My blog talks about music from all over the world along with performing & visual arts, film, arts news, events and more focusing on the Toronto & New York areas
Cape Verdean songstress Carmen Souza announces a North American summer tour, celebrating the release of her new album Kachupada. On June 14th she'll be in New York CIty at drom and June 26th she’ll be performing at the Jazz Bistro in Toronto.
Carmen Souza and Theo Pas‘cal complement each other musically in an ingenious way has already been shown in their successful cooperation over the last few years. The latest studio-album called Kachupada, that was recorded in London and Lisbon will be released in North America on June 11, 2013, continues this tradition. The title of the album was inspired by the favorite Cape Verdean dish Kachupada that, with its wide variety of ingredients and spices, reflects the multiplicity of influences in Carmen Souza‘s music.
Carmen Souza tells stories taken from real life, she indulges in melancholy, radiates vitality and on the wings of her African heritage she resorts to her rich musical treasure trove. Carmen Souza intermingles jazz-lines with Cape Verde-an sounds, scatting tunes, caressing the melodies. Her interpretation of the jazz-standards “My Favourite Things“ (Richard Rogers / Oscar Hammerstein II) or “Donna Lee“ (Charlie Parker / Miles Davis) sounds exotic and at the same time very familiar.
Carmen been peforming for more than half her life and it shows in the facility with which she uses her voice She growls, she squeaks and at times approaches heavenly purity. Her voice is fluid and elastic, expressive and emotive whether you understand the language or not. She plays with the words and rhythms - at times at dizzying speeds. The songs are often playful and bouncy in tone; sometimes influenced by the undeniable rhythms of African guitars. Influenced by its Portuguese history, Cape Verdean music often has a flavour akin to Latin or Cuban rhythms.
She has assembled a top notch cadre of musicians to help her out, capable of an impressive rhythmic complexity. Along with the solidest of rhythm sections and guitar, in various songs you'll hear flute, accordion, violin, keyboardsor saxophone..
One of the CDs highlights for me is Xinxinroti, a song where the eccentricities of her vocal style come in perfect synch with the music; at times delicate and breathy, at others vibrant and pure in tone. I was also taken with 6 On Ne Tarrafal, a plaintive acoustic guitar based ballad (see video above).
Carmen Souza represents a newer generation of artists whose globally influenced and idiom-bending music defies categorization and she'll be on tour in North America throughout June.
TOUR DATES
• June 14: DROM, NYC, NY
• June 15: REGATTA JAZZ CLUB, CAMBRIDGE, MA
• June 20: LEVITT PAVILION, PASADENA, CA
• June 21: KIRKLAND PERFORMANCE CENTER, KIRKLAND, WA
• June 22: VANCOUVER JAZZ FEST @ GRANVILLE ISLAND/PERFORMANCE WORKS, VANCOUVER
• June 23: VICTORIA JAZZ FEST @ UPSTAIRS CABARET, VICTORIA, CA
• June 25: OTTAWA JAZZ FEST @ OLG STAGE, FESTIVAL PLAZA, OTTAWA, CA
• June 26: TORONTO JAZZ FEST @ JAZZ BISTRO, TORONTO, CA
• June 27: ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL @ MAX OF EASTMAN PLACE, ROCHESTER, NY
• June 28: ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL @ XEROX AUDITORIUM AT XEROX PLAZA, ROCHESTER, NY
• June 29: FREIHOFER’S SARATOGA JAZZ FESTIVAL @ GAZEBO STAGE, SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY
DanceAfrica May 24—May 27, 2013 Peter Jay Sharp Building BAM Howard Gilman Opera House RUN TIME: 2hrs with intermission
Part of 2013 Winter/Spring Season Artistic Director Chuck Davis
BROOKLYN - NEW YORK CITY - Created by Chuck Davis in 1977, DanceAfrica—the nation’s largest festival dedicated to African dance—brings together performance, art, film, and an array of community events for an exhilarating celebration of culture from Africa and its diaspora. For the annual Memorial Day weekend performances, BAM welcomes Umkhathi Theatre Works from Zimbabwe, plus Brooklyn’s own BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble and additional companies, for a program that promises to inspire. And don’t miss the one-and-only outdoor bazaar! Agoo! Amée!! Umkhathi Theatre Works (Zimbabwe)
Umkhathi Theatre Works is a theater and dance troupe formed in 1997 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, currently in residence at Salukazi Performing Arts Centre in Njube, Zimbabwe. The company has emerged as a leading theater organization in its home country and has performed throughout Africa and as far from home as Aberdeen, Scotland. Its mission is to strive for community development through the arts while reviving African cultures and traditions.
BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble
An annual favorite and symbol of youth involvement in the preservation of African heritage, the BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble returns to the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House for its 16th consecutive year. Under the mentorship of Baba Chuck Davis, the “exuberant, disciplined young dancers” (The Village Voice) of Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation celebrate both ancestral roots and the modern-day community.
Chuck Davis
Dr. Charles "Chuck" Davis, artistic director and founding elder of DanceAfrica, is one of the foremost teachers and choreographers of traditional African dance in America. He has traveled extensively to Africa to study with leading artists.Davi sfounded the Chuck Davis Dance Company in New York in 1968 and the African American Dance Ensemble in Durham, NC, in 1983. He has been a panelist for several programs of the National Endowment for the Arts and is a recipient of the AARP Certificate of Excellence, the North Carolina Dance Alliance Award, the 1990 North Carolina Artist Award, and the North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine. He has served on the board of the North Carolina Arts Council since 1991 and in 1992 he received the North Carolina Award in Fine Arts, the state's highest honor. In 1996, Davis and the African American Dance Ensemble were awarded a $100,000 grant from the National Dance Residency Program, a three-year initiative launched in 1994 by the New York Foundation for the Arts and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. In 1998 he received an honorary doctorate from Medgar Evers College; he has received honorary doctorates from several universities, all of which mean a great deal to him. Most recently, Chuck Davis and DanceAfrica were cited as one of "America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100" by the Dance Heritage Coalition.
CATS returns to Toronto with new, all-Canadian cast Previews: May 28, 2013; Opening night: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 • Tickets on sale: at Mirvish.com and 1.800.461.3333. Produced by NuMu Inc., Starvox Entertainment and Classical Theatre Project with producers Marlene Smith, Geoffrey Smith, Corey Ross, David Galpern and Charles Roy
Toronto, ON – This May, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s much-loved musical CATS returns to Toronto with an all-Canadian cast. CATS has been presented in more than 20 countries and translated into 10 languages since its London debut in 1981. The Tony Award-winning show begins previews on Tuesday, May 28 and opens on Tuesday, June 11 at David Mirvish’s Panasonic Theatre.
NuMu Inc.’s chair Marlene Smith spearheads the project, collaborating with her son, Geoffrey Smith, NuMu Inc.’s chief business officer; Corey Ross, president of Starvox Entertainment; and David Galpern and Charles Roy of Classical Theatre Project. Marlene Smith has produced live theatre for 55 years and is widely recognized for changing the face of Canadian theatre with the first Canadian production of CATS, which ran simultaneously in Toronto and on Broadway.
“We are thrilled to bring such an iconic show back to Toronto. It is a particular honour to be working with Marlene, who has made an indelible mark in Canadian theatre,” said Ross. “We’re excited to introduce CATS to a new generation of theatre-goers and offer fans a chance to re-visit a favourite musical.”
Directed and re-imagined by Dave Campbell, a theatre and television director who has helmed various productions of the show across Canada and the U.S., with choreography by Gino Berti and musical direction by Lona Davis, the new production will feature multimedia design against an innovative new set designed by Tim Webb. The creative and producing teams auditioned more than 400 artists to assemble a sensational all-Canadian cast – for the first time in almost 30 years.
