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Media Update
March 12, 2003
For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Julie Lambert
NOTE: Hyatt
Regency Houston Downtown is offering special rates for out-of-town
journalists: 713-654-1234.
9 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERES
SET THE STAGE
FOR INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED
DANCE SALAD FESTIVAL 2003 IN HOUSTON
The one-of-a-kind, curated international
Dance Salad Festival 2003 takes place in Houston, TX, at the Wortham
Center’s Cullen Theater on April 17, 18, and 19, at 7:30 p.m.
Six international companies, rarely seen in this country, will showcase
no less than nine North American premieres in the eleventh year
of this mixed repertory festival, produced by Nancy Henderek. Three
prominent American companies will offer pieces new to the Houston
stage. Unique to this festival is the careful interweaving of different
work each evening, providing audiences the opportunity to return
for a new experience each night. To see the full program, at least
two nights are required. Tickets, ranging in price from $15-$39,
are available at the Wortham Center, 550 Prairie, Houston, TX 77002
or by calling the Houston Ballet Box Office 713-227-ARTS (2787).
Patrons may also purchase tickets at the Houston Ballet Studio on
West Grey. Discounts are offered for multiple evenings’ attendance.
Participating in this season’s
three-day, invitation-only festival are members of the prominent
Dutch (Het) National Ballet led by its famed choreographer
Hans van Manen. Coming also, is Paul Lightfoot,
acclaimed resident choreographer from Netherlands Dance
Theatre (NDT) in The Hague. The National Ballet
of China will premiere a suite from a work by Houston’s
Ben Stevenson, created in China especially for
the dancers who will be coming to Houston. The Royal Swedish
Ballet and the Göteborg Ballet represent
Sweden in this year’s festival, including works of reknown
choreographers Mats Ek and Ulysses Dove. Rounding out the international
visitors will be the exciting and stirring Quasar Companhia
de Danca from Brazil. Three prominent American companies
will participate: Buglisi-Foreman and Battleworks
from New York and Ballet Memphis.
Unique Element
Each of these groups comes to the United States solely to participate
in this critically acclaimed weekend of dance, and not as part of
an ongoing American tour. This combination of companies and works
will never be seen in any other venue.
DANCE SALAD PARTICIPATION INCLUDES
THE WORK OF KNOWN MASTERS AND STARS ON THE RISE
Update and Highlights
Hans
van Manen
- Choreographer of reknown, Hans van Manen, is
traveling with his Dutch National Ballet to Houston to personally
direct the North American continent’s first view of Live—an
award-winning, seminal work for two dancers and a cameraman.
This multi-faceted piece combines lives camera projection, videography,
and dance to create a unique and stirring artistic experience.
An historic piece, that has influenced a generation of choreographers
who use video in their works, it still evokes strong emotion for
a contemporary audience. Known in Europe as a talented master
of photography as well as dance, Mr. van Manen’s black and
white still exhibit, The Many Faces of Dance,
is being shown in Houston’s Worthem Center the week of April
14, 2003, in conjunction with Dance Salad Festival 2003.
- Mr. van Manen will also lead an evening’s program (film
and discussion) on his work in dance and dance photography at
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on Wednesday, April
16, 2003, at 6 p.m., in the Museum’s Brown Auditorium,
located in the Caroline Weiss Law Building. Admission to this
evening is free.
Ben Stevenson’s Latest
Premiere: Principals from The National Ballet of China
will appear in Dance Salad in a suite of Ben Stevenson’s choreographed,
full-length work Fountain of Tears, created for them by
the departing Artistic Director of Houston Ballet in China in the
fall of 2002. These sections of the full evening’s work will
be seen for the very time on this continent and will be danced by
the Beijing dancers for whom the work was created.
Announcing Paul Lightfoot:
Particularly exciting is the appearance of Paul Lightfoot,
now a resident choreographer of the Nederlands Dance Theater I,
II, and III, whose performance in his own choreographed work has
not been seen in the U.S. Mr. Lightfoot, will dance his Sigue,
which he choreographed as a pas de deux, with his wife
Sol Leon, a member of NDT I.
Rising Stars
Choreographer
David Dawson, who joined the Dutch National Ballet in 1995,
after successful years with the English National Ballet and the
Birmingham Royal Ballet, will present the U.S. premiere of The
Gray Area. This provocative piece, danced to the music of J.S.
Bach, explores the area between life and death and echoes the tradition
of William Forsyth, Mr. Dawson’s mentor. The Dutch National
Ballet brings its stellar artistry to the work.
