Last week, Vail International Dance Festival Artistic Director Damian Woetzel invited world renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Memphis Jooker Charles “Lil Buck” Riley, and Yo-Yo Ma’s The Silk Road Ensemble to teach and perform for more than a hundred elementary school students from the Los Angeles Unified School District. Woetzel called the event an “arts strike,” an opportunity for great performers to share their passion for the arts directly with kids. In the heart of Skid Row—one of Los Angeles' most impoverished neighborhoods—Yo-Yo Ma performed Camille Saints-Saëns’ score as students squealed with delight upon seeing Charles “Lil Buck” Riley’s jaw-dropping interpretation of “The Dying Swan.”
It’s hard to decide what's more inspiring: the way these world-class artists are deeply committed to reaching out and inspiring young people through high-quality arts education; or the overwhelming enthusiasm with which the kids responded to Yo-Yo Ma’s heartbreaking music, Damian Woetzel’s coaching of George Balanchine’s classic Serenade, and Charles “Lil Buck” Riley’s scintillating footwork.
It’s hard to decide what's more inspiring: the way these world-class artists are deeply committed to reaching out and inspiring young people through high-quality arts education; or the overwhelming enthusiasm with which the kids responded to Yo-Yo Ma’s heartbreaking music, Damian Woetzel’s coaching of George Balanchine’s classic Serenade, and Charles “Lil Buck” Riley’s scintillating footwork.
Here is an article on the arts strike at Inner City Arts in Los Angeles. Be sure to watch the accompanying video, which includes clips of Charles “Lil Buck” Riley performing to The Silk Road Ensemble's arrangement of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." Lil Buck is the 2011 Vail International Dance Festival’s Artist-In-Residence, and he will perform in UpClose: Premieres, Dance for $20.11, and Dance TV. Established choreographers and writers refer to this twenty-two year old Jooker as the "dance prodigy" or "genius," and, based on the enthusiastic response he received at last week's arts strike, we can look forward to many great things from him in Vail this summer.
Tickets for the 2011 Vail International Dance Festival are now on sale at www.vaildance.org.
Lil' Buck rehearses for the arts strike at Inner-City Arts in downtown LA, with Silk Road Ensemble musicians Cristina Pato on galician bagpipes and cellist Mike Block.
0 comments:
Post a Comment