Attack Theatre Presents ‘Sessions’ – Dance and Live Music with Rachael Sage and Dave Eggar
Entertainment Central Pittsburgh - Attack Theatre continues its 2024-25 Season of Fire with Sessions on February 8 at the Attack Theatre studio featuring NYC-based, Billboard-charting, alt-pop artist and multi-instrumentalist Rachael Sage and world-renowned Grammy® Award-winning cellist Dave Eggar.
Sessions blurs the lines between coffee house concerts and theatrical dance performances, transforming the audience through dancers’ and musicians’ physicality and soulfulness. Culled from Sage’s catalog of more than 20 albums and EPs, this rare, one-night-only show will feature songs from her acclaimed 2024 record, Another Side, and a smattering of songs from her forthcoming album, Canopy. Sage and Eggar provide the live music, weaving a poignant story from which dancers emerge.
Since founding her label MPress Records two decades ago, Sage has steadily released a slew of vibrant, dynamic albums described by Goldmine Magazine as “mesmerizing…thoughtful, pensive and flush with an emotional flourish, all carefully and adeptly executed.” She has toured with an eclectic list of artists, including Rufus Wainwright, Ani DiFranco, Beth Hart, Howard Jones, and Grammy® winners Shawn Colvin and Judy Collins – with whom she also recorded a critically acclaimed duet of Neil Young’s “Helpless.” In addition to being a six-time Independent Music Award-winning musician and producer, Sage is also a John Lennon Contest Grand Prize winner whose 2020 album Character yielded the Billboard-charting single “Blue Sky Days.” She has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and SXSW and toured globally from Japan to Berlin with her band, The Sequins.
Her 2020 album Character yielded the Billboard-charting single “Blue Sky Days,” and her sparkling cover version of the Yazoo classic “Only You,” from her full-length album The Other Side, reached #32 on the Mediabase Top 40 radio chart. Her singles “Albatross” (feat. Crys Matthews) and “The Place Of Fun” are out now, from her companion acoustic album Another Side.
Sage is a former dancer who attended The School of American Ballet and danced with The New York City Ballet in such Balanchine ballets as “The Nutcracker” and “Coppelia.” When she works on a composition, she still envisions choreography and dancers and often includes them in her videos.
After being diagnosed with endometrial cancer in 2018, Sage’s life changed in an instant. Chemo treatments replaced tour dates, her album was released to an “audience” of doctors and nurses, and this life-altering diagnosis ignited unexpected reflection and creativity. A self-described “cancer thriver,” she is a philanthropic advocate who has raised money for various causes, including the Foundation For Women’s Cancer, WHY Hunger, the American Refugee Committee, and the National Network For Youth (NN4Y).
Championing women musicians and their health, Women Who Rock® is proud to partner with Attack Theatre for this special event. Melinda Colaizzi, Founder of Women Who Rock®, works to celebrate female artists while fundraising for Magee-Womens Research Institute 501(c)(3) – the world’s largest research institute dedicated to women’s health – to support cancer screenings and early detection, treatments, research, and more.
“We are honored to be a part of such a special night highlighting not just women in music, but the importance of advocating for women’s health,” said Colaizzi. “With endometrial cancer being one of the primary research focuses of Magee-Womens Research Institute, Rachael’s story is a true representation of who we empower, who we support, and a ‘thriver’ we can all be inspired by.”
Joining Sage is world-renowned artist Dave Eggar, a performer, composer, and music director with Attack Theatre since 2000. A solo cellist and a pianist, he’s traveled the world sharing his talents. Eggar has performed and has been a recording/writing partner with Sage over the decades, with projects including Poetica. Debuted in 2021, this cinematic, stylistically expansive odyssey calls to mind such poets/musicians as Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith, and Laurie Anderson.
Eggar has performed on countless well-known stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Sydney Opera House, the Barbican Centre, the Hollywood Bowl, the Lincoln Center Festival, and the White House. Dave has performed and recorded with artists such as Evanescence, Foreigner, Norah Jones, Paul Simon, Lindsey Stirling, Lady Gaga, Josh Groban, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Ornette Coleman, and Beyoncé. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Harvard University.
“We fell in love with Rachael’s music years ago and have been trying to find the right project to bring her to Pittsburgh. Sessions provides the perfect platform for us to create new dances and build a truly collaborative experience of music, dance, and audiences,” shares Peter Kope, choreographer and Attack Theatre’s Artistic Director.
Artistic Executive Director Michele de la Reza adds, “Alongside Rachael, this performance features a powerful all-female cast of dancers. I’m thrilled to partner with Women Who Rock® whose concerts are 100% headlined by women musicians.”
Sessions is directed by Peter Kope and features Attack Theatre company dancers Anya Epstein, Isabella Bergamin, Melissa Burke, Miranda Braseth, and Olivia Nellis.