whose mission is to interactively promote the value of theatre arts in education and in life. FameNetwork.com
Steve Margoshes has composed and orchestrated for Broadway shows, symphony orchestras, pop music groups, and vocalists, including a large body of vocal works and "pops" symphonic music that have been extensively recorded. The symphonic works, recorded by the Budapest Symphony on Albany Records, in part feature Margoshes as piano soloist. His original score of Fame - The Musical (the inspirational show about the High School of Performing Arts) has been performed in twelve languages on every continent. Most recently, Steve composed the music for Fame Forever - Talent Springs Eternal, a musical that brings together the original characters to celebrate a twenty-year reunion. His varied orchestrating credits include Jim Steinman/Roman Polanski version of Dance of the Vampire, as well as many of the major Broadway rock scores: Tommy, Aida, Smokey Joe's Café, Grease (revival), Taboo, Good Vibrations and Big River. Steve has received two Drama Desk Awards for orchestrations. Steve is a graduate of Juilliard. stevemargoshes.com
Jacqulyn Buglisi – In her four-decade-long career as a choreographer, artistic director, dancer and master teacher, Buglisi has made an indelible impact on the field of contemporary dance. She is a prolific choreographer creating more than 65 ballets for BDT and commissioned worldwide including the NY Flamenco Festival, Madrid and NY City Center; Shankar Performing Arts Company, India; Shanghai Dance Ensemble, China; Richmond Ballet; North Carolina Dance Theatre, Ailey II; The Juilliard School, and the Martha Graham Dance Company, where, during her 30 year association with the company, she danced as a principal for 12 years and was featured on the nationally televised Kennedy Center Honors and film An Evening of Dance and Conversation with Martha Graham. Buglisi is Chair, Modern Department at The Ailey School, served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, the Martha Graham School, and the famed High School of Performing Arts, of which she is an alumna. Her many honors include the Fiorello LaGuardia Award for Excellence in the field of Dance, NEA creation grants, and Altria's Women Choreographer Initiative Award. Buglisi serves on Dance/USA's Board of Trustees as Chair, Artistic Director's Council.
