Washington Ballet.WASHINGTON BALLET The Washington Ballet is one of the premiere ballet companies in the United States. The company is an outgrowth of the Washington School of Ballet, which was founded in 1944 by Lisa Gardner and Mary Day; pioneers in American dance. ENGLAND STUDIO THEATRE WASHINGTON BALLET BUILDING WASHINGTON, D.C. APRIL April: see month. 28-MAY 16, 2004 Forget the uncomfortable seats and obstructed views: The Washington Ballet looked gorgeous in "7x7: Love"--seven seven-minute-long fresh takes on ballet's favorite theme. Despite recent incursions into the classics, Artistic Director Septime Webre is firmly committed to using his dancers creatively; however, because of the financial risk of staging untested ballets, a studio (with improved sealing soon to come) has become a showcase for this and future premieres. "7x7" has set a lofty standard. The beauty of each work depended on the beholder, but a standout was Stephen Mills' Desire. Set to Arvo Part's haunting Spiegel im Spiegel Spiegel im Spiegel is a piece of music written by Arvo Pärt in 1978, just prior to his departure from Estonia. The piece is in the tintinnabular style of composition, wherein a melodic voice (which operates over diatonic scales) and tintinnabular voice and costumed in flesh tones, this exquisite 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 portrayed a decision to part with perfectly composed embraces and separations that were more anguished than erotic. Chip Coleman and Elizabeth Gaither exalted sculpture over story on opening night; the alternate cast's Aaron Jackson and Laura Urgelles resonated more emotionally. Jackson's longing was almost palpable as Urgelles struggled to free herself. Dance as autobiography is tricky, but Jason Hartley, a principal turning choreographer, got it right in Underneath. The chino-clad soloist thrashed about a cappella until the appearance of his wife, Carissa, a non-dancer in street dress, signaled John Lennon's "Look at Me" and offered a direction to his untethered Unattached to any data or power source by wire or fiber; in other words: wireless. Contrast with tethered. energy. Hartley is often applauded for his acrobatics acrobatics Art of jumping, tumbling, and balancing. The art is of ancient origin; acrobats performed leaps, somersaults, and vaults at Egyptian and Greek events. Acrobatic feats were featured in the commedia dell'arte theatre in Europe and in jingxi (“Peking , but here his bravura bra·vu·ra n. 1. Music a. Brilliant technique or style in performance. b. A piece or passage that emphasizes a performer's virtuosity. 2. A showy manner or display. adj. 1. hinged on his devotion and pantherine grace. Tempering the seriousness were Memory of a Free Festival, Trey McIntyre's laid-back romp through the David Bowie song, and Vladimir Angelov's cheeky tink tank. In the latter, in which six men cut up as two competed for the lone woman onstage, Angelov used Bach's Concerto No. 5 as an excuse to spoof ballet's bombastic possibilities. Gliding among six couples to a Rachmaninoff score that demanded more traditional treatment, Michelle Jimenez turned Lila York's lush, lyrical Sostenuto so·ste·nu·to Music adv. & adj. In a manner that is sustained as long as or beyond a note's full value. Used chiefly as a direction. n. pl. into pure romance. For those who like their ballet abstract, angular, and musically fiendish, there were Donald Byrd's L'Apres Midi/La Nuit and Albert Evans' Seego. Webre promises to feature at least one "7x7" work on the company's Italian tour. But which? This collection of gems puts him in that happy predicament the French call "an embarrassment of choices." FOR MORE INFORMATION www.washingtonballet.org |
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