Dancers of Pacific Northwest Ballet perform Serenade. Choreography by George Balanchine. © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo by Bill Mohn.
Four years ago, Vail International Dance Festival Director Damian Woetzel promised to link live music and dance as a cornerstone of the annual summer festival.
Part of that dream will become reality on Saturday evening, July 31, when the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater’s new orchestra pit will be officially christened as live music welcomes the return of Pacific Northwest Ballet to the Dance Festival for a 7:30 p.m. performance entitled “Ballet Masterworks”.
In addition to the inauguration of the orchestra pit, the evening will feature a trio of classic works, including George Balanchine’s Serenade and Square Dance, along with Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels.
Serenade is a milestone in the history of dance, the first original ballet Balanchine created in America.. The ballet is performed by 28 dancers in blue costumes in front of a blue background. Originating it as a lesson in stage technique, Balanchine worked unexpected rehearsal events into the choreography. When one student fell, he incorporated it. Another day, a student arrived late, and this too became part of the ballet.
In Square Dance, Balanchine joined the traditions of American folk dance with classical ballet. He felt the two types of dance, though widely different in style, had common roots and a similar regard for order.
A visually dramatic, dynamically charged, abstract ballet, Red Angels highlights the dancers' power and athleticism. This piece for four dancers was Dove's first work for New York City Ballet and is a ballet of intense color, sound and sensual impact. Against a jet black curtain, the dancers, dressed in scarlet leotards, are bathed in spots of blinding white or red hot light; the music is a riveting score for electric violin.
Pacific Northwest Ballet is one of America’s largest and most highly regarded ballet companies, presenting more than 100 performances each year of full-length and mixed repertory ballets in Seattle and around the world.
Tickets for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “Ballet Masterworks” are priced at $55 and $75 for Reserved Amphitheater pavilion seating and $17 for General Admission lawn seating. Tickets for all performances of the 2010 Vail International Dance Festival are available online at www.vaildance.org or by phone at either (970) 845-TIXS (8497) or 888-920-ARTS (2787).
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