Based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, with music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, CATS tells the tale of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and their night of junkyard follies. The second longest-running show in Broadway history, CATS features such well-known characters as Mr. Mistoffelees, Grizabella, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, Rum Tum Tugger and Old Deuteronomy. Single tickets ($50 to $99) are now on sale and are also available as part of a Mirvish subscription package at www.mirvish.com or 416.872.1212.
Venue: David Mirvish’s Panasonic Theatre, 651 Yonge St., Toronto Dates: Previews begin Tuesday, May 28; Opening night: Tuesday, June 11
From a media release: The Master Builder May 12—June 9, 2013 BAM Harvey Theater, Brooklyn (New York City) RUN TIME: Approx 2hrs 30min with intermission • Tickets
By Henrik Ibsen Translated by David Edgar Directed by Andrei Belgrader Produced by BAM
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY - Ruthless and revered architect Halvard Solness (an electrifying John Turturro) is obsessively driven—until a young woman from his past stops him in his tracks. Hilde (Wrenn Schmidt, Boardwalk Empire), a force of unbridled sexual energy coupled with childlike willfulness, enters the master builder’s home and head, trailing mysterious talk of past promises. As she urges the megalomaniacal Solness to ever greater and less sustainable heights, his tragedy-haunted wife Aline (Katherine Borowitz) watches from the sidelines, an unwilling participant in an off-kilter love triangle.
A psychologically heady and physically potent new version of Ibsen’s late masterwork, The Master Builder is a triumphant return to BAM for Turturro and director Andrei Belgrader, who last collaborated on the critically acclaimed Endgame (2008 Spring Season).
John Turturro studied at the Yale School of Drama and for his theatrical debut created the title role of John Patrick Shanley’s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, for which he won an Obie Award and a Theater World Award. Turturro recently appeared as Lopakhin in the highly acclaimed Classic Stage Company production of The Cherry Orchard.
Turturro was nominated for a SAG Award for his portrayal of Howard Cosell in Monday Night Mayhem and won an Emmy Award for his guest appearance on Monk. In 2007 he appeared in the miniseries The Bronx is Burning as notorious Yankee skipper Billy Martin, which garnered him a SAG Award nomination.
Turturro has performed in more than 60 films, including Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, and Jungle Fever; Robert Redford’s Quiz Show; Francesco Rosi’s La Tregua; and Joel and Ethan Coen’s Miller’s Crossing, The Big Lebowski, and O Brother Where Art Thou. For his lead role in the Coen brothers’ Barton Fink, Turturro won the Best Actor Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. He also received the Camera D’Or at Cannes for his directorial debut, Mac, in 1991. Turturro also directed Illuminata, Romance & Cigarettes, Passione: a Musical Adventure, and the upcoming Fading Gigolo, written by Turturro and starring him, Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara, Liev Schreiber, and Vanessa Paradis.
"Toronto's enterprising One Little Goat Theatre Company” (New York Times) presents the English language world premiere of The Charge of the Expormidable Moose by Claude Gauvreau. Considered a "giant" and "revolutionary" of Quebec theatre (Le Devoir), Gauvreau is little known outside his native province. Gauvreau's provocative seven-person play, widely considered to be his masterpiece, is translated by Ray Ellenwood and directed by One Little Goat’s Artistic Director, Adam Seelig.
• The Equity production opens Friday, May 10, 2013 and runs to May 26, Tuesdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. at the Tarragon Theatre Extra Space, 30 Bridgman Avenue. Tickets are $25; $20 for students, seniors and artists; and $28/$23 in the final week; Sundays PWYC. Info and tickets are available from the Tarragon box office at 416-531-1827, or from www.OneLittleGoat.org.
The design team for One Little Goat’s largest production to date boasts over a dozen Dora awards and nominations collectively: Jackie Chau, sets and costumes; Laird MacDonald, lighting; and Thomas Ryder Payne, sound. The seven-person cast will be announced in the spring.
