BALLET ON THE MOVE NOT THE SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE FOR INNOVATIVE SAN FRANCISCO COMPANY.Byline: Vicki Smith Paluch Correspondent It's been nearly a decade since the San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet, or SFB, is a San Francisco, USA based ballet company, founded in 1933 as part of San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, where it is directed by Helgi Tomasson. last performed at the Los Angeles Music Center The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the nation. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the Music Center is home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper , and artistic director Helgi Tomasson Helgi Tomasson (Reykjavík, 1942) Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet, choreographer, former dancer. Introduction Helgi Tomasson is the current Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet. is hoping a reimagined ``Don Quixote'' will show off the full breadth and depth of his dancers' talent. But if that isn't enough, when the company returns to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center (which is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the United States). The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. for six days beginning Tuesday, it will also offer a mixed bill of four works that go from neoclassic ne·o·clas·si·cism also Ne·o·clas·si·cism n. A revival of classical aesthetics and forms, especially: a. A revival in literature in the late 17th and 18th centuries, characterized by a regard for the classical ideals of reason, form, and contemporary to fun and flashy. The San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden Ballet's engagement at the Dorothy Chandler kicks off the venue's first official dance season, even though the Music Center has always offered a variety of dance events each year and even had a resident dance company in a bicoastal bi·coas·tal adj. 1. Relating to both the east and west coasts of the United States, as: a. Traveling frequently between coasts as part of a business or living arrangement: arrangement with the Joffrey Ballet. The 2003-04 season will also include the Dance Theatre of Harlem Dance Theatre of Harlem, the first black classical ballet company. The group was founded in Harlem, New York City, by Arthur Mitchell, then of the New York City Ballet, the first black principal dancer of a classical company of international standing. in January, Shen Wei Dance Arts and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York, New York. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey. It is made up of 30 dancers as well as artistic director Judith Jamison and associate artistic director Masazumi Chaya. in March, the American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre, one of the foremost international dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet and reorganized as the Ballet Theatre in 1940 under the direction of Lucia Chase and Rich Pleasant. in April and the Paul Taylor Dance Company Paul Taylor Dance Company, is a contemporary dance company, formed by Paul Taylor, an American choreographers of the 20th century. One of the early touring companies of American modern dance, the Company has "performed in more than 500 cities in 62 countries"[1] in June. It also brings the San Francisco Ballet - America's first professional ballet company, founded in 1933 - back to Los Angeles for the first time since 1994. ``I wanted to show Los Angeles what we do during our home season,'' Tomasson said of the company that has a long history of performing both the classics and more experimental contemporary ballet. Now the company has dancers who are ready to tackle the ballet comedy ``Don Quixote,'' which requires brilliance in both footwork and acting. Tomasson and principal dancer Yuri Possokhov restaged ``Don Quixote,'' using the 19th-century choreography of Marius Petipa - but applying a 21st-century dramatic sensibility to the ballet. They added new music by the ballet's composer, Leon Minkus. Tomasson expanded the role of the male lead Basilo, created a new tender pas de deux pas de deux (French; “step for two”) Dance for two performers. A characteristic part of classical ballet, it includes an adagio, or slow dance, by the ballerina and her partner; solo variations by the male dancer and then the ballerina; and a coda, or for the lovers and a flashy character solo for the Gypsy queen, and rounded out the final act's wedding scene. While not a strict interpretation of Cervantes' masterpiece, the ballet is still about love and the funny things it makes us do. While Don Quixote and sidekick Sancho Panza are on the don's quest for ideal love, they stumble upon the the village lass Kitri, the daughter of an innkeeper An individual who, as a regular business, provides accommodations for guests in exchange for reasonable compensation. An inn is defined as a place where lodgings are made available to the public for a charge, such as a hotel, motel, hostel, or guest house. , and Basilo, the town's