Stars from the World of Ballet to Stage Classic Works
Festival Ballet Theatre opens its 2009-10 season at the Barclay
09.25.2009 – Festival Ballet Theatre’s artistic director, Salwa Rizkalla, has scored a major coup getting several stars from the world of ballet to stage classic works for the opening performance of this Orange County based company.
Premieres & Repertoire (Full program)
Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. & Sunday, Oct. 18 at 2 p.m.
Robert Sund's Alice in Wonderland
Antony Tudor’s Continuo
[staged by ABT's Amanda McKerrow & John Gardner]
Val Caniparoli’s Street Songs
[staged by SF Ballet's Evelyn Cisneros]
Arthur Saint Léon's La Vivandière and Animated Frescoes
[staged by Kirov Ballet's Yury Fateyev]
Parrish Maynard’s Fractals
Tickets: $35 for adults; $28 seniors/children
Alice in Wonderland (1hr matinee)
Saturday, Oct. 17 at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $20
Irvine Barclay Theatre -4242 Campus Drive in Irvine
949.854.4646
www.thebarclay.org | www.ticketmaster.com
Press contact: Marica Pendjer
mpendjer@mac.com | 949.293.8125
Festival Ballet Theatre, one of Southern California’s most vibrant and accomplished ballet companies, kicks off the season with the company premiere of Emmy Award-winning choreographer Robert Sund’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Based on Lewis Carroll’s classic tale, this colorful and whimsical production is a heart-racing adventure down the Rabbit Hole, into Wonderland Garden and through the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. During the imaginative journey, audiences will see all their favorite Alice characters – from the White Rabbit, to the Cheshire Cat, Tweedledee & Tweedledum, and the infamous Queen of Hearts. Know for his innovative style and musicality, Sund has set Alice to a selection of Jean Sibelius’ lyrical melodies.
The diverse blend of ballets continues with four additional works new to the company’s repertory. Legendary choreographer Antony Tudor’s rarely-performed, abstract ballet for six dancers, CONTINUO, is being restaged for the Company by American Ballet Theatre principals Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner. An elegant study in lyricism, the ballet is set to Johann Pachelbel’s Cannon in D. Created in 1971 for The Juilliard Dance Ensemble, dance notables believe it to be the precursor to Tudor’s highly-acclaimed The Leaves Are Fading.
One of our nation’s most sought after choreographers, Val Caniparoli’s powerful and vigorous STREET SONGS will be staged by former San Francisco Ballet principal Evelyn Cisneros. Set to a charming score by Carl Orff, Street Songs was created for Pacific Northwest Ballet in 1980. It was Caniparoli’s first ballet, and a critical hit for this versatile choreographer.
The last of the five company premieres on this opening concert are two Russian-style classics seldom seen in the U.S. and appropriately staged for the Company by Yury Fateyev, acting director of Russia’s iconic Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet. LA VIVANDIERE (or Markitenka, as it is known in Russia) is a pas de six choreographed by Arthur Saint Léon and Fanny Cerrito. First presented in 1844 by the Ballet of Her Majesty’s Theatre in London, England, the ballet is set to music by Cesare Pugni. Also set to a Pugni score, is the lively ANIMATED FRESCOES excerpt from The Little Humpbacked Horse. Based on a poem by Pyotr Pavlovich Yershov and originally choreographed by Saint Léon, this Marius Petipa version of the Russian folk tale showcases four female dancers in a series of technically demanding variations.
Rounding out the program, FBT welcomes back the elite San Francisco Ballet School Trainees in Parrish Maynard’s FRACTALS. Inspired by a Forsythe Technologies Workshop held during the San Francisco Ballet School Summer Session in 2008, Fractals was created especially for the Trainees with music by Ken Kirchner. One of the six talented dancers featured in Fractals will be Huntington Beach-native Bryn Gilbert, a former student of Southland Ballet Academy (official school of Festival Ballet Theatre); an inaugural member of FBT II (Festival Ballet Theatre’s junior company); and the 2008 Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Award Winner.
Especially for families, on Saturday, October 17 at 2 p.m., FBT will present a one-hour version of Sund’s Alice in Wonderland, designed to introduce children and families to the beauty of ballet.
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- Festival Ballet Theatre's next production will be The Nutcracker Dec 11-24, 2009.
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The White Rabbit from Robert Sund's Alice in Wonderland
The Hare from Robert Sund's Alice in Wonderland
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