Claude Gauvreau (1925-1971)
Revered in Quebec as a visionary poet-playwright, an original contributor to the 1948 Refus Global manifesto by Montreal's radical Automatistes, admired by director Robert Lepage and performance poets The Four Horsemen, Claude Gauvreau is an artistic force. His innovative use of language, which he called "explorean", tested the very limits of lyricism. Overwhelmed by the suicide of his love and muse (performer Muriel Guilbault), Gauvreau experienced continual psychiatric treatment until, in 1971, he ended his life.
The Charge of the Expormidable Moose revolves around a poet who is envied, mocked and ultimately sacrificed by his fellow housemates (or are they fellow inmates?). Playful and surreal, yet deeply rooted in powerful experiences, The Charge of the Expormidable Moose combines the absurdity of Ionesco with the cruelty of Artaud to create an exceptional drama.
One Little Goat, North America’s only company devoted to contemporary poetic theatre, “has done audiences a huge service” (Toronto Star) through its highly interpretive, provocative approach to international plays. The company's Canadian and world premieres have garnered praise from the New York Times, Globe and Mail, Economist, Now and others. More information on the company is available on Wikipedia and at www.OneLittleGoat.org.
The Charge of the Expormidable Moose is generously supported by the Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and the Bureau de Québec à Toronto, and is presented in partnership with Théâtre français de Toronto.
AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE SPRING SEASON: WORLD PREMIERE OF SHOSTAKOVICH EVENING BY ALEXEI RATMANSKY, COMPANY PREMIERE OF A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY AND NEW PRODUCTION OF LE CORSAIRE TO HIGHLIGHT ABT'S 2013 SPRING SEASON AT METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE, MAY 13-JULY 6, 2013
NEW YORK CITY - American Ballet Theatre's 2013 season at the Metropolitan Opera House, May 13-July 6 will be highlighted by the World Premiere of a three-part work set to music by Dmitri Shostakovich and choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky, the Company Premiere of Sir Frederick Ashton's A Month in the Country and a new production of Le Corsaire. Tickets for ABT's Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House are on sale now at the box office.
Principal Dancers for the 2013 Metropolitan Opera House season include Roberto Bolle, Herman Cornejo, Irina Dvorovenko, Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg, Paloma Herrera, Julie Kent, Gillian Murphy, Natalia Osipova, Veronika Part, Xiomara Reyes, Hee Seo, Polina Semionova, Daniil Simkin, Cory Stearns, Ivan Vasiliev and Diana Vishneva.
• American Ballet Theatre's 2013 Spring season opens with a Gala Performance featuring ABT's Principal Dancers on Monday, May 13 at 6:30 P.M. For information on ABT's Spring Gala, please call the Special Events Office at 212-477-3030, ext. 3310.
Guest Artists
Guest Artists for the 2013 Spring season include Alina Cojocaru, principal dancer with The Royal Ballet, and Vadim Muntagirov, principal dancer with English National Ballet. Cojocaru will perform the role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, opposite Herman Cornejo as Prince Siegfried, on Friday, June 21 and Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, opposite Cornejo as Prince Désiré, on Wednesday evening, July 3. Muntagirov will dance the role of Prince Désiré, opposite Hee Seo as Princess Aurora, on Tuesday, July 2.
Exchange Artists
Steven McRae, a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet, and Alban Lendorf, a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet, will perform as Exchange Artists during ABT's 2013 Spring season as part of an exchange program with their respective companies. McRae will dance the role of Lankendem in Le Corsaire at the matinee on Wednesday, June 5 and the evening performance on Saturday, June 8. Lendorf will perform Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty, opposite Xiomara Reyes as Princess Aurora, at the matinee on Saturday, July 6.
World Premiere
The season will be highlighted by the World Premiere of a complete evening of three works by Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky on Friday, May 31. Ratmansky's works are set to symphonies by Dmitri Shostakovich and feature scenery by George Tsypin, costumes by Keso Dekker and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. The first work, Symphony #9, was given its World Premiere at New York City Center on October 18, 2012, led by Polina Semionova, Marcelo Gomes, Herman Cornejo, Simone Messmer and Craig Salstein. Symphony #9 will be performed by the same cast on May 31, alongside the World Premieres of the second and third works. The second work, set to Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony for Strings (Op. 110a), will be led by David Hallberg, Paloma Herrera, Julie Kent and Isabella Boylston. The evening's third work, set to Symphony No.1, will be led by Diana Vishneva, Calvin Royal III, Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev. The complete Shostakovich evening will receive four performances through June 3.
