"Left Hand"
Left Hand was created by Drew Jacoby at Orsolina 28 in April 2019. The work premiered at the International Ballet Star Gala in Taipei, Taiwan in May 2019. The piece was set to Chopin’s Opus 25: No. 7.
A piece that is unlike the composer’s typical display of technical virtuosity, this étude focuses instead on perfect sound and phrasing, particularly for the left hand. To add a layer of futurism and mystery to the composition, Jacoby commissioned composer and sound designer, Nicholas Robert Thayer, to weave modern synthetic sounds into the original piano piece, enhancing ambience and depth. Exploring the concept of left handedness and it’s negative stigma in society, the dancer is alienated, and almost alien like in her signature quirky movement.
Biography
Drew Jacoby was born in Boise, Idaho (USA) in 1984. She studied at the School of American Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet.
She has performed work from a wide range of choreographers including George Balanchine, Jiri Kylián, William Forsythe, Maurice Bejart, Pina Bausch, and Jean Christophe Maillot and had works created on her by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon, Crystal Pite, Edouard Lock, Christopher Wheeldon, Marco Goecke, and Alonzo King. Her professional career began with Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet in 2002.
In 2005 she was invited to join Sylvie Guillem’s Japan tour, performing alongside dancers from The Royal Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet. In 2008 she founded her own company based in New York, Jacoby and Pronk, which toured to venues such as Jacob’s Pillow, Belgrade Dance Festival, and Holland Dance Festival. While in NYC, she also danced with Christopher Wheeldon’s Morphoses. In 2012 Drew joined Nederlands Dans Theater, before joining Royal Ballet of Flanders as a principal dancer in 2015. In 2016 she collaborated on a video with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and musical/visual artist Woodkid in Paris. In 2018 she was nominated for a Benois de la Danse award for her performance in Pina Bausch’s Cafe Muller.