Cassandra Trenary & Michael Trusnovec Perform Molissa Fenley’s

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The performance will take place for one night only on Sunday, July 19 at 4pm.

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The Joyce Theater Foundation will present a one-night-only program of works by acclaimed choreographer Molissa Fenley, featuring State of Darkness and Bardo, on Sunday, July 19 at 4pmat The Joyce Theater ’s Tino & Rajika Puri Auditorium. The program of this Joyce Theater Production is performed by two singular artists: Cassandra Trenary, former Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, and Michael Trusnovec , former Principal Dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Tickets, ranging in price from $17–$92, including fees, are available online or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street in New York City.

In a rare and compelling pairing, choreographer Molissa Fenley reunites with two artists whose histories are deeply intertwined with her work, now meeting again at defining moments in their careers. For Cassandra Trenary, former Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, this performance marks both a homecoming and a send-off: a return to State of Darkness, performed at The Joyce in 2020, revisited in 2021, and performed at both The Chautauqua Institute and Fall for Dance in 2024, ahead of her appearance in the work at the Venice Biennale Danza 2026 immediately following this engagement. For Michael Trusnovec , former Principal Dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, returning to Fenley’s choreography after his acclaimed Joyce performances, Bardo offers a profound re-engagement with a choreographic voice that has long shaped his artistic life. Together, Fenley, Trenary, and Trusnovec anchor an evening that bridges past and future, legacy and reinvention, in two works that remain as urgent and physically exacting as when they were first created.

Originally commissioned by the American Dance Festival in 1988, State of Darkness is one of Fenley’s most iconic works, a relentless 35-minute solo set to Igor Stravinsky ’s Le Sacre du Printemps. The work has a significant history at The Joyce, where it was revived in 2020 for a new generation of dancers in the theater’s first live performances from its stage after the March 2020 shutdown, and then returned in 2021 for six live benefit performances welcoming audiences back inside the Chelsea venue. Trenary and Trusnovec were both among the artists selected for those Joyce presentations, each bringing a distinct interpretation to Fenley’s demanding solo.

Created in 1990 as an homage to artist Keith Haring, Bardo returns more than three decades after its premiere, which took place at Haring’s memorial service at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The work takes its title from the Tibetan concept describing the liminal state between death and rebirth, unfolding as a meditation on transition, memory, and transformation. Marked by a striking interplay of stillness and motion, Bardo evokes a space continually emptied and refilled, suggesting both absence and renewal.

Fenley’s connection to Haring dates back to their early artistic lives, when the two met in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, and later collaborated on the video work Video Clones in 1978. In Bardo, Fenley honors his legacy while grappling with loss, creating a work that is both personal and expansive in scope. Bardo was recently reconstructed and performed at the request of the NYCAIDS Memorial to commemorate the 35th year of Haring's Memorial, (May 4, 1990). Bardo features music by Somei Satoh, Mantra.

In Venice, Fenley will perform Bardo alongside Trenary’s State of Darkness, while also creating a new work for the Biennale Danza College. For this New York presentation, the role is taken on by Trusnovec, whose long relationship with Fenley’s choreography includes his acclaimed appearances in The Joyce’s 2020 and 2021 State of Darkness presentations. A Dance Magazine Award and Bessie Award recipient, he brings exceptional depth and clarity to this rare local performance.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Cassandra-Trenary-Michael-Trusnovec-to-Perform-STATE-OF-DARKNESS-and-BARDO-at-The-Joyce-20260511)._