Company Premiere
American Ballet Theatre will present four performances of mixed repertory May 21-23. Sir Frederick Ashton's A Month in the Country will be given its ABT Company Premiere on Tuesday evening, May 21, led by Julie Kent and Roberto Bolle. Based on the play of the same name by Ivan Turgenev, A Month In the Country features music by Frédéric Chopin, arranged by John Lanchbery, with designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman and lighting by John B. Read. The libretto tells the story of an elegant Russian household thrown into turmoil by the presence of a young tutor. A Month in the Country received its World Premiere by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on February 12, 1976, led by Lynn Seymour as Natalia Petrovna and Anthony Dowell as Beliaev. The ballet is staged for ABT by Grant Coyle.
Revival and Repertory Program
Sharing the program with A Month in the Country will be the revival of George Balanchine's Symphony in C and Mark Morris' Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes. Symphony in C, featuring music by Georges Bizet, costumes after Karinska and lighting by Mark Stanley, was given its World Premiere by the Paris Opera Ballet under the title Le Palais de Cristal on July 8, 1947 and received its United States Premiere by Ballet Society (now New York City Ballet) on March 22, 1948. ABT first performed the ballet at City Center in New York on October 23, 2001, led by Paloma Herrera, Ethan Stiefel, Nina Ananiashvili, Jose Manuel Carreño, Ashley Tuttle, Angel Corella, Sandra Brown and Sascha Radetsky. Symphony in C received its Revival Premiere on February 22, 2013 at the Hong Kong Cultural Center in Hong Kong, China. The ballet is staged for ABT by Merrill Ashley and Stacey Caddell.
Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, a work for twelve dancers, is staged by Tina Fehlandt and features music by Virgil Thomson and costumes by Santo Loquasto. Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes was given its World Premiere by ABT on May 31, 1988. An excerpt of the ballet was given its first performance at the Dancing For Life benefit at the New York State Theater on October 5, 1987.
All-New Production of Le Corsaire
American Ballet Theatre will present a new production of Le Corsaire, with sets by Christian Prego, costumes by Aníbal Lápiz and lighting by Brad Fields, on Tuesday, June 4, led by Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev, Herman Cornejo, Daniil Simkin and Isabella Boylston. Based on the Lord Byron poem "The Corsair" (1814), the ballet features choreography by Konstantin Sergeyev after Marius Petipa, and staging by Anna-Marie Holmes after Petipa and Sergeyev, with music by Adolphe Adam, Cesare Pugni, Léo Delibes, Riccardo Drigo and Prince Oldenbourg. Le Corsaire received its Company Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on June 19, 1998 with Nina Ananiashvili (Medora), Ashley Tuttle (Gulnare), Giuseppe Picone (Conrad), Angel Corella (Birbanto), Jose Manuel Carreño (Ali, the slave) and Vladimir Malakhov (Lankendem). This new production was premiered by Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 18, 2011 and will receive its ABT Company Premiere at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on April 11, 2013.
Full-Length Ballets
American Ballet Theatre's 2013 Spring Season at The Metropolitan Opera House will feature an additional six full-length ballets during the eight-week engagement.
The Company will perform John Cranko's Onegin beginning Tuesday, May 14 with Julie Kent as Tatiana and Roberto Bolle as Onegin. On Saturday evening, May 18, Irina Dvorovenko will give her final performance with American Ballet Theatre in the role of Tatiana. Set to music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, arranged and orchestrated by Kurt-Heinz Stolze, Onegin is based on the poem of the same name by Alexander Pushkin. Onegin received its World Premiere on April 13, 1965 by the Stuttgart Ballet in Stuttgart, Germany. The ballet received its Company Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on June 1, 2001 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York with Julie Kent (Tatiana), Robert Hill (Onegin), Vladimir Malakhov (Lensky) and Maria Riccetto (Olga). This new production, with sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by James F. Ingalls, was premiered by the National Ballet of Canada on June 19, 2010 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, Canada and was first performed by ABT on June 4, 2012 at the Metropolitan Opera House. Staged for ABT by Reid Anderson and Jane Bourne, Onegin will be given eight performances May 14 through 20.
