The Bardavon is pleased to announce the addition of an exciting new show to the already packed winter season. On Saturday evening, January 22 at 7:00 pm, the legendary Swiss performance troupe -- Mummenschanz -- will perform excerpts from their latest work in progress - next - a playful mix of dance, puppetry and magical trickery - in a pre-Broadway sneak preview performance for the whole family at the Bardavon.

Following a 3 year Broadway run in the early 1980s and an extended world tour, the internationally renowned Mummenschanz is back. They will present a show full of the acrobatics, "contortionism," dance, mimicry, and other balancing arts they have performed around the world for the last thirty years.

Two new members have joined the ensemble for this production, giving Mummenschanz a company of four for the first time. Performing with Floriana Frassetto and Bemie Schurch, the two original members of Mummenschanz who have created NEXT, are American mime artists Tina Keonis and Richard Alger. During a five week tour of the United States, Mummenschanz will present segments of NEXT, a work in progress. These segments will be tested and, it is hoped, perfected, based on the response of American audiences. The formal premiere of NEXT will take place in St. Gallen, Switzerland, in March 2000.

Mummenschanz will be in residence at the Bardavon from January 17 through January 22 as they develop their new work. During this time they will also be conducting in-school workshops in the public schools as well as master classes with the Vassar College dance and drama departments creating a rare opportunity to expose young people to the creative process with a renowned international theatre company.

Tickets for the Bardavon’s performance of Mummenschanz on January 22 at 7:00 pm are now available. Tickets are priced at $17.50 for adults, $15.50 for students and seniors, $13.50 for members, and $10.50 for kids age 12 and under. Tickets are available at the Bardavon Box Office, 35 Market St., Poughkeepsie, (914) 473-2072, or at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center Box Office, 14 Civic Center Plaza (914) 454-5800 or by calling TicketMaster at (914) 454-3388. Group rates are available by calling The Bardavon at (914) 473-5288.