In Performance: The Hikers

On the occasion of Rashid Johnson’s exhibition, 'The Hikers’, Hauser & Wirth New York will also stage 'The Hikers' performances within the gallery space. Directed by Rashid Johnson, Choreographed by Claudia Schreier, and Produced by Alex Ernst this work responds to Johnson’s ‘Anxious Men’ series. In the performance are Lloyd Knight and Leslie Andrea Williams, members of the Martha Graham Dance Company and pianist Antonie Baldwin. The performance will take place on the 2nd floor of the gallery in the exhibition space.Antoine Baldwin is an American film music composer, pianist, and songwriter. Antoineʼs work can described as containing elements of American, European and African music influences. Lloyd Knight was born in England and reared in Miami. He has a BFA from the New World School of the Arts under Artistic Director Daniel Lewis. Mr. Knight joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2005 and was promoted to Soloist in 2009 and Principal in 2014. He has had ballets choreographed on him by Nacho Duato twice, Andonis Foniadakis, Larry Keigwin, Doug Varone, Lar Lubovitch, Kyle Abraham, Liz Gerring, Michelle Dorrance, Anne Bogart, Pontus Linberg, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Pam Tanowitz and Mats Ek. ‘Dance Magazine’ named Mr. Knight as one of the “Top 25 Dancers to Watch” in 2010. He partnered with New York City Ballet Principal Wendy Whelan in Ms. Graham's "Moon Duet" and with American Ballet Theatre's Principal Misty Copeland in a Graham duet from "Letter to the World". He was picked Best Performer of 2015 by ‘Dance Magazine.’ He is currently a guest Principal artist for The Royal Ballet of Flanders. Claudia Schreier has choreographed for dance, opera and film across the U.S. and internationally. She has been commissioned by Dance Theatre of Harlem, Atlanta Ballet, Vail Dance Festival, ABT Studio Company, Joffrey Winning Works, and New York Choreographic Institute. Her upcoming premieres include a new work for Miami City Ballet’s 35 th anniversary season. Schreier served as choreographer for Juilliard Opera’s Dido and Aeneas and as co-artistic director for the production’s London and Versailles tour. Claudia Schreier & Company made its Joyce Theater debut in 2017 and is the subject of the documentary Sixth Position. Schreier has served as artistic associate and rehearsal director to Juilliard President Damian Woetzel on projects at the White House, Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis, New York City Center, Aspen Institute, and the Kennedy Center, including the 2017 Kennedy Center Honors. She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award, Toulmin Fellowship at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, NEFA National Dance Project Award, Lotos Prize, and Suzanne Farrell Dance Prize. Schreier was a TEDx speaker at Columbia University in 2018. She received her B.A. from Harvard University. Prior to The Hikers opening at Hauser & Wirth in New York City, her live performance and film collaboration with Rashid Johnson was exhibited at the Aspen Art Museum and Museo Tamayo in Mexico City. Leslie Andrea Willaims was born in Newport News, VA and raised in Raleigh, NC. She graduated from The Juilliard School in May 2015 and two months later she began dancing for the Martha Graham Dance Company. Since her first season with the company, Leslie has had the privilege of touring the world. She has been featured in numerous lead Graham roles, most recently as the lead in ‘Chronicle’. She is the first Black woman in the history of the company to dance this iconic role. Her dancing has been described in ‘The New York Times’ as "unmannered and open," and she was named in ‘Dance Magazine’ as a dancer “On the Rise.”