FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 7, 2008

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Festival Ballet Providence, 401.353.1129

Festival Ballet presents Masters of Motion
The Providence Journal
By Bryan Rourke

Providence, RI -


Christine Blanck and Nathan Powell perform in Leaves are
Fading by Antony Tudor. The British choreographer was born
100 years ago this year.

Festival Ballet Providence brings back the masters.
This weekend in Veterans Memorial Auditorium, the company presents Masters of Motion, a three-act show featuring the works of three distinguished choreographers: Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor and Viktor Plotnikov.

“We considered calling the program Masters of Emotion since each choreographer brings a highly human sentiment and a personal and creative movement style to his or her work,” says Mihailo Djuric, Festival’s artistic director. “But as a choreographer, to me it’s the motion that conveys to us the emotion.”

The idea for the dance triple-bill began with Plotnikov, the only living choreographer of the three. Last year, Djuric commissioned him to create a new work for the company, “Coma,” a 30-minute piece that appeared in a show titled American Masters, which also featured works by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. But the Plotnikov piece, about the emotional connection between the living and the near-dead, which featured eerily suspended and swaying dancers, stole the show.

Our review called the work “haunting and chilling, surreal and sad, and just plain mesmerizing.”

“I wanted to repeat ‘Coma’ because I was so proud of it,” Djuric says. “There were also many people who didn’t see it, and many people who said they would love to see it again.”

As a complement to “Coma,” Djuric chose Tudor’s “Leaves are Fading,” the late British choreographer’s last major work, created in 1975. It’s abstract and interpretive, a reflection on love past and present.

“It’s little reminders of your life, and that life passes by you,” Djuric says. “It’s about the different stages in life, being young, more mature, making decisions and living with someone else, and getting older together.”

In part the piece is also presented as a commemoration to Tudor, who was born 100 years ago this year, and whose works are being performed by many dance companies across the country in his honor.
“Since the first time I saw ‘Leaves are Fading’ it has stayed with me. It stays with you after the curtain comes down. It evokes memories. It’s about life, the past, growing up and getting older. It’s very beautiful and positive. It’s very good energy and beautiful music and choreography. I felt watching it the first time so filled and so warm.” Rounding out the program is “Rodeo,” a piece by the late Harlem-born de Mille, who choreographed many Broadway hits, including Oklahoma! and Brigadoon. “Rodeo,” her first significant ballet, created in 1942, is about a tomboy looking for love among cowboys in a piece marked by a mood of frontier optimism.

“It’s so fun and so American. It’s so this part of the world.”
One reason Djuric chose a de Mille dance for Festival Ballet, which is celebrating its 30th season, is to honor the company’s history. In its early years, Festival frequently performed works by de Mille.
“It was so important in the company’s beginning years.”

Masters of Motion is at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, One Avenue of the Arts, Providence, tomorrow and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. For tickets, $17 to $62, call (401) 272-4862 or visit www.tickets.com. For more information, contact Festival Ballet at (401) 353-1129 or www.festivalballet.com. brourke@projo.com