The first of eight performances of Don Quixote will be led by Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo on Friday evening, May 24. This performance will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Ms. Reyes and Mr. Cornejo as Principal Dancers with ABT. Staged by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones, with choreography after Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky, Don Quixote is set to music by Ludwig Minkus and features scenery and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Natasha Katz. The McKenzie/Jones staging of the current production was first performed by ABT on June 12, 1995.
Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet will be given eight performances beginning Monday evening, June 10 with Diana Vishneva and Marcelo Gomes in the title roles. Set to the score by Sergei Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet features scenery and costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis and lighting by Thomas Skelton. The ballet received its World Premiere by The Royal Ballet in London on February 9, 1965 and was given its ABT Company Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on April 22, 1985.
Eight performances of Swan Lake, choreographed by Kevin McKenzie after Marius Petipa, will be given beginning Monday, June 17 with Polina Semionova and David Hallberg leading the opening night cast. Swan Lake is set to the score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky and features scenery and costumes by Zack Brown and lighting by Duane Schuler. This production of Swan Lake premiered on March 24, 2000 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. with Julie Kent (Odette-Odile), Angel Corella (Prince Siegfried) and Marcelo Gomes (von Rothbart).
Gillian Murphy and Marcelo Gomes will dance the leading roles in the season's first performance of Sir Frederick Ashton's Sylvia on Monday evening, June 24. A ballet in three acts, Sylvia is set to music by Léo Delibes and features costumes and scenery after original designs by Robin and Christopher Ironside. Additional designs for the revival of Sylvia are by Peter Farmer and lighting is by Mark Jonathan. The World Premiere of the original production of Sylvia was given by The Royal Ballet on September 3, 1952 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, danced by Margot Fonteyn (Sylvia), Michael Somes (Aminta), John Hart (Orion) and Alexander Grant (Eros). The World Premiere of the revival of Sylvia was given by The Royal Ballet on November 4, 2004 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, danced by Darcey Bussell (Sylvia), Jonathan Cope (Aminta), Thiago Soares (Orion) and Martin Harvey (Eros). Sylvia received its American Ballet Theatre Company Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York on June 3, 2005, danced by Gillian Murphy (Sylvia), Maxim Beloserkovsky (Aminta), Marcelo Gomes (Orion) and Herman Cornejo (Eros). The ballet, staged for ABT by Christopher Newton, will receive eight performances through June 29.
The final week of the eight-week Metropolitan Opera House season will feature seven performances of The Sleeping Beauty, July 1-6. Set to a score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, The Sleeping Beauty, choreographed after Marius Petipa, has additional choreography and staging by Kevin McKenzie, Gelsey Kirkland and Michael Chernov. The production features scenery by Tony Walton, costumes by Willa Kim with additional designs by Holly Hynes, and lighting by Richard Pilbrow and Dawn Chiang. Paloma Herrera and Cory Stearns will lead the season's first performance of The Sleeping Beauty on Monday evening, July 1. This production of The Sleeping Beauty received its World Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on June 1, 2007, with Veronika Part (Princess Aurora), Marcelo Gomes (Prince Désiré), Michele Wiles (Lilac Fairy), Martine van Hamel (Carabosse) and Herman Cornejo (Bluebird).
ABTKids
ABTKids, American Ballet Theatre's annual one-hour introduction to ballet, is scheduled for Saturday morning, June 1 at 11:30 A.M. All tickets for ABTKids are $25.
