the second detail
Choreography: William Forsythe
Staged by: Jill Johnson
Music: Thom Willems
Costume, Set and Lighting Design: William Forsythe
White dress: Issey Miyake
the second detail is a gift from THE VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE, THE NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA.
William Forsythe, an American choreographer who is known internationally for his work with Ballett Frankfurt and The Forsythe Company, is acknowledged for reorienting the practice of ballet from its identification with classical repertoire to a dynamic 21st-century art form. His more recent works have further extended his exploration of dance and choreography as a fundamental principle of organization. In the second detail Forsythe ã·first organized the movement thematically, and this was distilled by the dancers into solos, duets and group dances.ä
Other Dances
Vancouver Premiere
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
Music: Frédéric Chopin
Costume Design: Santo Loquasto
Lighting Design: Jennifer Tipton
Recreated by: Nicole Pearce
Performed with permission of The Robbins Rights Trust
Choreographed by Tony Award and Academy Award winner and recipient of Kennedy Center Honors, Jerome Robbins, whose work included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theatre. This ballet features the romantic lyricism of Chopin and the fluidity of classical ballet. Robbins, one of the most popular choreographers of the 20th century, was also respected for his stage productions, including On the Town, The King and I, The Pajama Game, Bells are Ringing, West Side Story, Gypsy and Fiddler on the Roof. Other Dances was originally created for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova and premiered at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1976.
The Man in Black
Company Premiere
Choreography: James Kudelka
Staged by: Gerard Charles
Music: Johnny Cash
Costume Design: Hoax Couture
Lighting Design: Trad A Burns
The Man in Black, originally commissioned by BalletMet Columbus and premiered in April 2010, is a celebration of American working-class grit and of the man whose gravely voice embodied it, Johnny Cash. Six Cash songs — In My Life, Four Strong Winds, Sam Hall, If You Could Read My Mind, Hurt and Further On Up The Road — all covers from the later part of his career, are given visual resonance in a suite of dances for an ensemble of three men and a woman, all in cowboy boots.
The choreography is a play on several popular American country-western dance styles — line, square, swing, step dancing — retaining their vernacular, almost colloquial character yet generating imagery that complements the songs ’ varying moods and emotional undercurrents. Dance chains unravel and reassemble in surprising ways. The fluid partnering and sculptural groupings generate a stream of arrestingly poetic images. Rather than portray defined characters, the dancers project a naturalistic immediacy that connects with the spirit of the music. The choreography, like the songs that inspire it, is an ode to the human spirit.
“brilliant and evocative ode to Johnny Cash” The Columbus Dispatch, 2011
“The Man in Black keeps the dancers in constant motion. It’s devoid of frills yet as stark and moving as Cash’s voice itself.” Columbus Alive, 2011
Emergence
Vancouver Premiere
Choreography: Crystal Pite
Original Score: Owen Belton
Set Design: Jay Gower Taylor
Costume Design: Linda Chow
Lighting Design: Alan Brodie
Emergence is generously supported by Gail Hutchison.
Emergence offers the thrilling theatrical impact of a full-company dancing to an original, electronic score by Canadian Owen Belton. Jay Gower Taylor’s underground, insect-nest set and Linda Chow’s costumes offer a visual parallel to Crystal Pite’s theme of social organization and interaction. Pite is a Vancouver-based choreographer and performer who has created works for Netherlands Dance Theatre, Ballett Frankfurt, BJM Danse Montréal, Ballet BC, Alberta Ballet and Ballet Jörgen Canada, as well as for many independent artists.