dashing barber. The two are mad for each other, but Kitri's father wants her instead to marry the wealthy Gamache. ``The ballet really should be called 'Kitri's Wedding,' '' said Tomasson by way of explanation during an interview at the Music Center. ``Don Quixote'' is one of the few comic ballets in the classical repertory. It foreshadowed what would become the Soviet style with its wild jumps, endless balances, one-arm lifts and character dances. That's where Possokhov comes in. The former Bolshoi dancer served as Tomasson's touchstone during the restaging of the ballet, keeping the choreography pure and the Russian ballet style bold and captivating cap·ti·vate tr.v. cap·ti·vat·ed, cap·ti·vat·ing, cap·ti·vates 1. To attract and hold by charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm. 2. Archaic To capture. . Tomasson rearranged the ballet's various scenes to improve the story line and add depth to the protagonists. ``(In) most productions over the years, in the first act you have the tavern scene, then the gypsy camp and the wedding. Once the tavern trick is played (when Basilo fakes his suicide and runs off with Kitri), the story is over. The rest is just a series of vignettes,'' noted Tomasson. ``I just reversed it.'' As one of the finest male dancers of his generation, Tomasson is interested in expanding the opportunities for his male dancers to show the full range of their abilities. To that end, he has consistently expanded the male roles in his restaging of such classics as ``Swan Lake.'' Tomasson's ``Concerto Grosso,'' a 12-minute showcase for five men set to the music of Francesco Geminiani after an original by the composer's teacher, Arcangelo Corelli, will be performed Thursday and Friday as part of the mixed bill. ``The work portrays what the male dancer can do - from the fast jumping sections to slow and poetic movement,'' he said. ``The (mixed repertory) program shows the company to its greatest advantage.'' In addition to ``Concerto Grosso,'' the mixed bill ranges from the dark and edgy ballet of Christopher Wheeldon's ``Polyphonia,'' to the neoclassic purity of George Balanchine's 1956 ``Allegro Brillante,'' and the high-spirited romp ``Elite Syncopations,'' Sir Kenneth MacMillan's ballet set to the ragtime ragtime: see jazz. ragtime U.S. popular music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries distinguished by its heavily syncopated rhythm. Ragtime found its characteristic expression in formally structured piano compositions, the accented left-hand music of Scott Joplin. ``During our home season of 10 programs, we do two full-length ballet programs and eight mixed repertory programs,'' Tomasson said. ``(That programming) allows me to bring out the individual personality of my dancers.'' Tomasson challenges those dancers with choreographers who stretch and pull the classical vocabulary, and during his own dance career, he mastered many different dance styles. At the Joffrey Ballet, he tried Alvin Ailey's modern style as well as that of Jack Cole. At Harkness Ballet, he learned contemporary ballet styles. ``Then I ended up with Balanchine and Jerome Robbins at New York City Ballet New York City Ballet, one of the foremost American dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine as the Ballet Society in 1946. . It's just in my background to explore not only the classics but to engage in experimentation,'' Tomasson said. Tomasson retired from dancing at age 42, leaving the New York City Ballet in 1985. He had been considering an offer at the Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre is both a performing arts organisation and a theatre that has been located at Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen since 1748, first as the theater of the king, and then as the theater of the country. when he got a call from the San Francisco Ballet's founder, Lew Christensen. Lincoln Kristen, who co-founded the New York City Ballet with Balanchine, had urged Christensen to hire Tomasson as the company's new artistic director. ``I went to San Francisco, saw the facilities, the support the community had for dance and the talent, which at the time needed work,'' says Tomasson. ``A week after I stopped dancing, I took over at San Francisco Ballet,'' he recalled. ``Little did I know that I would love another wonderful career as artistic director as much as I did dancing.'' SAN FRANCISCO BALLET What: ``Don Quixote'' (Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Oct. 12); and mixed repertory of ``Allegro Brillante,'' ``Concerto Grosso,'' ``Polyphonia'' and ``Elite Syncopations'' (Thursday and Friday). Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and Oct. 12. Tickets: $25 to $85. (213) 972-0711; www.ticketmaster.com. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Yuan Yuan Tan and Vadim Solomaka are two of the dancers in ``Don Quixote,'' which the San Francisco Ballet has restaged to expand the male roles and add dramatic impact. The company will perform at the Dorothy Chandler through Oct. 12. |
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