ABTKids Workshop Series
ABTKids Workshop Series, one-hour activity-based programs led by ABT Teaching Artists, are available to ABTKids ticket holders on Saturday, June 1 (9:30 A.M.) and to matinee ticket holders Saturday, June 15 (11:00 A.M.) and Saturday, June 29 (11:00 A.M). Saturday workshops will be held in the rehearsal studios of the Metropolitan Opera House. Tickets to the workshops are $20 per person. For tickets and more information on the ABTKids Workshop series, please call 212-419-4321.
• Single tickets for American Ballet Theatre's 2013 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House are available at the Met box office, by phone at 212-362-6000, or online. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64th and 65th streets in New York City.
Images: - Veronika Part & Cory Stearns in Onegin by Fabrizio Ferri - Hee Seo & Cory Sterns in Romeo & Juliet by Rosalie O'Connor - Diana Vishneva by MIRA - Yurko Kaliya & Joseph Gorak in Onegin by Gene Schiavone
The Legend of Apsara Mera May 2—May 4, 2013 + Post-Show Artist Talk on Fri, May 3 & Master Class May 4 Peter Jay Sharp Building BAM Howard Gilman Opera House RUN TIME: 1hr 20min
BAM and Season of Cambodia present The Legend of Apsara Mera
The Royal Ballet of Cambodia Choreographed by HER ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCESS NORODOM BUPPHA DEVI In collaboration with Proeung Chhieng and Soth Somaly *Season of Cambodia is an initiative of Cambodian Living Arts
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY - For a thousand years, the Royal Ballet of Cambodia danced only for the gods. Resurrected spectacularly in the wake of the Khmer Rouge into a closely guarded yet flourishing modern form, the Royal Ballet comes to BAM with the breathtaking Legend of Apsara Mera, featured as a centerpiece of the citywide Season of Cambodia festival.
With movement constructed by Her Royal Highness Princess Norodom Buppha Devi, a former prima ballerina in the Khmer tradition, Apsara Mera conjures the sanctified realm of two origin stories integral to Khmer culture: “Churning of the Sea of Milk” and “The Legend of Kambu and Mera.” Sumptuous movement, finely wrought costumes, and chanting evoke the comings and goings of celestial serpents and nymphs in this powerful offering from Southeast Asia, infused with divine ambrosia and modern expression alike.
Post-Show Artist Talk with The Royal Ballet of Cambodia, moderated by Jennifer Homans Fri, May 3, 2013
This artist talk takes place in the performance venue and is free for same-day ticket holders.
Master Class: The Royal Ballet of Cambodia Sat, May 4, 2013 In conjunction with The Legend of Apsara Mera • Make your reservation here Participants discover the Cambodian classical court dance known as robam boran. Offering insight into the rich history of this timeless training, the workshop teaches basic moves and gestures, as well as a brief routine. Her Royal Highness Princess Norodom Buppha Devi oversees the class with assistance from several of her senior dancers. Reservation required.
Royal Ballet of Cambodia
In 2004, the Royal Ballet of Cambodia was proclaimed by UNESCO a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity,” a designation Her Royal Highness Norodom Buppha Devi campaigned to secure. It was also the result of the efforts of Cambodia’s royal family to recover, document, and celebrate Cambodia’s artistic traditions in the post-Khmer Rouge period. The Royal Ballet of Cambodia is renowned for its interpretation of the centuries-old form of Cambodian classical dance, which was developed in the royal court; historically all roles, regardless of gender, have generally been danced by women.
Carmen Souza and Theo Pas‘cal complement each other musically in an ingenious way has already been shown in their successful cooperation over the last few years. The latest studio-album called Kachupada, that was recorded in London and Lisbon will be released in North America on June 11, 2013, continues this tradition. The title of the album was inspired by the favorite Cape Verdean dish Kachupada that, with its wide variety of ingredients and spices, reflects the multiplicity of influences in Carmen Souza‘s music.
rhythms of African guitars. Influenced by its Portuguese history, Cape Verdean music often has a flavour akin to Latin or Cuban rhythms.
TOUR DATES
