FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2005
CONTACT: Mark Fleisher
Festival Ballet Providence, 401.353.1129
Up CLOSE, on HOPE
Third program March 12, 19, 20
J.S. Bach to Janis Joplin
Dance so near you can touch it!
PROVIDENCE - Festival Ballet Providence’s announces the third and final program of the popular new series, Up CLOSE, on HOPE, showcasing exciting contemporary repertory works in an intimate studio setting in March. Up CLOSE on HOPE performances offer the chance to see thrilling, original dance, to meet the dancers, and to mingle with the evening’s choreographers. The March program will include seven different pieces, with seven different choreographers, including world premieres of four new works. Critics are in complete agreement: Up CLOSE on HOPE is a great way for audiences to see dance!
The performances will take place March 12, 19, and 20 at the company’s East Side studios at 825 Hope Street on Saturdays at 7:30 pm and on Sunday at 6:00 pm. Performances take place in the Leach Grand Studio black box theater, for a limited audience of 80. New for 2005, Mr. Djuric will include on occasion, short classical works, to add yet another spice to the rich program of contemporary works.
The success of Up CLOSE, on HOPE is largely due to the intimacy of the theater and the repertory chosen by Festival Ballet Providence Artistic Director Mihailo Djuric. It is diverse with high artistic quality, and expands the audience’s taste for different dance styles. Younger dancers from the company are given soloist and principal performance opportunities they might not get in main stage productions.
This program of the series will include works by Colleen Cavanaugh, Mihailo Djuric, Viktor Plotnikov and several Festival Ballet Providence dancers. A regular in the Up CLOSE on HOPE programming and frequent collaborator of Mr. Djuric, Ms. Cavanaugh will present the world premiere of a new work inspired by the music of Janis Joplin. Viktor Plotnikov, choreographer of two Festival Ballet Providence commissioned full-length ballets Carmen and The Widow’s Broom, will set his smaller work, Elegant Souls, on the company. Elegant Souls premiered last year as part of “Raw Dance”, an evening of choreography by Boston Ballet dancers, at the Boston Center for the Arts. Company dancers Piotr Ostaltsov, Mark Harootian and Cameron Baldassarra will each create world premieres for their fellow dancers. Festival Ballet Providence Ballet Mistress Milica Bijelic will set a work from her dance repertory, Paganini. Mr. Djuric will set the women’s duet from The Unexpected.
This year, audience members have the opportunity to further expand their horizons with hors d’oeuvres and wine intermissions sponsored by neighboring East Side restaurants. The intermission sponsors of our March performances include Chez Pascal March 12, Garden Grille March 19, and Pizzico on March 20, accompanied by wines provided courtesy of Robert Mondavi Vineyards, Laurine Ryan Perry and the Martignetti Companies of Rhode Island.
Tickets are available for $30 as general admission seating. Up CLOSE season subscribers receive preferred seating for each performance. Tickets are available by contacting Festival Ballet Providence, 401.353.1129. For further information, send email inquiries to info@festivalballet.com.
Festival Ballet Providence will close the season with Viktor Plotnikov’s stunning production of Carmen, April 8-10, 2005 at VMA Arts & Cultural Center. For additional information about upcoming programs visit www.festivalballet.com
The 2004-2005 Up CLOSE on HOPE series is made possible in part by a generous sponsorship from GLAD WORKS, and ongoing support from Sovereign Bank, NBC10 and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.
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The Festival Ballet Providence and the Festival Ballet Providence Center for Dance Education are together a not-for-profit arts organization whose EIN is 05-0377245 and whose Rhode Island Corporate ID number is ND-27-137.
Intermission sponsors:
Audience members are invited to dine before or after the performance at our past and present intermission sponsor restaurants including:
Audence members can also dine with our playbill advertisers including:
Wines for the intermissions will be provided courtesy of Rorbert Mondavi Vineyards, the Martignetti Companies of Rhode Island and Laurine Ryan Perry, and will include the following vineyards in the course of the season: Robert Mondavi, Trinchero Family of Wines, Rosemount, Penfolds, Linemans, and Cavit.
Bios:
Colleen Cavanaugh, Guest Choreographer
Colleen Cavanaugh danced professionally in New York and Europe before returning to her native Rhode Island to complete a medical degree from Brown University. She choreographed for and directed Cadence Dance Project for four years and is now working as an independent choreographer, making ballets for regional companies and college dance programs. Cavanaugh received a Rhode Island State Council on the Art fellowship in choreography as well as several project grants. Two of her ballets were selected and presented by Ballet Builders in New York City, a showcase for contemporary ballet. Her choreography has been presented in New England, New York and Europe. Her commissioned work, I Corpi Celesti, inspired by Galileo, was premiered in May 2003 by Festival Ballet Providence to great acclaim. Several of her pieces were part of the inaugural Up CLOSE on HOPE series; Caress, Demeter’s Tears, Schumann Songs, and Scarlet Tangents. Colleen is also a practicing Obstetrician/Gynecologist and is an Assistant Clinical Professor at Brown University School of Medicine.
Viktor Plotnikov, Guest Choreographer
Born in the Ukraine, Viktor began his training at age eleven at the Kiev-Ukraine School. He continued his studies at the St. Petersburg Ballet Academy, and became a soloist with the Donetsk Ballet Company in the Ukraine in 1987. In 1990, he joined Ballet Mississippi as a principal dancer, before coming to Boston Ballet in 1993. Since then, Plotnikov has danced principal roles in many classical and contemporary ballets. Currently he is a Senior Artist with Boston Ballet. A talented choreographer, Plotnikov has created works that have been seen often in Boston area showcases, including “Raw Dance”. He has been commissioned by Festival Ballet Providence to create new full length ballets for the company; Carmen, which opened the 26th season, and The Widow’s Broom, which opened the 27th season.