Jaqulyn Buglisi from Buglisi/Foreman
Dance will present Requiem, her stunning memorial
piece created after 9/11. Requiem will be performed on
April 17 only. This seminal work, described as a stunning piece
and using five female dancers, sets the emotional bar at the highest
possible level. The New York Times’s Anna Kisslegov
describes it as a Baroque portrait, evoking September 11 "…in
a collective image of grief and rage."
Dance Salad Highlights
Sofiane
Sylvie, having just finished her guest stay with the New
York City Ballet, will make her only appearance outside New York
before returning to Europe to rejoin the Dutch National Ballet.
Again, Anna Kisselkov of The New York Times, noted her
strength and the refinement within that strength; and she said that
Ms. Sylvie is a French ballerina "…of amazing verve and
projection." This is Ms. Sylve’s second appearance at
Dance Salad, having danced here in 2001with the Dutch National Ballet.
She will be performing Thursday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18.
Ballet Memphis, recognized
in 2000 by the Ford Foundation as a national treasure, will bring
to Houston portions of young, contemporary ballet choreographer
Trey McIntyre’s steamy work Memphis. Certain to be
a crowd-pleaser, the music for the work is comprised of Memphis
composers, including Elvis Presley.
Quasar Companhia de Dance,
one of Brazil’s leading troupes, never seen here, will bring
excitement, contemporary style, and verve to Houston audiences in
its sexy and sizzling rendition of Mulheres. Choreographer Henrique
Rodovalho’s trademark vigor and lacerating dance movements
show forth in the drama of this work.
Royal Swedish Ballet/Stockholm
59ß North, known for 225 years throughout the world for
artistic precision and technical skill, will dance Kenneth Kvarnström’s
Carmen?!. The dancers comprising Stockholm 59ß North, are
principals and soloists of the Royal Swedish Ballet. No other company
in the world dances this serene work of extraordinary beauty, which
is as fresh as if choreographed right now.
To Watch For
Two
Finnish choreographers: Jorma Uotinen of the Göteborg
Ballet, former Director of the Finnish National Ballet,
will bring his Pathetique, Blue Ballerina section,
from the work of the same name. The unique Virpi Pahkinen,
never before seen in the United States will dance in her own piece
with Jan Erik Wikstrom.
Jan Erik Wikstrom, on
leave from the Royal Swedish Ballet, will be the featured dancer
in Virpi Pahkinen’s Bardo. Mr. Wikstrom is now a
principal with the English National Ballet.
Rafi Sadi, guest dancer
from the Cullberg Ballet, Stockholm, will be dancing in Pointless
Pastures, the work created for him by Mats Ek.
Sponsorship
Dance Salad has been supported in part by ExxonMobil; Shell
Oil Company Foundation; The Houston Endowment, Inc.; The Brown Foundation,
Inc.; The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts; The Ray C. Fish
Foundation; Cathay Pacific Airways; Emery Worldwide; KUHF-FM; Tindall
and Foster Immigration Attorneys; Sweet Tomatoes; Sterling Bank;
Excelsior Limousine & Transportation; Jet Setters Printgraphics,
Inc.; Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County and the Texas
Commission on the Arts; the Theater District Association and the
Houston Convention and Entertainment Facilities; Consulates General
of the Netherlands (Houston and New York), China and Sweden; American
Scandinavian Foundation, Netherlands American Foundation, and the
Swedish Embassy; KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines; and American Airlines.
Dance Salad has received additional support from the Houston Ballet
and the Society for the Performing Arts.
About Dance Salad
Dance Salad is a project of the Houston Dance Coalition, and is
committed to a multi-cultural presentation of diverse dance disciplines.
Dance Salad provides a venue for local, national and international
choreographers, across dance disciplines, to present their work
to the Houston community in a collaborative performance.
Nancy Henderek
Nancy Henderek, Founding Director of Dance Salad, created the concept
of this curated evening of dance in 1992. She produces, directs
and has choreographed in Dance Salad productions, including the
first three in Brussels, Belgium. She has been a dancer and choreographer
in Sweden, Brussels, Houston and Hong Kong. In Sweden, she was also
a member of the Marchant Dance Theater in Gothenburg, directed by
Claude Marchant, one of the original Katherine Dunham Company dancers.
In Houston, prior to Brussels, she choreographed for local productions
and was instrumental in bringing Mr. Marchant from Sweden for a
six month residency. In Brussels, she taught at the International
School and was Resident Choreographer. She also choreographed works
for the Brussels Shakespeare Festival, Operetteheater, Noveau Theatre
de Belgique and the American Theatre Company in addition to Dance
Salad. In Houston, she also danced and performed for the Houston
Grand Opera and taught dance at Episcopal High School and Houston
Community College. She continues to bring to Houston audiences this
wonderful evening of mixed repertoire, a dance “salad,”
and this year will present the eleventh annual performance of this
highly anticipated dance concert in Houston.
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